Laddertop Volume 1

Laddertop #1

by Orson Scott Card, Emily Janice Card, Honoel A. Ibardolaza (Illustrator)

An original science fiction manga by the bestselling author of Ender’s Game and his daughter

Twenty-five years ago, the alien Givers came to Earth. They gave the human race the greatest technology ever seen— four giant towers known as Ladders that rise 36,000 miles into space and culminate in space stations that power the entire planet. Then, for reasons unknown, the Givers disappeared. Due to the unique alien construction of the Laddertop space stations, only a skilled crew of children can perform the maintenance necessary to keep the stations up and running.

Back on Earth, competition is fierce to enter Laddertop Academy. It is an honor few students will achieve. Robbi and Azure, two eleven-year-old girls who are the best of friends, are candidates for the Academy. They will become entangled in a dangerous mystery that may help them solve the riddle of the Givers...if it doesn’t destroy the Earth first!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Manga, Comics, Fiction, Middle Grade

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2011

About the author

Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.

Reviews

[seak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laddertop, Volume 1 by Orson Scott Card and Emily Janice Card

3.0 to 3.5 stars

(A night at the Cards')

(Emily walks in to talk to her Uncle Orson, she's got big plans)

OSC: (startled) Oh, hi Emily. What are you doing here so early?

EJC: (black sheep of the family doesn't begin to explain her) Hi Unkie Orson, I had this great idea for a new book I want to write, but I think I need your help and your connections of course.

OSC: You know I'd do anything for family, what's the pitch?

EJC: So, I was thinking of having this school, and, well, it's only for kids...oh and it's in space...

OSC: Umm...I don't know if you've ever read my most fam-

EJC: ...and the kids in this school are really smart and they're a select group...

OSC: I really think you should look at the things I've already pub-

EJC: ...and we would definitely have to have an antigravity training scene or two and awesome space suits, oh, and aliens...

OSC: Have you even been paying attention to my career-

EJC: ...and the lead characters will be two girls and it will all be done as a manga.

OSC: Oh, I've never done anything like this before. Let's go with it, I'll call Tor.

**Clearly this is a made up scenario. I'm sure all are decent people depending on your view of OSC. I clearly know nothing about their personal life and wanted to goof around...

[Joy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story starts on Earth, where children are competing to earn a spot in an academy that trains them to work on one of four laddertops. The ladders were provided by aliens called “the Givers,” who disappeared twenty-five years ago. They are 36,000 miles high and only children can service them. Eleven-year-old Robbi and especially her best friend Azure are interested in the academy. They have opposite personality types – one reserved and the other vivacious. The storyline covers family lives, selection, education, training, and transportation to the ladder tops.

This is volume one of a series targeted at a middle grade audience. It sets the stage well and contains a mystery that is at least partially solved at the end but leaves the reader wondering what happens next. The artwork is unusual. I liked this more than expected. I doubt manga or graphic novels will become a large percentage of my reading, but I am more open to reading them in the future.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

(originally reviewed on starmetal oak book blog)

I feel like it will be hard to review this book because it's just the beginning of a larger story. For a first volume, though, I enjoyed it and found it to be interesting enough to persue.

The story, at least from what I hear (I never read Ender's Game), is similar to that book in that it has a young protagonist that goes into training in space. In this case it's a girl names Roberta ("Robbi") and the story follows how she is accepted to a school called Laddertop Academy. There's a large cast of characters most of which is classmates of Robbi.

What I enjoyed most about Laddertop is the world building. There's a healthy plot of mystery and science fiction surrounding the The Givers, aliens who gave humans technology to go into space and progress in many things. Robbi seems to be at the heart of this when she's passes a scan that all students must do (this was installed by The Givers and no one really knows what it's scanning) in order to go up to Laddertop. Robbi's scan results are unusual and this furthers the idea that something else is going on.

I would recommend this if you're interested in a new manga centered around science fiction school life. I feel like I should hold off a little until the next volumes to make a firm decision on this story, since volume one is just the beginning. It didn't start off with a bang, but there is a lot of potential here for a good series. As for the art, I thought it was great and held a lot of detail.

