characters xenocide
Ender ' s Game is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card . Set in Earth ' s future , the novel presents an imperiled mankind after two conflicts with the " buggers ", an insectoid alien species . In preparation for an anticipated third invasion , children , including the novel ' s protagonist , ___MASK84___ , are trained from a very young age through increasingly difficult games including some in ___MASK30___ gravity , where Ender ' s tactical genius is revealed . Xenocide ( 1991 ) is the third novel in the Ender ' s Game series of books by Orson Scott Card . It was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards for Best Novel in 1992 . The title is a combination of ' xeno - ' , meaning alien , and ' - cide ' , referring to the act of killing ; altogether referring to the act of selectively killing populations of aliens , a play on genocide . Orson Scott Card ( born August 24 , 1951 ) is an American novelist , critic , public speaker , essayist and columnist . He writes in several genres but is known best for science fiction . His novel " Ender ' s Game " ( 1985 ) and its sequel " Speaker for the Dead " ( 1986 ) both won Hugo and Nebula Awards , making Card the only author to win both science fiction ' s top U . S . prizes in consecutive years . A feature film adaptation of " Ender ' s Game ", which Card co - produced , was released in late October 2013 in Europe and on November 1 , 2013 , in North America . ___MASK84___ is a fictional ___MASK95___ from Orson Scott Card ' s 1985 science fiction novel " Ender ' s Game " and its sequels (" Speaker for the Dead ", " Xenocide ", " Children of the Mind ", " Ender in Exile "), as well as in the first part of the spin - off series , " Ender ' s ___MASK64___ ". The book series itself is an expansion , with some changes to detail , of Card ' s 1977 short story " Ender ' s Game ."