First Meetings: In the Enderverse

by Orson Scott Card

Hardcover, 2003

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Series

Ender's Game

Enderverse (7 (short stories 7.2, 7.3, 7.6, 9.4))

Genres

Publication

Tor Teen (2003), Edition: 1st, Hardcover, 208 pages

Description

Science Fiction. Short Stories. Young Adult Fiction. HTML: 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 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.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member mikeandmelinda

First Meetings gives several different origin stories leading up to the events in Ender's Game and to Speaker for the Dead. Highlights include "The Polish Boy," about Ender's father when he was a boy, as well as the original short story version of Ender's Game. If you enjoyed Ender's Game and the

other books in that series, then you will probably enjoy this book, but if you've never read any of those books, this is the wrong place to start.

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LibraryThing member eduscapes

Card is one of my favorite authors. As a long-time fan of the Ender's Game books, I was excited to see additional short stories related to the characters.

LibraryThing member DSDragon

My favorite stories are "The Polish Boy" and "Teacher's Pest."

LibraryThing member SatansParakeet

This is a quick and interesting look into the background and beginnings of Ender Wiggins. Those who enjoyed the previous journeys into the Enderverse, will be disappointed only by the length of this collection.

LibraryThing member HippieLunatic

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 more insight into the character, but adds little in the way of plot or theme.

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LibraryThing member librisissimo

Short stories giving background to "Ender's Game" (included) and "Speaker for the Dead". Interesting as filler.

LibraryThing member cbradley

Not as good as the novels in the series. Some of the stories were alright while others were somewhat painful to read. There were no major revelations about characters of events in the Ender series. These short stories were filler, nothing more nothing less. Good to read in the interest of

completion but serve no other real purpose and are not essential in understanding the rest of the Ender series.

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LibraryThing member Karlstar

Strictly for fans of the Ender and Bean series. This is a collection of short stories that expand on the charcters from Ender's Game. Well written and entertaining, but it would probably be a mystery if you have not read Ender's War and Speaker for the Dead.

LibraryThing member robfreeze

This book was fun; I loved the Polish boy and the flow to Teacher's Pest, especially after just reading Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow Puppets, it's fun to the parents. The original short story Enders Game was also fun to read and see how the idea started contrasting it with the novel and

Ender's Shadow. In all a fun quick read for any Ender fan! Also it was fun to see Jane.

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LibraryThing member bookworm12

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 not necessary for others.

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LibraryThing member Daniel.Estes

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.

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LibraryThing member zjakkelien

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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LibraryThing member 2wonderY

I was so relieved that this book was finally published. Finding the original novella version 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.

LibraryThing member DrLed

One of the categories on the 2016 Reading Challenge list was a book with a blue cover. This cover is at least blue on the back.
Synopsis: John Paul is a precocious 5 year old; he's taught himself to read, and is adept at manipulating people. He is singled out to go to Battle School at a very early

age, but makes a deal with the government that his parents and all of his siblings must be moved to a country where they can all attend school rather than being home-schooled. Flash forward 20 or so years: one of this children, Ender, is also a genius and is very successful in Battle School. So successful that he is in command of other children being trained to fight the Buggers. Ender is, in fact, Earth's last hope for winning the war. Flash forward a few hundred years in real time, but only a few in space time: Andrew has just turned 20 and now must pay taxes on all the revenue he has inherited from Ender. He and his sister are wandering the universe; she's writing books and he's tagging along. Andrew's only wish is to find something meaningful to do with his life, and to find a safe place for the Hive Queen (the last of the race of Buggers).
Review: This book is a set of three novellas that provide the back story, as well as the original Ender's Game tale. The writing is excellent and the stories are compelling. The last novella leaves the reader wanting more - and I'm probably going to hunt up all of the novels in this series just to see what happens to the main characters.

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LibraryThing member orkydd

'First Meetings' brings together 4 short stories, telling the tale of Ender Wiggin. Beginning with how Ender's father came to America, to his meeting with Ender's mother, the quartet includes the original 'Ender's Game' novella and concludes with Ender's introduction to the practice of 'Speaking

for the Dead. I'd read them all before, but they are fast to read, and are a pleasant jog to the memory, pending the upcoming 2013 film.

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LibraryThing member MynTop

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.

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