Ender's Game

Card posed a question science fiction had rarely formulated so clearly: what makes someone a monster when they are trained to be one? Ender Wiggin is a child genius subjected to pressure no child should bear, and the final twist reorients the entire reading. It works as an action adventure, as an ethical dilemma, and as a psychological study of instrumentalised childhood. The sequel Speaker for the Dead goes in a completely different direction and is equally brilliant.