Early work In 1976, Card became an assistant editor for the
Ensign magazine produced by the LDS Church and moved to
Salt Lake City. While working at
Ensign, Card published his first piece of fiction, a short story called
Gert Fram, which appeared in the July 1977 issue of
Ensign under the pseudonym Byron Walley. Between 1978 and 1988, Card wrote over 300 half-hour audioplays on
LDS Church history, the
New Testament, and other subjects for
Living Scriptures in
Ogden, Utah. Card started writing science fiction short stories because he felt he could sell short stories in that genre more easily than others. His first short story,
The Tinker, was initially rejected by
Analog Science Fiction and Fact.
Ben Bova, the editor of
Analog, rejected a rewrite of the story but asked Card to submit a science fiction piece. In response, Card wrote the short story "
Ender's Game", which Ben Bova published in the August 1977 issue of
Analog. Card left
Ensign in 1977 and began his career as a freelance writer in 1978. Ben Bova continued to work with Card to publish his stories, and Bova's wife, Barbara Bova, became Card's literary agent, a development that drew criticism for a possible conflict of interest. Nine of Card's science fiction stories, including
Malpractice,
Kingsmeat, and
Happy Head, were published in 1978. Card modeled ''
Mikal's Songbird on Ender's Game
, both of which include a child with special talents who goes through emotional turmoil when adults seek to exploit his ability. Mikal's Songbird'' was a
Nebula Award finalist in 1978 and a Hugo finalist in 1979—both in the "novelette" category. Card won the
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1978 for his stories published that year; the award helped Card's stories sell internationally.
Unaccompanied Sonata was published in 1979 issue of
Omni and was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula awards for a short story. Eighteen Card stories were published in 1979. Card's first published book,
"Listen, Mom and Dad...": Young Adults Look Back on Their Upbringing (1977) is about child-rearing. He received advances for the manuscripts of
Hot Sleep and
A Planet Called Treason, which were published in 1979. Card later called his first two novels "amateurish" and rewrote both of them later. A publisher offered to buy a novelization of ''Mikal's Songbird
, which Card accepted; the finished novel is titled Songmaster (1980). Card edited fantasy anthologies Dragons of Light (1980) and Dragons of Darkness (1981) and collected his own short stories in Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories (1981). In the early 1980s, Card focused on writing longer works, only publishing ten short stories between 1980 and 1985. He published a few non-fiction works that were aimed at an LDS audience; these include a satirical dictionary called Saintspeak, which resulted in him being temporarily banned from publishing in church magazines. Card wrote the fantasy-epic Hart's Hope (1983) and a historical novel, A Woman of Destiny
(1984), which was later republished as Saints and won the 1985 award from the Association for Mormon Letters for Best Novel. He rewrote the narrative of Hot Sleep
and published it as The Worthing Chronicle (1983), which replaced Hot Sleep
and the short-story collection set in the same universe, Capitol (1979). The recession of the early 1980s made it difficult to get contracts for new books, so Card returned to full-time employment as the book editor of Compute!'' magazine that was based in Greensboro, North Carolina, for nine months in 1983. In October of that year,
Tom Doherty offered a contract for Card's proposed
Alvin Maker series, which allowed him to return to creative writing full-time.
Late 1980s: ''Ender's Game'' and short stories Card's 1977
novella ''
Ender's Game is about a young boy who undergoes military training for space war. Card expanded the story into a novel with the same title and told the backstory of the adult Ender in Speaker for the Dead. In contrast to the fast-paced Ender's Game
, Speaker for the Dead
is about honesty and maturity. Ender's Game
and Speaker for the Dead'' were both awarded the
Hugo Award and the
Nebula Award, making Card the first author to win both of science fiction's top prizes in consecutive years. According to Card, some members of the
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) resented his receiving of the Nebula award while editing the
Nebula Awards Report. Subsequently, Card left the SFWA. Card attended many science fiction conventions in the late 1980s. He held several "Secular Humanist Revival Meetings" at the conventions, satirizing
Evangelical revival meetings. Between 1987 and 1989, Card edited and published a short science fiction review magazine called
Short Form. He also wrote
Characters & Viewpoint (1988) and
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (1990). Card also offered advice about writing in an interview in
Leading Edge #23 in 1991. He wrote the script for an updated
Hill Cumorah Pageant in 1988. Inspired by Spenser's
Faerie Queene, Card composed the long poem
Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow, which uses colloquial language and diction common to Joseph Smith's time. The poem, along with the novelette
Hatrack River, became the basis for
Seventh Son (1987), the first book in
The Tales of Alvin Maker series, a fantasy retelling of the
Joseph Smith story. In the alternate history novel, Alvin Maker, the seventh son of a seventh son, is born with unusual magical abilities that make him a "Maker". Alvin has many similarities to Joseph Smith. Following
Seventh Son, he wrote
Red Prophet and
Prentice Alvin, which focus on settlers' interactions with indigenous peoples and slaves, respectively. The series has sustainable
environmental ethics as a main theme, addressing ways humans affect the environment in the Americas. Alvin Maker's life has many parallels with Joseph Smith's.
Seventh Son won the 1988 Mythopoeic Fantasy award, and the two following books were nominees. The awards are given to books that exemplify "the spirit of
The Inklings". Critics praised
Seventh Son for creating an American mythology from American experience and belief. According to literary critic
Eugene England, the series brings up questions about what, exactly, the mission of a religious prophet is. The series also questions the difference between a prophet and magician, religion and magic. In the 1980s, Card also wrote
Wyrms (1987), a novel about colonizing a planet, and revised
A Planet Called Treason, which was published as
Treason. He also novelized
James Cameron's film
The Abyss.
