The Authorized Ender Companion

by Black, Jake

  “Teacher’s Pest” (Short Story)

  Year published: 2003

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Theresa Brown Wiggin, John Paul Wiggin, Hinckley Brown

  SPECIAL NOTES: Short story published in First Meetings in the Enderverse

  SYNOPSIS: Theresa Brown is a brilliant grad student who meets her match, an impetuous student named John Paul Wiggin. John Paul challenges Theresa on many of the topics she discusses in her university class, which John Paul is taking. After learning that the university is pulling her research funding in reaction to her famous father’s politics, Theresa encounters John Paul outside of class. He has prepared a picnic lunch for her, hoping to win her affections. Though Theresa is initially irritated with the act, she soon comes around and falls for her annoying student.

  “Mazer in Prison” (Short Story)

  Year published: 2005

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Mazer Rackham, Hyrum Graff

  SPECIAL NOTES: Story first appeared in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show online magazine.

  SYNOPSIS: Exiled to near light-speed travel, Mazer Rackham, the hero of the first two Formic invasions, has lost touch with his life on Earth. He starts receiving messages by ansible from his ex-wife and their children. He learns that he has grandchildren, too, which is a bittersweet experience. At this time Mazer is contacted by Hyrum Graff of the International Fleet and is asked to return to Earth to help train the new leader of the fleet. Rackham is mixed about returning to his home planet as several decades had passed on Earth, though because of his relativistic speed, only a few months had passed for him. But he decides to return anyway, for the good of the planet and to protect his grandchildren by training the new military mind.

  “Pretty Boy” (Short Story)

  Year published: 2006

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTER: Bonzo Madrid

  SPECIAL NOTES: Story first published in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show online magazine.

  SYNOPSIS: Little Bonzo Madrid loves his father and mother. His world is turned upside-down, though, when his father is exposed to having an affair. Bonzo and his mother leave his father. Bonzo’s heartbreaking experience with his dad leads him to be a prime candidate for the International Fleet’s Battle School.

  “Cheater” (Short Story)

  Year published: 2006

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTER: Han Tzu

  SPECIAL NOTES: Story first appeared in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show online magazine.

  SYNOPSIS: Little Han Tzu is the hope of China—at least he is according to Han Tzu’s father, who wants his son to become a great warrior and ruler of the Chinese people and their nation. He has hired tutors to prep Han Tzu on the Battle School screening tests, an act that is against the law. Han Tzu learns well and excels at the tests. However, his father’s cheating is exposed. The International Fleet arrests Han Tzu’s father and recruits the little boy, shown to be brilliant, to Battle School.

  “Ender’s Game” (Short Story)

  Year published: 1977

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Ender Wiggin, Hyrum Graff

  SPECIAL NOTES: Story first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact; republished in First Meetings in the Enderverse (2002).

  SYNOPSIS: In command of an undefeated combat unit, preteen Ender Wiggin is moved from Battle School to Command School, where he is trained to fight the Formics by his mysterious mentor Mazer Rackham. With the help of several of his Battle School colleagues, Ender commands squadrons of spaceships in simulated attacks on the Formics, even destroying the aliens’ home planet. He is shocked and saddened to learn that the simulations were real, and he has wiped out an entire species.

  Ender’s Game (Novel)

  Year published: 1985

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Ender Wiggin, Hyrum Graff, Mazer Rackham, Peter Wiggin, Valentine Wiggin, Bonzo Madrid, Bean Delphiki, Petra Arkanian

  SPECIAL NOTES: Won the prestigious Hugo and Nebula awards. Translated into more than twenty languages. Feature film in development. Earned the Margaret A. Edwards Award, presented by the American Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services Association, honoring Orson Scott Card’s lifetime contribution to young adult literature.

