Cover of Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

5 book recommendations

Books Like “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card

If you were captivated by the tactical brilliance, high-stakes military sci-fi, and heartbreaking moral dilemmas of Ender’s Game, you are not alone. Orson Scott Card created an unforgettable tale of gifted youth pushed to the edge of survival. Explore our curated recommendations below to discover your next thrilling intergalactic obsession.

  1. Cover of Red Rising by Pierce Brown

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    Red Rising

    by Pierce Brown

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pierce Brown’s relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

    “Red Rising ascends above a crowded dys­topian field.”—USA Today

    ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, Shelf Awareness

    “I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”
    “I live for you,” I say sadly.
    Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”

    Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he toils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

    But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

    Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

    Praise for Red Rising

    “[A] spectacular adventure . . . one heart-pounding ride . . . Pierce Brown’s dizzyingly good debut novel evokes The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and Ender’s Game. . . . [Red Rising] has everything it needs to become meteoric.”—Entertainment Weekly

    “Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow.”—Scott Sigler

    Why it's similar

    Both novels center on exceptional youth forced into high-stakes, simulated war games within an elite training academy designed to cultivate ruthless leaders.

    What's different

    Red Rising features a visceral first-person perspective driven by rebellion and class warfare against a planetary caste system, contrasting with Ender's detached tactical focus and institutional obedience.

  2. Cover of Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

    Cover not available

    Starship Troopers

    by Robert A. Heinlein

    In Robert A. Heinlein’s controversial Hugo Award-winning bestseller, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the Universe—and into battle against mankind’s most alarming enemy...

    Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids.

    Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job...

    “A classic…If you want a great military adventure, this one is for you.”—All SciFi

    Why it's similar

    Both are landmark military science fiction novels depicting humanity's desperate interstellar struggle for survival against an enigmatic, hive-minded insectoid species.

    What's different

    Heinlein emphasizes political philosophy, infantry discipline, and civic duty through an adult recruit, whereas Card focuses on the psychological manipulation and exploitation of gifted children.

  3. Cover of The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

    Cover not available

    The Forever War

    by Joe Haldeman

    Joe Haldeman's monumental Hugo and Nebula award winning SF classic The Forever War-- Featuring a new introduction by John Scalzi

    The Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand--despite the fact that the fierce alien enemy they would oppose is inscrutable, unconquerable, and very far away. A reluctant conscript drafted into an elite Military unit, Private William Mandella has been propelled through space and time to fight in the distant thousand-year conflict; to perform his duties and do whatever it takes to survive the ordeal and return home. But "home" may be even more terrifying than battle, because, thanks to the time dilation caused by space travel, Mandella is aging months while the Earth he left behind is aging centuries...

    Why it's similar

    Both stories critique the human cost of interstellar conflict and climax with profound revelations regarding the tragic misunderstanding that caused the war against the alien species.

    What's different

    The Forever War emphasizes the alienation and cultural shock resulting from relativistic time dilation during centuries of combat, rather than the focused tactical command and simulator training of Ender's Game.

  4. Cover of Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

    Cover not available

    Old Man’s War

    by John Scalzi

    Perfect for an entry-level sci-fi reader and the ideal addition to a veteran fan’s collection, John Scalzi's Old Man’s War will take audiences on a heart-stopping adventure into the far corners of the universe.

    John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army.

    The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce-and aliens willing to fight for them are common. The universe, it turns out, is a hostile place.

    So: we fight. To defend Earth (a target for our new enemies, should we let them get close enough) and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has gone on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.

    Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force, which shields the home planet from too much knowledge of the situation. What's known to everybody is that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve your time at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.

    John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine-and what he will become is far stranger.

    Old Man's War Series
    #1 Old Man’s War
    #2 The Ghost Brigades
    #3 The Last Colony
    #4 Zoe’s Tale
    #5 The Human Division
    #6 The End of All Things
    Short fiction: “After the Coup”

    Other Tor Books
    The Android’s Dream
    Agent to the Stars
    Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded
    Fuzzy Nation
    Redshirts
    Lock In
    The Collapsing Empire

    At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    Why it's similar

    Both are fast-paced military SF stories about a gifted individual joining an elite spacefaring force, using advanced technology and tactical ingenuity to fight alien foes while raising questions about identity and the ethics of warfare.

    What's different

    Its protagonist is an elderly volunteer given a new body, and the tone mixes dark implications with more humor and accessible banter, resulting in a less bleak psychological atmosphere than Ender’s Game.

  5. Cover of Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

    Cover not available

    Skyward

    by Brandon Sanderson

    A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

    From Brandon Sanderson, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Reckoners series, Words of Radiance, and the internationally bestselling Mistborn series, comes the first book in an epic new series about a girl who dreams of becoming a pilot in a dangerous world at war for humanity's future.

    Spensa's world has been under attack for decades. Now pilots are the heroes of what's left of the human race, and becoming one has always been Spensa's dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring skyward and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with her father's--a pilot himself who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, leaving Spensa's chances of attending flight school at slim to none.

    No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, yet fate works in mysterious ways. Flight school might be a long shot, but she is determined to fly. And an accidental discovery in a long-forgotten cavern might just provide her with a way to claim the stars.

    Praise for Skyward:
    A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

    "Startling revelations and stakes-raising implications...Sanderson plainly had a ball with this nonstop, highflying opener, and readers will too."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

    "With this action-packed trilogy opener, Sanderson offers up a resourceful, fearless heroine and a memorable cast...[and] as the pulse-pounding story intensifies and reveals its secrets, a cliffhanger ending sets things up for the next installment."--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

    "It is impossible to turn the pages fast enough."--Booklist

    "Sanderson delivers a cinematic adventure that explores the defining aspects of the individual versus the society...[and] fans of [his] will not be disappointed."--SLJ

    Praise for Brandon Sanderson's Reckoners series:
    #1 New York Times Bestselling Series

    "Another win for Sanderson . . . he's simply a brilliant writer. Period."--Patrick Rothfuss, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The Name of the Wind

    "Action-packed."--EW

    "Compelling. . . . Sanderson uses plot twists that he teases enough for readers to pick up on to distract from the more dramatic reveals he has in store."--AV Club

    Why it's similar

    Both are science fiction stories about a young, talented pilot-in-training in a besieged society, highlighting rigorous combat education, high-stakes aerial battles, and the burden of expectations placed on a single gifted youth.

    What's different

    Although it shares a YA focus and intense flight school elements, it leans more into ongoing series worldbuilding and character-driven adventure, with less emphasis on the moral horror of manipulating children for war.

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