List of Orson Scott Card Books in Order

Reading the Orson Scott Card books in order will be quite a feat. The author has written countless books over the years, so there is a lot to go through. Even if you don’t like reading a lot of science-fiction novels, you will have heard of the author of the Ender’s Saga, a story that has also been turned into a blockbuster movie.

The author is truly one of the most popular sci-fi writers of all times.

Here is the Orson Scott Card book list in chronological order, with the publication year being added at the end. Do note that the actual order of books is in brackets right after the title. Any new books by Orson Scott Card will be added to the relevant series as soon as they are published (or even before, as soon as we hear about them).

New Orson Scott Card Books

Extinct, (Extinct #1), 2020

Science-fiction series

Ender’s Game Series in Order

1. First Meetings in Ender’s Universe (Ender’s Game #0.5), 2002
2. Ender’s Game (Ender’s Game #1), 1985
3. A War of Gifts (Ender’s Game #1.1), 2007
4. Ender in Exile (Ender’s Game #1.2), 2008
5. Speaker for the Dead (Ender’s Game #2), 1986
6. Xenocide (Ender’s Game #3), 1991
7. Children of the Mind Ender’s Game #4), 1996

Ender’s Shadow Series in Order

1. Ender’s Shadow, 1998
2. Shadow of the Hegemon, 2000
3. Shadow Puppets, 2002
4. Shadow of the Giant, 2005
5. Shadows in Flight, 2011
6. Shadows Alive, TBA

The First Formic War Series in Order

1. Earth Unaware (Formic Wars #1), 2012
2. Earth Afire (Formic Wars #2), 2013
3. Earth Awakens (Formic Wars #3), 2014

Second Formic War Series in Order

1. The Swarm (Second Formic Wars #1), 2016
2. The Hive (Second Formic Wars #2), 2019
3. The Queens, TBA

Fleet School Books in Order

1. Children of the Fleet, 2017

The Homecoming Saga Books in Order

1. The Memory of Earth, 1992
2. The Call of Earth, 1993
3. The Ships of Earth, 1994
4. Earthfall, 1995
5. Earthborn, 1995

Pastwatch Series in Order

1. Atlantis, 1992 (prequel short story, included in Keeper of Dreams)
2. The Redemption of Christopher Columbus, 1996
3. Keeper of Dreams, 2008 (collection of short stories)
4. The Flood, TBA
5. The Garden of Eden, TBA

Mayflower Trilogy in Order

1. Lovelock, 1994
2. Rasputin, TBA

Worthing Series in Order

1. Capitol, 1979
2. Hot Sleep, 1979
3. The Worthing Chronicle, 1983

Empire Series in Order

1. Empire, 2006
2. Hidden Empire, 2009

Pathfinder Series in Order

1. Pathfinder, 2010
2. Ruins, 2012
3. Visitors, 2014

Extinct Series in Order

1. Extinct, 2020

Fantasy series

The Tales of Alvin Maker Books in Order

1. Seventh Son, 1987
2. Red Prophet, 1988
3. Prentice Alvin, 1989
4. Alvin Journeyman, 1995
5. Heartfire, 1998
6. The Crystal City, 2003
7. Master Alvin, TBA

Mither Mages Series in Order

1. Sandmagic, 1979 (short story)
2. Stonefather, 2008 (novella)
3. The Lost Gate, 2011
4. The Gate Thief, 2013
5. Gatefather, 2015

Historical Series

Women of Genesis Books in Order

1. Sarah, 2000
2. Rebekah, 2001
3. Rachel and Leah, 2004
4. The Wives of Israel, TBA
5. The Sons of Rachel, TBA

Standalone Orson Scott Card Books

• A Planet Called Treason, 1979
• Songmaster, 1980
• Hart’s Hope, 1983
• A Woman of Destiny/Saints, 1983
• Wyrms, 1987
• How to Write Science-Fiction & Fantasy, 1990
• Lost Boys, 1992
• Treasure Box, 1996
• Stone Tables, 1997
• Homebody, 1998
• Enchantment, 1999
• Magic Street, 2005
• Invasive Procedures, 2007
• A Town Divided by Christmas, 2018
• Lost and Found, 2019

Orson Scott Card Biography

Orson Scott Card was born in 1951 in Richland, Washington. He grew up in several places around the United States, including Santa Clara, California, Mesa, Arizona and Orem, Utah.

While living in Santa Clara, he attended the Millikin Elementary school. It was a time when he would read everything he could in the children’s book section, following which he would pick up books from the adult section as well.

His family moved to Orem, Utah when Orson was 16 years old. He attended the Brigham Young High School for a year, following which he graduated and went on to win a Presidential Scholarship to BYU. He enrolled with a major in archaeology, a pursuit which he let go off soon, once he realized he had a higher for theatre than for archaeology. So, he became a theatre student with a penchant for writing.

