Orson Scott Card (b. 1951) is a science fiction writer and essayist. His novels include Seventh Son (Tor Books, 1987), The Memory of Earth (Tor Books, 1992), and Treasure Box (HarperCollins, 1996); his short story collections include The Folk of the Fringe (Phantasia Press/Tor Books, 1989) and Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card (Tor Books, 1990). This selection is from the novel Ender's Game (Tor Books, 1985), based on Card's first published science fiction story by the same name, in Analog in 1977. Ender's Game begins a trilogy followed by Speaker for the Dead (Tor Books, 1986) and Xenocide (Tor Books, 1991). Protagonist Ender Wiggin is a boy bred and chosen by military commanders for his potential to save humankind from destruction by a formidable alien species. At this point in the novel, the 6-year-old Ender has been removed from his family and is undergoing training at a special school.

"Hatrack River", Card's web site

"The Giant's Drink" (Composing Cyberspace p. 427) is not available online.

1. How does Ender defeat the Giant and finally get to Fairyland? In what ways is the simulation game he's playing similar to and different from video or computer games that you've played?

2. What purposes do the designers of this computer simulation seem to have in mind? What could they be training Ender and other students to do?

3. What does Ender learn from the computer game? What other lessons do you think are possible from such a game?