Rating: 
Summary: Desperately seeking Alvin, Nafai and Jason
Review: "First Meetings" is a slightly interesting diversion that is not really worth your time. If you read Ender's Game and the follow-up novels, you don't need to read this. Aside from the first story in the collection, they don't add anything new. The messages that were subtley introduced in the original books are hammered into your skull even further. And if that wasn't enough, there is a "teaching aid" section at the end that offers questions about the stories for further discussion (For example, "You are designing a website for Battle School. What three major points should be introduced?" Give me a break.)
I am at a loss to understand why a man of Orson Scott Card's talent insists on rehashing the same characters and themes. The original "Ender's Game" was a terrific stand alone novel, but it WAS written twenty years ago. OSC has matured as a writer, and has since conveived characters and universes that are infinitely more engaging. I would love to hear more tales of Capitol, Harmony or even Treason. Why insist on ressurecting the Enderverse, when he has said everything that needed to be said? My only explaination is that the Ender books are "popular," and therefore will ensure a nice paycheck for Mr. Card. It's sad to think of one of my favorite and most-respected authors is selling out like this. I can only hope he will eventually set the Ender books to rest, and perhaps finish up the Alvin Maker series whose conclusion has been very long in coming.
Rating: 
Summary: Left hungry for more
Review: Ender's Game is one of those books that I have a soft spot in my heart for - it's suspenseful, intelligent, and beautiful in its simplicity - but the rest of the Ender series has been pretty hit-or-miss for me. Although skeptical about which Card would show up for "First Meetings", I was nevertheless reeled in by the "Ender" name.
Fortunately I was not let down. In fact, I was left hungry for more. This feeling is probably both the plus and the minus of this book. Here's what I mean:
For the first time since Ender's Shadow, Card returns to what he does best: creating a suspenseful plot and engaging characters living in a world that is both fantastical and familiar. The short stories about Ender's father were interesting: in "The Polish Boy" John Wiggin follows in the footsteps of Ender and Bean as the wunderkind lead character (Card's specialty), and sets up "Teacher's Pest" nicely by setting the stage for the chance (or is it?) meeting of Ender's parents.
The original "Ender's Game" novella was remarkable for its similarity to what would become the full length "Ender's Game" novel. As a sidenote, if you haven't read the novel, wait to read "First Meetings" until after you've read it!
I personally enjoyed "The Investment Counselor" the most; it nicely fits in the wide gap between Child Genius Ender of "Ender's Game" and Empty Shell Ender of the following trilogy (ok, I'll be upfront: after Ender's Game I thought the following trilogy was a bit of a letdown).
At the same time, I couldn't help but wish Card had fleshed out these stories into full length novels, particularly "The Investment Counselor" which could've developed nicely into a nice story involving arguably the three most interesting characters in the Ender universe: young Ender, Valentine, and Jane. With the brevity of these stories, especially with the cartoonish graphics, when I finished the book I was both happy to have been able to re-enter Ender's world, but also a bit disappointed at finding it a bit watered-down. I did not read it expecting another "Ender's Game", but I hoped it would at least measure up to "Ender's Shadow". My advise to Mr. Card: do for these novellas what you did for the original "Ender's Game": make them into full-length novels!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Fill in the holes of the Ender saga
Review: Ender's parents never got their due in the original Ender's Game novel, but Card began developing them as fascinating characters in Ender's Shadow and its sequels. If you've only read Ender's Game, you probably think of Ender's father as a simpleton, and his mother as... well, as nothing, really, because there's so little about her in the book.
But of course, there's a contradiction in that. How could two people of average intelligence produce three super geniuses (Ender, Valentine, and Peter)? Ender's Shadow began to resolve that problem by presenting them as being very smart, but hiding their intelligence so they did not overshadow their children.
This book goes back in their lives before they got married. In the father's case, it begins when he is a small boy. Besides developing two great characters, numerous holes in the original novels are nicely resolved - the religion of Ender's parents and how that plays into the fertility laws, how Ender's family got to America, and how the family was induced to produce kids like Ender.
Another character's genesis is also covered in the final story - the computer program Jane, who will be familiar to readers of the Ender's Game sequels. It's a short, satisfying read, and very much in Card's distinctive style.
Finally, there is the novella that started it all. I read this when it first appeared, and this award winning story motivated me to get the Ender's Game novel as soon as it appeared. If you like the Ender universe, you really ought to read this just to see how it all got started. Be warned - there are some inconsistencies with the novel. But they are minor, and it's interesting to see the evolution from the novella to the novel.
This is a short read. It is suitable for teens and adults - the same audience as Ender's Game, really. If you liked any of the Ender series, you really ought to get this.
Rating:
Summary: Children in College, Mr. Card?
Review: First, this is a nice collection. Anytime Card publishes, it's a delight. The stories work, and the original Ender's Game novella is a delight to see.However. . .I get the distinct mental image of OSC about 3 or 4 years ago reviewing how many of his rug rats would be in college at the same exact time, figuring up how much college costs these days and going into full scale PANIC mode; hence this volume and another Alvin Maker and all those Ender volumes in such a short period of time. Not that I blame him, and I bought all the books in hardback and enjoyed them more than I've enjoyed most of the books I read. But it's still very interesting to me that he's being so productive and publishing so many "safe" books (i.e. Ender's world books) in such a short time when his kids are at college age. I pray that none of them want advanced degrees so that Mr. Card may go back to a more leisurely pace and do some original works in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Good stories, but nothing new
Review: I normally don't read short stories, but I liked the Ender series so much, the I thought I would make an exception for this collection. I enjoyed all the stories, but I didn't feel like I was reading anything all that new. Card did a good job in the original books of giving you an idea of the history of everything, so these stories just seemed to give me more detail about the specifics. I really enjoyed reading the original Ender's Game story again, it makes me want to re-read the book. All four of the stories were good, so if you are a fan of the Ender series, I would recommend this book, but don't expect anything exceptional.