Review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

[Kevin Xu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is exactly the reason why I hate all of his works after Shadow of the Giant. Why would he be invovled in a project like this, even if it is to help ot a family memeber. Does he not know it is ripping the exact premise from his masterpiece, Ender's Game. If someone came to me with a idea similar to one of my works, I would throw the person out the door, and never speak or see him or her ever again. I just think is willing to publishing anything to appeal to the masses in order to make money anyway possible. I will never spent any money on any of his new books at all anymore. He has really disappointed me. Shame on you Orson Scott Card. Shame on you.

[Kandice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure if this deserves a great rating for Card's depiction of kick ass girls, or a low rating for the predictability.

Nothing original.

[Catherine Keaton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Robbi is a young girl (in Middle School, I think) who ends up getting into Laddertop Academy because her mother secretly sent in her application. Her best friend Azure wants to go so badly, and they both get accepted to the academy for training. While there, Robbi has a string of strange experiences connected with to the mystery surrounding the aliens that gave Earth the Laddertop towers. No one really knows anything about the advanced technology, how to change it, how to fix it, and definitely not how to replicate it. It seems the reason only young children are capable of fitting into the small tubes for maintenance is very much intentional on the part of the mysterious alien givers.

Robbi is the main character and she's just an average girl her age, although perhaps a little short in stature. That's a good thing for kids in this world because the smaller and smarter you are, the more likely you are to get selected to attend Laddertop Academy. Azure is a spunky tomboy who's been dreaming of attending the Academy her whole life, although Robbi never wanted to leave home because her mother's husband is physically violent and she's afraid he'll start abusing her little sisters and mother while she's away. I like Robbi, but with so little of the story contained in this volume, it's hard to get a clear idea of her personality.

The concept of this story is really great—something very much up my alley. It reminds me of my favorite science fiction anime, which I believe is an influence. The mystery surrounding the aliens is very intriguing because they seem a little too sneaky. What are they up to? All the adults running the Laddertop towers try to uncover the towers' secrets only to be constantly stumped. While I really like the premise and the world building, both are well done, I'm not usually into stories meant for younger children, so this one seemed a bit lackluster to me.

Because it is a manga-style comic book, the writing is done through talk bubbles and captions, and it's done well. The artwork, which has to be mentioned, on the other hand, is not my favorite. I just didn't feel like the quality was good enough and the style wasn't very appealing to me, either.

Favorite Scene/Moment: I liked the scene where Robbi picked up a metallic bug-looking object and it suddenly started carving out some alien symbols into her arm. That was unexpected and very cool! Never found out what any of it meant in this volume, unfortunately.

[Wandering Librarians · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the Givers came to Earth, they made a gift of four towers that stretch from Earth to space stations. These space stations provide power for the whole world. Then the Givers disappeared. The towers were built in such a way that the only people who can fit to maintain them are children. Competition to get into Laddertop Academy is intense, and of the few who are invited, even fewer will make it to space. Robbie and her friend Azure have both been accepted to the Academy, but only one of them will make it in to space.

Here's the thing, at this point, when I have heard Orson Scott Card speak at a number of events and on panels, I have such a strong aversion to him as a person that when I read something by him that I quite like I think, "That was good. Stupid Orson Scott Card." I wish he would never talk again and just write us books that we will surely enjoy. Is that too much to ask?

So the graphic novel: I quite enjoyed it (stupid Orson Scott Card). A whole bunch of awesome girl characters that are all different from each other. Azure has a short temper and a strong drive to succeed. She will do whatever she has to to achieve her dreams of going in to space and she's a natural leader. Robbie is much quieter and calmer. There are hints of an unstable home life. She is the hero of the story, and seems to have been chosen by the Givers for some purpose. There's also Nine, who's super smart but not the best at making friends. It's not totally clear what's going on with her, but she definitely knows something that she isn't telling.

