Why am I passionate about this?
I’m an ex-neuroengineer turned sci-fi pen monkey (turned melted heap of goo on the floor). More than anything, though, I’m a guy who simply could NOT get enough Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Indiana Jones as a kid, and it’s probably somewhere between those formative years and all the amazing books and movies I’ve gobbled down since that the writing bug seeped into my veins. Much as my writing has changed the way I read, this list constitutes 5 of the types of stories that made me fall so deeply in love with fiction (and good characters!) that I couldn’t help but eventually pick up the pen myself.
Luke's book list on sci-fi character journeys you’ll probably never forget
Why did Luke love this book?
It’s possible this book should’ve been #1 on the list because, let me tell you, I think about this book a lot. It’s not JUST that this was the first book I read (outside of my steady childhood diet of Star Wars) that made me say, “Wow, sci-fi can do THAT?!” It’s that the gravity of Ender’s burden (and the skill with which Orson Scott Card brings his story to life) have stuck with me so firmly since I first read it that I can’t help but come back for another reading every few years or so.
I feel like this one is a classic for darn good reason. And if you’re an audio person, I highly recommend the performance by Stefan Rudnicki and crew in the 20th anniversary edition. Great stuff.
15 authors picked Ender's Game as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.
Orson Scott Card's science fiction classic Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut―young Ender is the Wiggin drafted…