  SYNOPSIS: Little Ender Wiggin is chosen to receive a monitor from the International Fleet, which will track and record his every move. He shows a great level of intelligence and aggression (he killed a student at his elementary school) that makes him a strong candidate for the Fleet’s Battle School. Leaving behind his parents, brother Peter, and sister Valentine, Ender goes to Battle School. There he is the smallest and youngest of the students to be recruited, and is bullied. He is assigned to an army, and disobeys the orders of his superior. He gets transferred around armies, but thanks to his own practice, and with help from his friend Petra, he perfects the combat strategy necessary to command an army of his own. The administrators at Battle School give Ender an impossible schedule of battles, but his army goes undefeated. When his life is threatened by his former commander Bonzo Madrid, Ender kills the older boy while trying to defend himself. With a proven track record, Ender is transferred to Command School, where he learns the strategies necessary to fight the Formics, aliens who had previously attacked Earth. Joined by some of his colleagues from Battle School, Ender leads squadrons of spaceships against Formics in simulations, even destroying the Formic home world. He is shocked and dismayed to learn that the simulations were actually real and that he caused the destruction of an entire species. He discovers one remaining Formic Hive Queen and becomes the “Speaker for the Dead,” promising to find a new planet whereon the Formics can be reborn.

  Ender’s Game (Comic Book)

  Year published: 2008–2009

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Ender Wiggin, Hyrum Graff, Mazer Rackham, Peter Wiggin, Valentine Wiggin, Bonzo Madrid, Bean Delphiki, Petra Arkanian

  SPECIAL NOTES: Marvel Comics published a series of comic books based on the original Ender’s Game novel. The adaptation was written by Christopher Yost, with art by Pasquel Ferry, who had worked with Orson Scott Card on another Marvel Comics series, Ultimate Iron Man II.

  SYNOPSIS: See novel entry.

  War of Gifts (Novella)

  Year published: 2007

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Ender Wiggin, Dink Meeker, Hyrum Graff

  SPECIAL NOTES: Includes small portion of short story “Ender’s Stocking.”

  SYNOPSIS: In Battle School, religion is forbidden. But when Dink Meeker gives a traditional Dutch Christmas gift to one of his friends, another Battle School student, Zeck Morgan, causes a religious revolt. The son of an abusive evangelical preacher, Zeck incites a short-lived religious riot on the space station, encouraging Muslims to pray five times a day. Hyrum Graff is frustrated with Zeck’s shenanigans, but knows things will work themselves out. After a conversation with Ender Wiggin, who exposes Zeck’s father’s abuses to the boy, the religious observances settle down. Zeck had once been ostracized by his colleagues, but now was slowly being welcomed as one of the Battle Schoolers because Ender reached out to him.

  “Ender’s Stocking” (Short Story)

  Year published: 2007

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Peter Wiggin, Valentine Wiggin, Theresa Wiggin

  SPECIAL NOTES: Story first appeared in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show online magazine. Small portion of story also appears in novella War of Gifts.

  SYNOPSIS: Peter Wiggin hates everyone. Or at least he seems to. But this Christmas, he decides to treat people nicely and see what it gets him. He is shocked to see how much respect and loyalty it gains him, particularly in light of the fact that he does not feel sincere in his attempts to befriend others. Nonetheless, he is successful in gaining trust, and promises himself to stick to appearing nice to gain the loyalty of his subjects.

  Ender’s Shadow (Novel)

  Year published: 1999

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Bean Delphiki, Petra Arkanian, Achilles Flandres, Peter Wiggin

&nbs
p; SPECIAL NOTES: Some story points overlap with original Ender’s Game novel and short story, but are told from a different perspective.

  SYNOPSIS: The boy named Bean is an orphan in the streets of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. He, like most of the children there, must fight for survival. He is smaller and younger than all of the other children, but he is smarter, too. He joins a gang under the direction of a girl named Poke. They are fed by a soup kitchen. A bully named Achilles joins the gang and assumes its leadership. Bean tries to have him killed. A nun named Sister Carlotta takes Bean under her wing after Achilles kills Poke, and she has Bean sent to Battle School where he would be trained to fight the Formics, aliens who had twice attacked Earth. In Battle School, Bean is rejected and mocked but befriends a boy named Nikolai Delphiki. Bean proves himself to be a talented soldier and is assigned to an army commanded by Ender Wiggin. The army goes undefeated, and Bean is given an army of his own. Soon thereafter, Achilles comes to Battle School, but is quickly dimissed when Bean and his army expose the boy as a murderer. Bean moves on to Command School where he will help Ender Wiggin in the “simulated” combat with the Formics. Bean figures out they are real battles and is the back-up man in case Ender fails. Ender does not fail, and with Bean’s help he destroys the Formic home world. Sister Carlotta has learned that Bean’s biological family are the Delphikis, and after the war he returns home with his friend and brother Nikolai.

