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Welcome to the Enderverse.When Orson Scott Card first published "Ender's Game" as a novella in 1977, few would have predicted that it would become one of the most successful ventures in publishing history. Expanded into a novel in 1985, Ender's Game won both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for Best Novel. Never out of print and translated into dozens of languages, it is the rare work of fiction that can truly be said to have transcended a genre. Ender's Game and its sequels have won show more dozens of prestigious awards and are as popular today among teens and young readers as adults.
First Meetings is an audiobook collection of three novellas-plus the original "Ender's Game"-that journey into the origins and the destiny of one Ender Wiggin.
"The Polish Boy" begins in the wake between the first two Bugger Wars when the Hegemony is desperate to recruit brilliant military commanders to repel the alien invasion. In John Paul Wiggin-the future father of Ender -they believe they may have found their man. Or boy.
In "Teacher's Pest"-a novella written especially for this collection-a brilliant but insufferably arrogant John Paul Wiggin, now an American university student, matches wits with an equally brilliant graduate student named Theresa Brown.
It is many years since the end of the Bugger Wars in "The Investment Counselor." Ender's reputation as a hero and savior has suffered a horrible reversal. Banished from Earth and slandered as a mass murderer, twenty-year-old Andrew Wiggin wanders incognito from planet to planet as a fugitive. Until a blackmailing tax inspector compromises his identity and threatens to expose Ender the Xenocide.
THE ENDER UNIVERSE
Ender series
Ender's Game / Speaker for the Dead / Xenocide / Children of the Mind / Ender in Exile / Children of the Fleet
Ender's Shadow series
Ender's Shadow / Shadow of the Hegemon / Shadow Puppets / Shadow of the Giant / Shadows in Flight
The First Formic War (with Aaron Johnston)
Earth Unaware / Earth Afire / Earth Awakens
The Second Formic War (with Aaron Johnston)
The Swarm / The Hive
Ender novellas
A War of Gifts / First Meetings
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First Meetings by Orson Scott Card is a collection of short stories correlating to the Ender series. I believe all the stories are new except for "Ender's Game" which is a reprint of the original 1977 publication. If "Ender's Game" is indeed an exact reproduction, then I'm impressed with how well the shorter story stands on its own and also at how seamlessly Card expanded it into the now-classic novel.
Ender meeting Jane for the first time in "Investment Counselor" reminded me of Spike Jonze's "Her" (2013) although the former came first. There are lots of similarities between the two despite Card's vision of the relationship being decidedly un-sexual in nature.
Ender meeting Jane for the first time in "Investment Counselor" reminded me of Spike Jonze's "Her" (2013) although the former came first. There are lots of similarities between the two despite Card's vision of the relationship being decidedly un-sexual in nature.
This is a collection of four short stories from the Ender universe. The first, The Polish Boy, gives the reader the background of Ender's father as a young boy. I loved seeing how his brain worked and seeing how he played Graff. The second story shows us the first meeting between Ender's parents. The Teacher's Pest not only shows us how they met, but it also makes the reader wonder if the meeting was orchestrated. The third story is the original 1970s version of Ender's Game. It was interesting to see the first versionof the story. The final piece (The Investment Counselor) takes place after Ender's Game. For those who have read the later Ender books it is a treat to meet Jane.
This collection is a must for die-hard Ender's fans, but show more not necessary for others. show less
This collection is a must for die-hard Ender's fans, but show more not necessary for others. show less
I'm torn between wishing I'd read this book prior to Ender's Game, and being glad that I mistakenly read it afterwards. I enjoyed the additional information and had I read it before Ender's Game, I might have been confused as to what was going on. There are also parts of this novella that happen during other parts of Ender's Game, so knowing how those scenes played out was helpful. I'm finding that I am very intrigued by Ender's Universe and can't wait to keep reading more.
I was so relieved that this book was finally published. Finding the original novella version of Ender's Game was difficult, and that's the one I have always recommended. It has an emotional punch that the expanded novel lacks. This is a book I continue to urge on those who haven't yet read in the Enderverse.
This book is incredible! It's a fascinating look into the hemogeny and Ender's family of origin. Also it was really interesting to look at Ender's life after his reputation had been destroyed. It's not really a .5 book because it has two stories about Ender's father, one about Ender in training, and one 300 years after.
