There are four books in the original series (quartet) but now, according to Wikkipedia, there are sixteen books altogether, related to Ender, his family, and Ender's friend Bean, and his family. In fact the original quartet is now a quintet because Card wrote a book about "Ender's Exile" about Ender's experiences after destroying the Formics but before reaching Lusitania... Let's just pretend there are four books please, because I am feeling as if I have completed the saga by re-reading the quartet. I'm good, I'm done for now.
I went to see "Ender's Game" at the theatre at Christmas, with my brother and niece. The movie annoyed us all, but I was the only one who was annoyed by the teen sitting near us who crunched ice out of his giant cup the ENTIRE TIME. The movie doesn't stray from the book necessarily, but it doesn't go into great detail either. I am not sure anyone would care about the movie without reading the book first, but after reading the book perhaps watching the movie could be a nice summary. Or not.
The reason I like the series of books is because of Andrew Wiggin, who is known as Ender. In the first book he is a child genius. Because he was the underdog, I wanted him to win. Because he was interested in justice, I wanted him to win. Because he was troubled, I wanted him to win. I liked him and I wanted the other characters to like him too. Then he won, and accidentally destroyed an entire race - the bug-like Formics.
Luckily, there was a remnant. There was one formic cocoon that survived, a pregnant creature, the last one in the universe. The second book "Speaker for the Dead" explains how Ender spends the next forty years of life trying to redeem what he has ruined by finding the formic cocoon a new planet and a new home. The second book is also a murder mystery of sorts, and introduces us to the Pequeninos, the third species in the universe. This book is interesting for a number of futuristic ideas including the idea of Jane, who only exists as a very advanced computer program. By the end of book two, the murder mystery is solved and Ender is married. I think a person could be done after this book but I contined with the next two.
"Xenocide" goes into more detail about life on planet Lusitania. There is a big problem on Lusitania and it's all about a mutating virus that seems intelligent in some way. Humans from the other worlds are intent on destroying Lusitania before the virus spreads, but Ender and his family are working hard for alternative solutions. Meanwhile some of the characters are working with Jane and the Formics to develope instantaneous flight - which seems not too far-fetched with Card's description. However, what happens at the end of the book is just dumb. Embarassing for Ender and also just weird and too unbelievable.
'Children of the Mind' is the final book in the quartet. By this time Ender is in his 60's and is getting a bit bored because it seems his life goals have been achieved: Re-establishing the Formics and helping the three sentient species to get along on the same planet. However, the other humans are still planning to destroy the planet Lusitania so every character has a part in trying to make peace. And in case peace is not achieved, the computer program Jane is working hard to transport most inhabitants of Lusitania to other habitable planets with her instantaneous space pods. Are you still following me? This gets a bit far fetched and boring (surprise!) but there are moments of wisdom including: raw anger management, possible justification of brute force, and how to be a good spouse to someone who is very powerful and influential. Card might get a little too technical with his fictional science, but he is so good at character development and insight into the human condition that I kept reading to the end.
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