Rating:
Summary: To buy or not to buy: hardback vs. paperback
Review: I think it's worth it to get the hardback, because there are two problems with the paperback. First, the hardback illustrations are missing in the paperback, and they do change the way I see Ender's parents - Theresa is an entertainingly annoyed and angular grad student, and John Paul's insouciant arrogance and manga-like good looks make a fun contrast. The other thing about the paperback is that unless I'm much mistaken, it's actually missing text - in story 1 someone is supposed to hit someone else, and it never happens in the paperback version (at least the one that came to Singapore). The text doesn't show any blank paper, but the rest of the plot does refer back to it just like in the hardback version, so I think it's a glaring printers' error.
Rating:
Summary: To buy or not to buy: hardback vs. paperback
Review: I think it's worth it to get the hardback, because there are two problems with the paperback. First, the hardback illustrations are missing in the paperback, and they do change the way I see Ender's parents - Theresa is an entertainingly annoyed and angular grad student, and John Paul's insouciant arrogance and manga-like good looks make a fun contrast. The other thing about the paperback is that unless I'm much mistaken, it's actually missing text - in story 1 someone is supposed to hit someone else, and it never happens in the paperback version (at least the one that came to Singapore). The text doesn't show any blank paper, but the rest of the plot does refer back to it just like in the hardback version, so I think it's a glaring printers' error.
Rating:
Summary: Short Skibbets that Let You Connect the Dots
Review: I was excited to see that Card had come out with a supplement to the Ender Series. I got home and quickly read the book from end to end. The first two stories were very intriguing, a prequel to the first book, Ender's Game. This sort of gave the reader insight on everything that you asked yourself while reading the beginning chapters of Ender's Game -- why are his parents this way, what's their story, etc. The third story gave an aftermath. It's been months since I've read the other books so I can't pinpoint when the story would fit in. I think it's right after Ender's Game, and Ender arrives at the first planet. Initially, I thought it would have been better had it told a short novel's worth of everything that led up to the way the world was (the Hegemony, how the International Fleet came to be in command really, and all the political affairs on Earth in the meantime) AND also on Andrew Wiggins' parents. But, this way is good so that it leaves the mind to piece together on your own and fill in the missing blanks.
Rating: 
Summary: Good backstory.
Review: I would not call these three new works novellas, but simply longish short stories; they are very quick reads. The most memorable, I think, is "The Polish Boy". Concerning duels between a 5-year-old and various administrative figures, it recalls some of the best of "Ender's Shadow": the illustration of how a very young child can, with sufficient wit and preternatural maturity, overcome adult opposition. "Teacher's Pest" is the least of the three. It concerns cleverness used in the furtherance of adolescent romance. While this might be as excitingly done as the first story, it would have to be on a higher level of wittiness to succeed as well. But it doesn't reach that level, and it seems a bit pedestrian. "Investment Counsellor" is set in Ender's "quiet" stage--after he's overcome the trauma of "Ender's Game" and before he's set out upon his Speaker of the Dead life. The fireworks of his passion are missing here--neither his command skills nor his personal interaction livelihood are generating the sparks that provide much of the interest in the books. It's a connector piece, showing some origins of things to come. These are good things, and it's good to have their origins, but it's not very exciting story-telling. The illustrations do nothing for the book but take up page-space, adding 10 or 12 pages to the total. Without them, the book would be under 200 pages in length--and better, in my estimation. (When are illustrators going to stop putting airplane wings, rudders, and elevators on spacecraft??) Having the original "Ender's Game" included is rather interesting, allowing for comparison with the novel it spawned. Bean is there, in all his arrogance, but essentially none of the other characters that have made the continuing saga so memorable: no Valentine, no Peter, none of Ender's other sub-commanders, nor his tormentors. The Hive Queen has not yet been imagined, and Buggers are entirely faceless. But all the pathos of the child used as a soldier--that essential kernel is there in boldface.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant anthology of Ender short stories
Review: The 'Ender's Saga' and its most famous beginning, "Ender's Game", are among the most revered science-fiction series of all-time. While Card did a marvelous job chronicling the life and times of Ender Wiggin in the first four novels of the 'Ender's Saga', and richly enhanced that universe with his subsequent three-book "Ender's Shadow" series, one could not help but think that there might be more than need be told. Enter "First Meetings in the Enderverse", an anthology of four short stories that give even greater insight into Ender's world.
One of the four short stories included in "First Meetings..." is the actual original "Ender's Game" short story. Card wrote this in the mid-1970's and expanded it into the award-winning novel everyone knows in the early to mid-1980's. Here, fans of "Ender's Game" can read Card's original vision and appreciate how the full novel came to be. The other three shorts tell some fascinating tales. The first one deals with the life of Ender's father, John Paul Wiggin, when he was a little kid, not much older than Ender at the time of "Ender's Game". Without revealing too much, here, it can be said that the events of young John Paul's life explain a great deal about what came to pass for Ender a generation later. The second tale advances John Paul to college age and reveals how John Paul and Ender's mother, Theresa, came to meet and fall in love. The final tale (after the original "Ender's Game") bridges a period of time between the ending of "Ender's Game" and its amazing sequel "Speaker for the Dead". The mystery of how Ender and his constant virtual companion, Jane, came into each other's lives is explained and it makes for an amusing anecdote.
Once again, Card continues to show a brilliant grasp of human emotion and personal interactions in bringing these shorts to life. He doesn't get bogged down in the existentialism that plagued "Children of the Mind". He sticks with elements that make this saga great.
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