List Of Science Fiction Films

The Ender Saga: a Noteworthy Science Fiction Series

January 1985 marks the beginning of America’s love affair with Ender Wiggin. It was that month that Ender’s Game was published, becoming an instant blockbuster, and “probably the most popular science fiction novel published in the last twenty years” (John Kessel). The child prodigy and ultimate savior of the earth, Ender Wiggin, had appeared seven years earlier in a short story published in the science fiction magazine Analog. Writer Orson Scott Card had spent much of his young life working in print, but had only set to writing science fiction when his meager salary as copy editor at a small press failed to pay a debt incurred from a failed business attempt. His magazine article won instant attention, and Orson Scott Card won the 1978 John C. Campbell Award for best new writer at the World Science Fiction Convention. But little Ender was destined for bigger things.

Orson Scott Card saw potential in his young protagonist and instantly set to work developing the short fiction into a longer work. Already he had two novels in mind, Ender’s Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead, published the following year in 1986. Card made history by winning both the prestigious Nebula and Hugo Awards in both consecutive years. No other author has managed this feat to date (2006.) Since that time, Ender’s Game has been translated into sixteen languages, and spawned two series.

The first series includes Ender’s Game (1985), Speaker for the Dead (1986), Xenocide (1991), Children of the Mind (1996), and First Meetings (2002). The saga follows Ender as he grows into adulthood and deals with the moral and ethical issues presented in his childhood.

The second series starts with a parallel telling of the original Ender’s Game, but from the eyes of Bean. Titled Ender’s Shadow (1999), it is the first of the Shadow Series, followed by Shadow of the Hegemon (2001), Shadow Puppets (2002), and Shadow of the Giant (2005).

Ender’s Game has been called “the science fiction novel for people who don’t think they like science fiction.” Truly it appeals to a vast audience. It is on the list of top books for college-bound students, and has been adopted as required reading in numerous secondary schools and university classes. Card explains that the focus on the human story as it unravels, rather than the science fiction elements, is what gives the novel power among its readers. Essentially, Card says, readers must relate and care deeply about the characters. Beyond that, he admits that the use of computer networks and the “mind game” are features in the book that appeal to many readers.

Ender claimed the spotlight again in the late 1990s when rumor caught wind that a film was slated. Indeed, Warner Brothers announced in 2002 its plans to produce the film. Director Wolfgang Peterson, known for his most recent films Poseidon, Troy and The Perfect Storm, is joined by screenwriter David Benieff (Troy). The movie is expected to hit the theaters in 2008. After winning the top prizes offered in science fiction literature, one wonders what is still in store for Ender Wiggen.

About the Author

About the Author
Francesca Black has always enjoyed Science Fiction and she manages the content at: Science Fiction Corner http://www.science-fiction-corner.com

The Best Science Fiction films from all over the World (Non-American) (Part 1)

The Ultimate Matrix Collection [Blu-ray] $32.59 The MatrixBy following up their debut thriller Bound with the 1999 box-office smash The Matrix, the codirecting Wachowski brothers--Andy and Larry--annihilated any suggestion of a sophomore jinx, crafting one of the most exhilarating sci-fi/action movies of the 1990s. Set in the not too distant future in an insipid, characterless city, we find a young man named Neo (Keanu Reeves). A software techi...

Rise Of The Planet of the Apes: In Character with James Franco ...

Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (Star Trek I, II, III, IV, V, VI + The Captain's Summit Bonus Disc) [Blu-ray] $54.91 Genre: Sci-Fi/FantasyRating: PGRelease Date: 12-MAY-2009Media Type: DVD...

Midnight Cowboy: Original Motion Picture Score $5.43 Though perhaps overshadowed by the pop success of Harry Nilsson's rendition of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" (and overwhelmed on the album by songs from B.J. Thomas, Elephant's Memory, and even early Warren Zevon), John Barry's elegant title track and handful of cues here still rate as some of his best. Their melodies frequently carried by a mournful solo harmonica, Barry's coolly detached mus...

The Science Fiction Album $16.60 ...

Great Science Fiction Film Music Lp lp...

Firefly - The Complete Series $19.98 As the 2005 theatrical release of Serenity made clear, Firefly was a science fiction concept that deserved a second chance. Devoted fans (or "Browncoats") knew it all along, and with this well-packaged DVD set, those who missed the show's original broadcasts can see what they missed. Creator Joss Whedon's ambitious science-fiction Western (Whedon's third series after Buffy the Vampire Slayer and ...

Watchmen $11.00 Has any comic been as acclaimed as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, but Watchmen remains the critics' favorite. Why? Because Moore is a better writer, and Watchmen a more complex and dark and literate creation than Miller's fantastic, subversive take on the Batman myth. Moore, renowned for many other of the genre's finest creations (Saga ...

V for Vendetta $12.23 V for Vendetta is, like its author's later Watchmen, a landmark in comic-book writing. Alan Moore has led the field in intelligent, politically astute (if slightly paranoid), complex adult comic-book writing since the early 1980s. He began V back in 1981 and it constituted one of his first attempts (along with the criminally neglected but equally superb Miracleman) at writing an ongoing series. It...

The Power of Six (Lorien Legacies) $11.00 I've seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he's a mystery. But to me . . . he's one of us. Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us—if we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another . . . b...

Moon (DVD) $11.38 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Anchored by a dexterous performance from indie stalwart Sam Rockwell and shot in lean, expressive and slightly surreal visual tone that recalls Tarkovsky`s SOLARIS, MOON harkens back to pre-STAR WARS American science fiction film...

The B List (Paperback) $15.39 Provides an informative guide to these low-budget and relatively unpredictable cult classics through movie critic reviews of some of the most revered science fiction, western, and midnight movies ever produced. Original.

American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913-1929 (Hardcover) $96.67 "During the Silent Era there were films that dared to tackle such topics as mesmerism, the supernatural and the grotesque. Using surviving documentation and their combined expertise, the authors offer their thoughts on these departures from the norm in this encyclopedic discussion on the American view of cinematic horror, science fiction and fantasy 1913-1929"--Provided by publisher.

Columbia Pictures Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1928-1982 (Paperback) $44.73 "From 1928 through 1982 the studio released some of the most famous and popular films dealing with horror, science fiction and fantasy. This volume covers more than 200 Columbia feature films within these genres, among them Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers and The Revenge of Frankenstein"--Provided by publisher.