Shelfology Book Pairing

by Ernest Cline

THE NEW NOVEL FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF READY PLAYER ONE Itâe(tm)s just another day of high school for Zack Lightman. He's daydreaming through another boring math class, with just one more month to go until graduation and freedomâe"if he can make it that long without getting suspended again. Then he glances out his classroom window and spots the flying saucer. At first, Zack thinks heâe(tm)s going crazy. A minute later, heâe(tm)s sure of it. Because the UFO heâe(tm)s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armadaâe"in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders. But what Zackâe(tm)s seeing is all too real. And his skillsâe"as well as those of millions of gamers across the worldâe"are going to be needed to save the earth from whatâe(tm)s about to befall it. Yet even as he and his new comrades scramble to prepare for the alien onslaught, Zack canâe(tm)t help thinking of all the science-fiction books, TV shows, and movies he grew up reading and watching, and wonder: Doesnâe(tm)t something about this scenario seem a little tooâe¦ familiar? Armada is at once a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien-invasion tale like nothing youâe(tm)ve ever read beforeâe"one whose every page is infused with author Ernest Clineâe(tm)s trademark pop-culture savvy.

by Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card's science fiction classic Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel. In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister. Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives. THE ENDER UNIVERSE Ender series Ender’s Game / Ender in Exile / Speaker for the Dead / Xenocide / Children of the Mind Ender’s Shadow series Ender’s Shadow / Shadow of the Hegemon / Shadow Puppets / Shadow of the Giant / Shadows in Flight Children of the Fleet 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