This is only the first volume, so there have been many characters introduced and many things hinted at that haven't been fully explained or explored yet. For instance, being chosen for Laddertop was looked on as such an important honor, but it seems that once the kids actually get there they're looked down on as menial workers. There's a lot of mystery surrounding the selection process, and why the Givers didn't explain how anything worked. It seems people have just been blindly following what the Givers told them to do for the past 25 years, and no one has ever questioned why it has to be done that way.

The art is black and white with clear manga influences. It's all very cute, all big eyes and long eyelashes. It's quite clear the characters we don't like, because they are lacking the wide open eyes.

I will look for the next volume. I'd like to see where this series goes

[Kayt O'Bibliophile · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is 2012, why aren't we done with this nonsense? The whole "psuedo-manga = automatic awesome!" thing is so 2005. Also, Trollface was apparently used as the template for half the adult males.

This only deserves one star, but I'm adding an extra one because younger readers probably won't mind as much.

There was an interesting story in there, somewhere. The idea of the aliens and technology is cool, but SO much of the dialogue is stilted or just bad, and the book skims over so much to get the kids in space before the end of this short book, you can't really tell.

The problem...the real problem lies with the art, because this is a GRAPHIC novel. If the art had been good, flowing, or shown more of what was going on, it would have helped with the weak text.

To be fair, it does avoid most of the "stick in sweatdrops and chibi/super-deformed characters and call it a manga" thing, but you can't help but guess that the artist was new to the style and/or had been given explicit instructions by someone who knew nothing about manga. I'm leaning for the latter, because looking at the artist's website (www.honoel.com), they're actually pretty good.

In fact, in the back of the book are preliminary character sketches, and the sketches look really good. But right next to them (available also to see on the website here) are the finished drawings and they stink. No one looks proportionate. In the comic, people start to blur together.

And one of the characters looks like this:


Actually, several males look like that. Too many lines were used when most characters had few and were stylistically simple. I'll have to hunt down a picture later, because it's so weird.

It's almost like they couldn't decide what kind of art style to use. It's mainly very chibi/clean lines (which can make for very boring scenery), but they with a lot of adults they tried to make up for that and added in a lot of superfluous lines. Also, character poses were super-stiff and there was little feel of flowing between the panels. Not a lot of showing action, a lot of *pictures* of action.

So, to recap: wimpy story, art issues, and Trollface lives.

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

LADDERTOP starts off on Earth with an application competition to an elite academy which trains children for working 36,000 miles up at the top of a tower. This first volume goes through the competition, election, training, and transportation through the tower of the chosen children. The Earth scenes look modern day but the story takes place 25 years after aliens visited Earth, built the towers, and then disappeared.
Robbi and Azure are best friends who are both in the competition. Robbi is the quieter one who has problems at home but feels she is the only one who can solve them, while Azure is a little spitfire who will take on any challenges but often gets in a jam because of it.
The plot answers some questions 11-yr-olds might ask when reading this (like how do you go to the bathroom when you’re strapped in a chair on an 18 hour journey?) but also leaves several unanswered, building the complexity for later volumes.
I was surprised at how much the book held my interest. The drawings conveying emotions are spot-on and there is continuing action throughout the book. I liked how so many intriguing things were going on. What does the scanner really scan the children for? What are the drawings on Robbi’s arm? What is the real work being done at the top of Laddertop? I would have to recommend LADDERTOP to middle readers because I for one really want to find out what happens in the next volume!

I received this through goodreads' First Reads giveaways.

[Glen Farrelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This graphic book could have been amazing. To be fair I should predicate my review by stating I'm not a huge fan of manga - I find the exaggerated emotional responses, melodramatic facial expressions, and general goofiness to be silly and distracting often at the wrong places.

So my first issue is that the story and characters have such potential that I don't think a goofy manga style is the best form. The zaniness that the manga style seems to insist upon takes space that could be better used to flesh out the story and seems inappropriate for the subject matter. But this was likely a marketing decision rather than an artistic one.