This is a nice collection of Ender-related stories, meant to give you a better feel for the Ender character and various aspects of who he is and how he came to be the character in the Ender-saga.
My favorite stories are the ones about his father and mother, and how their lives shaped how they brought Ender up in the world. Perhaps this is because I am completely in love with the backstories of just about every piece of fiction that exists (cut-backs in television, prequels in literature, Episode I, II and II being the only Star Wars movies I've seen completely). Suffice it to say, this is a nice collection for any fan of Ender Wiggin, though it isn't something that every reader would want to pick up.
This collection of short stories gives show more more insight into the character, but adds little in the way of plot or theme. show less
My favorite stories are the ones about his father and mother, and how their lives shaped how they brought Ender up in the world. Perhaps this is because I am completely in love with the backstories of just about every piece of fiction that exists (cut-backs in television, prequels in literature, Episode I, II and II being the only Star Wars movies I've seen completely). Suffice it to say, this is a nice collection for any fan of Ender Wiggin, though it isn't something that every reader would want to pick up.
This collection of short stories gives show more more insight into the character, but adds little in the way of plot or theme. show less
Well, this was disappointing. So far I've liked all of the 'extras' written in Ender's world. Not this one. The first two stories about Ender's parents were ok. Then the third was basically a summary of Ender's game. Total spoiler if you haven't read Ender's game, and superfluous if you did. The last was a story about Ender travelling in between Ender's game and Speaker for the dead and meeting Jane. It was ok, but a bit flat. Overall, not really worth the trouble.
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Author Information
575+ Works 213,255 Members
Orson Scott Byron Walley Card, was born in 1951 and studied theater at Brigham Young University. He received his B.A. in 1975 and his M.A. in English in 1981. He wrote plays during that time, including Stone Tables (1973) and the musical, Father, Mother, Mother and Mom (1974). A Mormon, Scott served a two-year mission in Brazil before starting show more work as a journalist in Utah. He also designed games at Lucas Film Games, 1989-92. He is best known for his science fiction novels, including the popular Ender series. Well known titles include A Planet Called Treason (1979), Treasure Box (1996), and Heartfire (1998). He has also written the guide called How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (1990). His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead, both won Hugo and Nebula awards, making Card the only author to win both prizes in consecutive years. His titles Shadows in Flight, Ruins and Ender's Game made The New York Times Best Seller List. He is also the author of The First Formic War Series, which includes the titles Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, and Earth Awakens. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Awards and Honors
Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- First Meetings
- Original title
- First Meetings: Three Stories from the Enderverse
- Alternate titles
- First Meetings; First Meetings in the Enderverse; First Meetings: In the Enderverse; First Meetings in Ender's Universe
- Original publication date
- 2003-08 (collection) (collection); 1977 (Ender's Game) (Ender's Game); 2000 (Investment Councelor) (Investment Councelor); 2002 (The Polish Boy) (The Polish Boy); 2003 (Teacher's Pest) (Teacher's Pest)
- People/Characters
- Ender Wiggin (Andrew Wiggin); Jane the A.I.
- Dedication
- To Eugene England and Richard Cracroft.
two shepherds of LDS literature,
with respect and gratitude,
from one of the sheep - First words
- John Paul hated school.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Nothing was any different, except that Andrew no longer had to worry about his taxes, and he took considerable interest in the obituary columns when he reached a new planet.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- Publishing edition history:
• 2002 hardcover - First Meetings: Three Stories from the Enderverse. Contents: Ender's Game [short story] -- The Polish Boy -- The Investment Counselor (Note: Does note include Teache... (show all)r's Pest)
• 2003 hardcover - First Meetings: In the Enderverse. Contents: The Polish Boy -- Teacher's Pest -- Ender's Game [short story] -- The Investment Counselor
• 2004 softcover - First Meetings in Ender's Universe. Contents: The Polish Boy -- Teacher's Pest -- Ender's Game [short story] -- The Investment Counselor -- Reader's Guide
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- Genres
- Science Fiction, Fiction and Literature, Teen, Young Adult
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ7 .F — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
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