In the early 1970s, he served as a missionary for the LDS Church in Brazil. When he returned from his mission in Brazil, he graduated with a B.A. in theatre from Brigham Young University and then an M.A. from the University of Utah in 1981, following which he attended a one year program at the University of Notre Dame from where he got his Ph.D. degree.

During the 1970s, Orson Scott Card was an associate editor of the Ensign magazine belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He married Kristine Allen in 1977 with whom he had several children.

Currently, the author lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his family, where he works on his next novel. When not writing, Card is teaching writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University and is writing a review column for the local Rhinoceros Times. He is often traveling with the family to various parts of America and of the world at large.

While the author is best known for his sci-fi works in the Ender Saga such as full novels and short stories, he also wrote books in other genres. For example, A Town Divided by Christmas is a romantic comedy. He initially started writing musical comedies and plays in the 1960-1970s. Later on, in the 1980s he also wrote screenplays for various religious children’s videos. Some of the books he wrote ranged from biblical novels to fantasies and even non-fiction books on writing stories. He even wrote poetry and comic books.

However, the Orson Scott Card science-fiction books, especially his Ender Saga, were the biggest hits with the readers. In 1978 the author won the John W. Campbell Award for being a best new writer from in the World Science Fiction Convention. His books also received the Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award, the Nebula Award, the Hugo Award, and the Locus Award. For example, Speaker For the Dead won the Hugo, Nebula Awar, and Locus SF Award, and was nominated for the Campbell Award.

Ender’s Game (Ender’s Game #1), 1985

When it comes to Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game is his best-known work. Ender’s Game is a tale about Ender Wiggins, a special boy who is recruited into Battle School, which is a school for gifted children. Using battle games as means of teaching, these children are prepared for their future as combatants in the upcoming war between Earth and invading aliens.

Ender’s Game became a movie in 2013 featuring prominent actors like Ben Kingsley and Harrison Ford. In addition, there is talk about an Enders Game sequel for the movie, but it is yet not clear whether the talk is about Speaker for the Dead or an entirely new sequel that Orson Scott Card would be writing specifically for the upcoming movie adaptation.

Another favorite series by Orson Scott Card, Empire, focuses on a group of left-wing protesters who try to take of the US with high tech weaponry. Many people are reading these two books now once again since it deals with politics that are quite close to what especially the US is dealing with right now.

In 2017, Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston created a new post-apocalyptic TV show called Extinct, which was canceled after one season. The story focuses on a small group of humans that survived 400 years after the extinction of human race on Earth. While the show has been cancelled, it seems that 2020 will see the publishing of the first book in the same-titled sci-fi book series.

The Enders Saga short stories include the following: Mazer in Prison, The Polish Boy, Teacher’s Pest, Pretty Boy, Cheater, The War of Gifts, Ender’s Stocking, Ender’s Game, Ender’s Homecoming, A Young Man with Prospects, Ender in Flight, The Gold Bug, Governor Wiggin, Investment Counselor, Renegat, Gloriously Bright, and Messenger.

The also writes under several pseudonyms, including Frederick Bliss, Brian Green, P.Q. Gump, Dinah Kirkham, Scott Richards, Byron Walley. Thus, the Orson Scott Card book list is quite vast if you want to read the entire book series ever written by this author.

Praise for Orson Scott Card

Hugo and Nebula-award winner Orson Scott Card demonstrates again that he belongs in the company of such older masters of science fiction as Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert and Ursula K. Le Guin. (Magill Book Reviews)

Ender’s Game is an affecting novel (New York Times Book Review)

Only a few authors have the ability to create characters that seem like real friends by the end of a book. Prepare to meet several in this absorbing and heartwarming coming-of-age story by master storyteller Orson Scott Card (Nicholas Sansburry Smith)

Unputdownable, unmissable. Classic Card character depth that goes to the center of the earth, and secrets that slowly unfold until the breathtaking, heart-lurching ending. (Mette Ive Harrison on Lost and Found)

The implications of the boys’ power to manipulate the past unfold cleverly…, feeding into the Machiavellian political intrigue for a pulse-pounding climax….Card’s many fans will be thrilled by this return to his literary roots (Kirkus on Pathfinder)

Mr. Card is giving a kind of tour of fantasy possibilities while integrating them into his intricately imagined system of magic. One of the system’s charms is that it explains such a lot: what ghosts are (the fading “outselves” that mages can project), what fairies are (playful creations that mages make from trash, plants and petals), and why all Indo-European gods have such strong family resemblances. The hints of real history behind the families are especially enticing: I look forward to learning more. (The Wall Street Journal on The Lost Gate)

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