Secondly, this book is just a set-up for a series that explores a really interesting storyline - or so it would seem from the teasers the book offers. But the story in this book only offers teasers and no substance. I don't mind books that are series (although I should also add that a series over 4 maybe 5 books is stretching a story and my patience too thin) but each book in a series should offer a satisfying, full story in itself (while leading towards a greater story).

The Scott Pilgrim books, which I love, are an example of using the manga form and series structure to good effect - this book sadly does the opposite.

[jzmcdaisy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it's because I'm growing up. Maybe it's because of the manga wannabe art. Maybe it's because I read Ender's Game first. I like scifi, I like anime, I enjoyed Laddertop. But even with all that on the table I couldn't get the bad taste out of my mouth after reading it. It's bizarre that a comic that has so many things that appeal to me be so bland. While it may seem weird, I am not without rebuttal, and I was let down for the very reasons I expected Laddertop to be good in the first place. The characters had their place and were probably where the comic shined best. The art, while looking a lot like Sailor Moon run through the Boring Machine is simple yet appealing. My bias might show a little bit here but the scifi art is what really sold it for me. However the story is what knocked off three whole stars from the book, it's Ender's Game. It's Ender Wiggin fighting the buggers and Orson Scott Card this book, is, Ender's Game. The competition, the choosing, the aliens, the society, the conflict, the school...

THE BOOK...

Is Ender's Game.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robbi and Azure are chosen from among their classmates to train for Laddertop Academy, a space station that hires gifted children to do maintenance work in the miles of tiny service tunnels. Laddertop space station was a gift from an alien race, but the aliens disappeared soon after. When Robbi begins her training, she finds out that Laddertop holds mysteries and enigmas that could destroy Earth or save it.

Robbi and Azure are excellent characters, with Azure providing some humor and Robbi being the serious-minded protagonist.
I really liked the interaction between all the children in training. They poke fun at each other, make friends and sometimes enemies, but it's never boring!

The world building is very intriguing! The Laddertop space station is set up in such a unique way, and the humans who run it don't really understand what it is capable of. I'm dying to know what those aliens are up to, and what role Robbi will play in their plans!

I really need to get my hands on the 2nd volume!

[Naomi Schmidt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book suffers from first-book-in-a-series syndrome: it lacks a cohesive story, instead simply setting up for the projected story arc. As such, annoyingly lacking in answers, as it tries to suck you in for future volumes.

It failed.

Also, I didn't think that the manga-style art was the best choice for this book.

[Mathew Carruthers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story with similarities to the Ender saga. Lighter in tone, perhaps, but still a kids in space story. These kids in space are not being trained as a combat force, but rather to maintain a power grid - I have the sneaking suspicion, though, that there is much more to the story than what I can glean from volume 1. I look forward to reading the next installment.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more from Card. Sure, this is for kids, but they'd have to be fairly dumb ones not to see all the holes. It was an interesting premise that was poorly executed. Well read, though. I won't bother with part 2.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

This audiobook/dramatization ends in a cliffhanger. I hate those. However, Laddertop 2 and Laddertop 3 are now available, so that lessens the blow. These three audiobooks constitute the entire story arc. Make sure you understand that you are committing to the three audiobooks. As I group I am giving them 3 stars.

Note: I am reviewing the Audible-Plus version of these audiobooks, but the review will show up under the (MP3 on CD). That is because Goodreads makes it nearly impossible for me to add a new edition... such as this one released by Audible.

The Story: 25 years ago an alien race called "The Givers" bestowed upon Earth alien technology that included 4 space elevators called Laddertops. Then they left us with no instructions other than, "Whatever you do, don't pull this switch!" Of course people have tried to pull the switch without success. This is either a story like "Young King Arthur Pulls Excalibur from the Stone", or the story of "The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden." Hard to say at this point.

Children compete to go to Laddertop Academy and Robbi and Azure (both 11 years old) have applied. Only one will be accepted, though both will have adventures in the future to be sure.

Due to what seems to be an alien design flaw, only children can perform the necessary maintenance on the space stations... probably due to their small size. This seems bizarre, but like the novel, "Contact" by Carl Sagan, we continue to be trusting of alien gifts... even ones that are so obviously Trojan Horses.

