First Meetings: Three Stories from the Enderverse

by Orson Scott Card

Meet Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, the unforgettable boy-hero of Ender's Game--winner of the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for Best Novel--and enter his Universe through this collection of stories.

"The Polish Boy" is John Paul Wiggin, the future father of Ender. In the years between the first two Bugger Wars, the Hegemony is desperate to recruit brilliant military commanders to repel the alien invasion. They may have found their man--or boy--in John Paul Wiggin....

In "Teacher's Pest"-a novella written especially for this collection--a brilliant but arrogant John Paul Wiggin, now a university student, matches wits with an equally brilliant graduate student.

"The Investment Counselor" is set after the end of the Bugger Wars. 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 Xeoncide.

Also reprinted here is the original award-winning novella, "Ender's Game," which first appeared in 1977.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories

150 pages, Hardcover

Published July 1, 2002

About the author

Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.

Reviews

[Ramona · Rating 4 out of 5]

One original, never-before-published story, and the first story of Ender unknowingly fighting the real enemy, and destroying an alien world. This is a haunting story with a child genius s its main character, born from a parent, a second child, who should never have been born, on a crowded earth. This will be remembered along with the original stories in the Ender's story, as a true sci-fi classic.

[Ross Mcdowall]

Skipped Enders Game

[Nanosynergy · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Meetings contains three stories: 1) The Polish Boy; 2) Investment Counselor; and 3) Ender's Game. The first story provides background on Ender's father. The second introduces "Jane", Ender's temperamental digital assistant and investment counselor. It also tells how Ender started his career as a Speaker for the Dead. The final story is a reprinting of the original, novelette version of Ender's Game which was published in July 1977 in Analog magazine. The author turned this novelette into a novel in 1985 which won both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This quick read is much lighter fare than the previous heavily philosophical novels. It's 2 new back stories involving Ender's father as a boy and a story between Ender's game and Speaker of the Dead where Ender meets for the first time a very influential character for the next few novels. Both stories are quick, but add some missing pieces to the story and are enjoyable. The final short story is the original short story that became Ender's Game. A fun quick read if you enjoy stories from this universe.

[Michael Zeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of three short stories that are set in the universe of Ender's Game. For someone who is a bit on the nerdy side, and loves "world building" in literature this book is great. The first story sets up Ender's dad's youth. The second tells how Ender meets Jane (an important character from Speaker for the Dead). The third story is actually the original short story titled "Ender's Game" that was eventually turned into the full length novelization we all know and love.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun short stories that describe the "meetings" between some characters in the Ender saga. Did you ever wonder how Captain Graff met Ender's parents for the first time? How did Ender's parents meet eachother? Did you ever want to relive Ender's first meeting with Bean? Mazer Rackham? And just when did Ender meet Jane the AI being of later books? Look no further, this is your book.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three cool stories that add to the Ender's Game universe. We see his father when he was younger and we meet Jane, the computer program that is his partner. There is also the original Ender's Game short story.

[Paul O · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, you may wish to read this book of stories about how some of the characters first met.