American · b. 1951
Orson Scott Card expanded a 1977 novelette into Ender's Game specifically so he could write its sequel, Speaker for the Dead—the novel he actually cared about. Both won consecutive Hugo and Nebula awards, a feat unmatched in SF history. Card trained as a playwright and brings a dramatist's attention to dialogue and moral conflict. His work explores empathy, communication, and the ethics of violence, themes that stand in complicated tension with his public political positions. He has published over 70 novels across SF, fantasy, and mainstream fiction.