Of course there is a mystery of the Givers to solve. Are they Good, Bad or indifferent? They could be indifferent like some of the aliens in the book, "Live Free or Die" by John Ringo.

I liked the ending of the series if not the ending of this particular part of it. I might revisit the series in the future.

[Darcy Roar · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just did not hit it for me. The relatively similar plot makes it difficult to stop comparisons between this and the Ender series (and Laddertop does not appear favorably in those comparisons). It just does not have much going on in this volume, but to be fair, space weirdness does need a fair bit of set-up. The characters bounce all over too in a way that just does not read well. Characters with complex emotions seem flighty when all we see is them shifting from furiously upset to bouncy happy in a single page. It has good ideas, but it seems to be fighting the format with every panel. I will keep watching this one to see if it fills out, but I can't shake the feeling this story would be better served in traditional novel format.

[Ham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't usually read manga, but I made an exception for Card.
I enjoyed the story but was bugged that it didn't have anything resembling an ending. Is that how all mangas are? Art was good but would've preferred color. In b&w all the characters start to look that same after a while.
The ending felt a little rushed and disjointed. Still nothing resembling a plot.
It worries me slightly that there is only 1? more book published in the series. Was it a total flop? I find myself in the "meh" category.

[Aracely Cardenas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first part of volume 1 is about two girls named Azure and Robbi and other students were chosen to be sent to Laddertop Academy where they’ll be training in space. Twenty-five years ago, aliens named Givers came to earth and they gifted humans the greatest technology. Due to the unique alien construction of the Laddertop space stations, only a skilled crew of children can keep the stations up and running. If you are interested in manga, graphic novels, and science fiction then you will like this.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version of this a year ago without realizing the book version was a comic. I think I liked the audiobook better, and I think parts of it made more sense with the extra narrative explanation in that version. As lots of reviews note, this has a lot of material that's similar to Ender's Game and just generally stupider here. It's obviously targeted to younger readers, which is fine, but I'd generally recommend almost every other Orson Scott Card book over this one.

[Wyatt Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review relates to the audiobook version.

I had no idea it was Manga but that explains the valley-girl voices. First impression, a good cast of voices that are familiar from Ender’s Game.
Second impression, the music and phony crowds and other sound effects add nothing to the book and are annoying.

There really wasn’t enough of a story to rate but comparisons to Ender’s Game shows how lacking this one is.

[Noah Litle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to rate this book, because the story isn't really complete. I usually try to reserve judgement until I've read the whole story.
~
I will say this, considering what little has happened so far, vol. 2 is going to have to be pretty darn explosive to fit all the revelations and action in to fulfill all the promises he's made. And I can only imagine that that will totally screw up the pacing.
~
But maybe I'm wrong. I guess I'll see.

[Stacey Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit juvenile and not fleshed out. Feels like another attempt at an Enders Game type story. Sending kids into space to help save the world from aliens.

More of a short story or a novella. None of the relationships or characters ever get fleshed out. I actually enjoy the ideas and the theme and would love for the story to be expanded on a bit more. A quick 1 hour read.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

If Ender's Game didn't exist this maybe would have merited a third star, but it's shallow and derivative and not all that realistic. There is a bunch of foreshadowing that I assume will be followed up in subsequent volumes, but as a stand-alone experience it's not very good.

[Clayton VanLeeuwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is a bit slow here but that’s the only thing holding Laddertop back. Actually, the cover is horrid but let’s put that aside! The dialog and pacing is fluid and the art? Expressive, humorous, and cool futuristic designs to boot?! The art is carrying this story almost completely.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually feel like I need to read the next book in order to understand what is going on in this one.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

For 30 min. I perused
A half hour later I was amused

[Kavya · Rating 4 out of 5]

What to read the next book

[Mia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing really happens in this short story. It’s a cool sci fi premise, but there’s no connection built to characters and very little plot. I’m not interested in reading more.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS WAS SO INTERESTING!!!!! I could not set it down! I was a little confused at first, but then I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to continue reading!!!!