  Ender’s Shadow (Comic Book)

  Year published: 2008–2009

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Bean Delphiki, Petra Arkanian, Achilles Flandres, Peter Wiggin

  SPECIAL NOTES: Marvel Comics published a series of comic books based on the original Ender’s Shadow novel. The adaptation was written by Mike Carey with art by Sebastian Fiumara.

  SYNOPSIS: See novel entry.

  “Gold Bug” (Short Story)

  Year published: 2007

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Sel Menach, Ender Wiggin

  SPECIAL NOTES: Short story was written first, but published in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show online magazine after the comic book adaptation of the story was published in Marvel Comics’s graphic novel, Red Prophet: The Story of Alvin Maker, Volume One. Portions of the story are also included in the full-length novel, Ender in Exile.

  SYNOPSIS: On a distant planet, Sel Menach, a soldier in the wars against the Formics, has become the planet’s governor and its chief scientist. Learning that Ender Wiggin was set to be his replacement as governor, Sel sets out to have a scientific exploration. With the help of his young assistant, Po, Sel discovers a race of alien bug creatures working in the caverns of the planet harvesting metal by eating and absorbing the alloys until their exoskeletons are saturated. These Gold Bugs become the focus of Sel’s life work as Ender arrives to take over governing the planet.

  Gold Bug (Comic Book)

  Year published: 2007

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Sel Menach, Ender Wiggin

  SPECIAL NOTES: A comic book adaptation of the short story of the same name, this version of Gold Bug was scripted by Jake Black with art by Jin Han. It first appeared in the back of Marvel Comics’s graphic novel, Red Prophet: The Story of Alvin Maker, Volume One. This first appearance was published before the story upon which it was based was featured in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show online magazine.

  SYNOPSIS: See short story entry.

  “Ender’s Homecoming” (Short Story)

  Year published: 2008

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Hyrum Graff, John Paul Wiggin, Theresa Wiggin, Peter Wiggin, Valentine Wiggin.

  SPECIAL NOTES: First appeared in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show online magazine. Also appears as part of full-length novel, Ender in Exile.

  SYNOPSIS: The nations of the world all hope to exploit Ender Wiggin in the aftermath of his victory over the Formics. When Ender’s parents receive a letter from Hyrum Graff subtly warning them of this, they decide to manipulate their other children, Valentine and Peter, into writing political essays that will result in Ender’s exile to a human colony on a distant planet.

  “A Young Man with Prospects” (Short Story)

  Year published: 2007

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Ender Wiggin, Alessandra Toscano, Dorabella Toscano

  SPECIAL NOTES: Published in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show online magazine. Included in full-length novel, Ender in Exile.

  SYNOPSIS: A young girl named Alessandra learns that her mother has signed them up to leave Earth and head for a new planet and human colony. Not wanting to go, Alessandra tries reaching out, without success, to her estranged grandmother. Realizing how much her mother is sacrificing for them to have a better life, Alessandra decides it’s okay to leave Earth. When she learns that the hero of humanity, Ender Wiggin—a boy her own age—is going to be on the same ship, she gets excited, thinking that she might just marry this boy.

  Ender in Exile (Novel)

  Year published: 2008

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Ender Wiggin, Valentine Wiggin, Admiral Quincy Morgan, Sel Menach, Alessandra Toscano, Virlomi, Achilles Flandres II, Hyrum Graff

  SPECIAL NOTES: Includes short stories “Ender’s Homecoming,” “Young Man With Prospects,” and part of “Gold Bug.”

  SYNOPSIS: Following his victories over the Formics, Ender Wiggin is sent into space to govern a human colony on a distant planet. He is joined by his sister, Valentine, and pursued by a young girl named Alessandra Toscano. Ender has frequent run-ins with the transport ship’s commanding officer, Admiral Quincy Morgan. When the ship arrives at its destination, Ender is made governor. He discovers a Formic Hive Queen living on the planet, and takes it to preserve her life. It is a great penance for his act of xenocide. Ender and Valentine both write important books while on this planet. Hyrum Graff asks Ender to travel to another planet, Ganges, to discover the fate of the last of Bean and Petra’s lost children. Ender meets this child, who believes himself to be the son of Achilles Flandres. Ender teaches the boy of his true parentage, setting Achilles II, now calling himself Arkanian Delphiki, on a better path. Ender and Valentine return to the stars and more planets.

