Ender’s Game
by Orson Scott Card (Tor, 1985)
audiobook read by Stefan Rudnicki & Harlan Ellison (Macmillan Audio, 2004)
Card’s straightforward prose serves well in the military context, as does Rudnicki’s audiobook narration. The story zips along, revealing itself ultimately to have been as much a critique of humanity as of the total war mentality, ruthless training techniques and early-childhood indoctrination.