Works from the 1990s Card wrote prolifically in the 1990s, including many books and the short story omnibus
Maps in a Mirror (1990). Card continued the
Ender's Game series with
Xenocide (1991) and
Children of the Mind (1996), which focus on Jane, an artificial intelligence that develops self-awareness. These books were considered inferior to their predecessors and were, according to science fiction critic
Gary Westfahl, "overly prolonged". Card wrote several stand-alone novels in the 1990s.
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996) examines time travel and
Christopher Columbus. Card collaborated with
Star Wars artist
Doug Chiang on
Robota and with
Kathryn H. Kidd on
Lovelock.
Lost Boys (1992) is a horror story with a semi-autobiographical background.
Treasure Box (1996) and
Homebody (1998) represent Card's foray in horror.
Enchantment (1999) is a fantasy novel based on the Russian version of
Sleeping Beauty. It deals with a couple who learn to love each other after they marry. Card stated: "I put all my love for my wife into [
Enchantment]." Westfahl praised the
Shadow series, stating they were "executed with panache and skill". and
Ender in Exile.
Aaron Johnston and Card conceptualized the stories that make up the prequel to ''Ender's Game
, realizing many of them would work best in novel format but first publishing the comics through Marvel. The Burning Earth
and Silent Strike
comic series were published in 2011 and 2012. Card and Johnston co-wrote the novels in the series between 2012 and 2019; these are Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, Earth Awakens, The Swarm
, and The Hive
. Children of the Fleet is the first novel in a new sequel series, called Fleet School
. The Crystal City'' (2003) is the sixth book in The Alvin Maker series. Card wrote two young-adult fantasy trilogies in the 2010s.
Mithermages is about a teenager growing up on a magical estate in rural Virginia; it includes
The Lost Gate (2011),
The Gate Thief (2013), and
Gatefather (2015). Card has also written several urban fantasies, including
Magic Street (2005) and
Lost and Found (2019), both of which are about teenagers with special powers. Card wrote the Christmas novel ''Zanna's Gift
(2004), which was originally published under a pseudonym. A Town Divided by Christmas'' and a "Hallmark Christmas movie in prose" were published in 2018.
Invasive Procedures (2007), a medical thriller co-written with Aaron Johnston, is based on a screenplay Johnston wrote, which is based on Card's novel
Malpractice.
Video games, comic books and television In the 1990s, Card contributed dialogue to the point-and-click adventure video games
The Secret of Monkey Island,
The Dig, and
NeoHunter, a rail shooter game. His collaboration on videogame scripts continued in the 2000s, when he worked with
Cameron Dayton on
Advent Rising and outlined the story for
Shadow Complex, a prequel to the events in his novels
Empire and
Hidden Empire. The novels and game are about a near-future civil war in the United States that occurs after civilians resist a left-wing coup in the
White House. Card has written scripts for the two-volume comic-book series
Ultimate Iron Man. He collaborated with his daughters Emily and Zina on the graphic novel
Laddertop, and with
Aaron Johnston to write a series of six
Dragon Age comics. In 2017, Card wrote, produced, and co-created a television series called
Extinct for
BYU TV that ran for one season before it was canceled.
Adaptations Many of Card's works have been adapted into comic books.
Dabel Brothers Productions published comic-book adaptations of
Red Prophet and
Wyrms in 2006. Aaron Johnston wrote comic-book versions of
Ender in Exile and
Speaker for the Dead. Marvel published two ''Ender's Game
miniseries, which were collected in the graphic novel version of Ender's Game
; Chris Yost wrote the script and Pasqual Ferry was the artist. Two sets of comic miniseries were adapted by Mike Carey for Ender's Shadow
and the comics collected in Ender's Shadow Ultimate Collection''. A series of one-shots, some of which are based on Card's
Enderverse short stories, were collected in ''Ender's Game: War of Gifts''. Since ''
Ender's Game was published in 1985, Card was reluctant to license film rights and artistic control for the novel. He had two opportunities to sell the rights of Ender's Game'' to Hollywood studios, but refused when creative differences became an issue. Card announced in February 2009 that he had completed a script for
Odd Lot Entertainment, and that they had begun assembling a production team. On April 28, 2011, it was announced that
Summit Entertainment had picked up the film's distribution, and
Digital Domain joined Odd Lot Entertainment in a co-production role. Card wrote many versions of the script for the movie, but ultimately director
Gavin Hood wrote the screenplay. Card was a co-producer of the film. On
Rotten Tomatoes, the critical consensus states: "If it isn't quite as thought-provoking as the book, ''Ender's Game'' still manages to offer a commendable number of well-acted, solidly written sci-fi thrills."
Newspaper columns Since 2001, Card's commentary includes the political columns "War Watch", "World Watch", and "Uncle Orson Reviews Everything", which were published in the Greensboro
Rhinoceros Times until 2019. "Uncle Orson Reviews Everything" features personal reviews of films and commentary on other topics. The column also appears on Card's website, which is titled "Hatrack River". From 2008 to 2015, Card wrote a column of Latter-day Saint devotional and cultural commentary for the
Nauvoo Times, which was published through Hatrack River. ==Influences and style==