That said, Ender's Shadow and Earth Unawares can each function as a starting point on their own.

It's definitely the recommended place to begin reading. If you find you don't like what you're reading just put it down and jump to a different section.Įnder's Game was the first book, and is by far the most famous.

Liking (or disliking) one book doesn't mean you'll like or dislike a different one. It should be stressed that pretty much every book in the series has a wildly different tone and style. The below chart I made shows which books should be read before every other book. This doesn't matter as much regarding the short stories, but should ideally be followed regarding the main books. The nomenclature also evolved throughout the series, and going out of publication order will lessen one's reading experience. In general, the books assume that you've read everything previously released. UPDATED WITH NEW CHART, SHOULD BE ACCURATE AS OF 2020 When reading chronologically, the story evolves in a more fluid an direct way. The advantage of reading in a chronological order is that the direct sequels of Ender's game take place thousands of years in the future and are quite distant from Ender's game in terms of plot. In fact, you could certainly read in a more-or-less chronological fashion:Įnder's Game, The War of Gifts, Shadow series, Ender series. Their arcs then diverge from that point, from those unique perspectives. Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and The War of Gifts are parallel novels that take place at the same point in time, from different perspectives. Normally, one would read in the publishing order, but you could read these arcs in any order. These are, in publishing order:Įnder series, the Shadow series, and The War of Gifts.

The Ender series contains three major arcs.

Shadow of the hegemon