  Shadow of the Hegemon (Novel)

  Year published: 2001

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Peter Wiggin, Achilles Flandres, Bean Delphiki, Petra Arkanian, Sister Carlotta, Hyrum Graff

  SYNOPSIS: Ender Wiggin’s colleagues are the heroes of Earth. They worked together to defeat the Formics, the aliens who twice attacked our planet and threatened humanity’s very existence. Ender himself has left Earth to govern a human colony on a former Formic world, leaving Bean, Petra, and the rest of his friends alone on Earth. Achilles Flandres, a murderer and longtime enemy of Bean’s, kidnaps the remaining members of Ender’s army, or jeesh as it was known, except Bean. To rescue his friends, Bean turns to Ender’s brother, Peter, a teenaged political pundit and a manipulator with designs of world domination. All are rescued except Petra, the secret love of Bean’s life. Bean mounts a dangerous operation to save her and successfully does so, but is unable to save Sister Carlotta from Achilles’s murderous hand. Petra wants to marry Bean, but he has discovered that he is growing at an incredible rate and will not live into full adulthood. He doesn’t want to make Petra a young widow. Achilles is captured, and Peter furthers his path to ruling the world.

  Shadow Puppets (Novel)

  Year published: 2002

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Peter Wiggin, Bean Delphiki, Achilles Flandres, Petra Arkanian, Hyrum Graff, Alai, Han Tzu, Virlomi

  SYNOPSIS: In the years since their victory over the Formics, the members of Ender Wiggin’s army have been taken in by their respective governments and exploited for their military genius. Bean Delphiki continues to grow at an astounding rate, knowing that he will soon be dead from the genetic manipulation that gave him his superior strength and intellect. His best friend, Petra Arkanian, wants desperately to marry him, but he refuses. Meanwhile, Peter Wiggin, Ender’s older brother, is ge
tting further on the path to ruling the world. Achilles Flandres has escaped and is manipulating world politics to start wars in Asia and Europe. With Bean’s help, Peter’s small army and government is able to help put an end to the wars, but not without consequence. India has been taken over by the Islamic world, and is beginning small revolts. Bean ultimately marries Petra, and they set out to have children in vitro, hoping to ensure that they do not have the genetic manipulation that will kill Bean. Bean also confronts and kills Achilles, who spearheads the robbery of Bean and Petra’s embryos. With Achilles dead, and the world in disarray, Bean and Petra set out to find their babies, while Peter picks up the pieces of a fractured world, hoping to unify it under his government, the Hegemony.

  Shadow of the Giant (Novel)

  Year published: 2005

  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS: Peter Wiggin, Bean Delphiki, Petra Arkanian, Alai, Han Tzu, Virlomi

  SYNOPSIS: Bean Delphiki has only a short time to live. He will die from the genetic manipulation that has given him superior strength and intellect, as well as accelerated his growth to giant-sized. But before he does that, he and his wife Petra must find their stolen embryos. They search throughout the world looking for them, finding all but one who had been hidden by Achilles Flandres, Bean’s lifelong arch enemy. Meanwhile Peter Wiggin, the Hegemon of Earth, works to unify governments and militaries into one world government. The spiritual leader of India (a former Battle Schooler named Virlomi) and the head of the Muslim world (another Battle School grad named Alai) have united in marriage, but have set their own designs for world control in motion. With Bean’s part-time help, Peter is able to cause a split between Alai and Virlomi and unify the world, bringing about an end to the wars on the planet. Peter becomes the Hegemon of the whole world except for America, which doesn’t join his government. Bean, knowing that he will soon die, divorces Petra and takes a few of their children (all of whom have the same genetic manipulation he carries) into space. They plan to travel at light speed, slowing time for them and allowing scientists on Earth to figure out how to reverse the manipulation. Petra is heartbroken, but eventually marries Peter. Peter’s brother, Ender, writes the story of Peter’s life, and it is a book that revolutionizes the world. Decades pass, and Peter dies. Petra mourns him, but is glad that she has lived the life she did.