Laddertop Books 1 - 2

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

From Orson Scott Card, the bestselling author of Ender's Game, and his daughter Emily Janice Card, comes a 384-page omnibus edition containing the first two books of an all-ages manga series! Out of deep space, a mysterious alien race known as "The Givers" came to Earth. They gave the human race the greatest technology ever seen—four giant towers known as Ladders that rose 36,000 miles into space. Each tower culminated in a space station that harnessed the energy of the Sun to power the entire planet. As suddenly as the Givers arrived, they vanished, leaving the human race with one solemn maintain and preserve the Ladders at all costs. Due to the unique alien construction of the Laddertop space stations, however, only a skilled crew of children could perform the maintenance necessary to keep the stations running.Twenty-five years later, back on Earth, competition is fierce to enter Laddertop Academy. Robbi and Azure, two eleven-year-old girls who are best friends, are among those vying for a spot at the prestigious academy. While one is rejected, the other takes off into space for the adventure of a lifetime. Yet soon, their destinies will collide, as they must decipher an alien message and solve an ancient mystery that could either save the Earth from invasion...or trigger its imminent destruction.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Manga, Aliens, Fiction, Comics, Audiobook

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 5, 2013

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

[Alexis]

i think the theme is friendship cause at the end Azure text Robbi that there is a comet is heading for earth and it was also coming for laddertop even tho they were separated .

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

So another of my random - "what the hell give it a go" reads and I am in two minds here. I have over the years read a lot of Orson Scott Cards work after being loaded a copy of Enders Game.

Many years have passed since that day and many other Scott Card books have been read so when I was going through a publishers list of titles this one popped up and I thought I would give it a go. The first thing is that even though it is showing as Orson Scott Card you also have Emily Janice Card credited on the book it would appear to have creative input to the story.

The book itself is illustrated in the style of Manga (although it does read conventionally left to right and front to back) and I have to say is rather enjoyable but not what you would expect. The storyline is interesting and has a lot of potential although after two substantial volumes you are really only just starting to see the action (there are various comments about a 3rd volume out there in varying stages of completion) but I have found nothing yet. This is one of those books that I am glad I have read but until such time as further volumes are added feel that is didn't really go anywhere or say anything. This could be for many reasons but you do feel that this was an experiment rather than a completed project. I guess time will tell

[Sarah B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always loved books by Orson Scott Card but I had never heard of this one so when I saw it at the library I had to grab it! And it's similar to his oh so popular Ender's Game is that it is about kids going out into space. In this case it's to a space station called Laddertop Cayambe. And wow, what a story!

This is a grand adventure story with mystery, lots of action and some mysterious aliens called the Givers. We don't actually see the aliens but they have given us their technology yet there are things about that technology we do not fully understand... And that is where the mystery comes in. Are the Givers really our friends or are they up to something? Do they want something?

And something is on it's way to Earth...will it bring doom? We don't know.

So I greatly enjoyed reading this graphic novel. It's loads of fun, the art is wonderful (and so many of the characters look cute!) but it truly is the story that drives this. I just wanted to know so much about this new universe I found myself in. Who are the Givers and where did they go? Why did they give us this technology? Why are the tubes so small that only kids can fit into them up on the space station? What does the mysterious alien writing say? Are there other aliens? What does that scanner do? Basically I just wanted all of these questions and others answered!

Also I loved the uniqueness of the characters. Some are grumpy and sour. Others are more fun loving. They have very unique personalities and that comes through wonderfully in the art. And since they are kids they often do crazy or naughty stuff. At least one - Azure - has a lot of spunk and sneaks where she doesn't belong. And I could relate to the main female lead - Roberta - to her uncertainty about actually going into space or about doing new, scary things. I would be uncertain too. Could I really handle those things? Am I cut out for it? I think because she questions these things instead of just jumping into it eagerly like Azure does, it might show higher intelligence? But in the end I think this is about friendship and helping others and sticking together. And sometimes it's hard to know what is the right thing to do... There is a lot of responsibility on these 11-year-old shoulders.

It was also very easy to tell each character apart. This was drawn by a very talented artist! I can only imagine the work that must have gone into this to turn a novel into this graphic book. Must have taken so incredibly long!

And the scary situations too! Death defying ones! And there are really cute robots too! Never had I ever dreamed that robots could be cute but these definitely are.

But...

As wonderful as this is...

I was greatly disappointed to find out this is like only half the story?! It ends on a big cliff hanger! And I have no idea if the rest of this was ever published? Or even drawn? But since it IS based off a novel I guess I will just have to read the actual novel. If I can find a copy. I did check my library's website and they don't have any other books by this name so if I want to find out how it ends I will just have to buy a copy...and hope it contains the entire story. Because I sure want to know how this ends!

Grand science fiction at it's best!

[Brian Wilkerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a review request. I found Laddertop (Books 1 and 2 combo) at my local library and it sounded interesting. It's about these aliens called "The Givers" who gave Earth several space stations for collecting solar energy and mining the asteroid belt, but they can only be maintained by children. Plot, character and polish.

PLOT

There are two plots running concurrently and this means two protagonists. Robbi and Azure are best friends and contrasting in their personalities. Robbi is accepted for a position in Laddertop and also receives mysterious dreams about giants and insects. Azure is rejected by SCAN despite being otherwise qualified and is scouted for an organization that researches the Laddertop instead of maintaining it. These two plot threads work well together because they reinforce each other. It's not just a "this thing over here is also happening but unrelated" or an "it's thematic" thing but both of them push the plot forward.





The world building is interesting stuff. For instance, because working at Laddertop means becoming an astronaut, the kids go through zero-gravity training and have to pass high academic standards. It is thus very competitive. Also, the Laddertops have radically altered Earth's energy market with a commercial talking about lucrative and environmentally friendly these machines are.



It's all great stuff until the ending. It's a cliffhanger. Absolutely nothing is resolved. It was frustrating to see all this great build up and world creation but to see nothing come of it. Perhaps the experience is different when reading the two books separately but this just feels cheap to me.


CHARACTERS


Robbi is a thoughtful girl. While her co-students are whizzing about randomly in a zero gravity sphere, she is holding still and figuring out how to move in such an environment most effectively.
She takes to living in space with a bunch of other kids she doesn't know and the strange dreams with grace. When told that she has to have a chip implanted in her head in order to control a robot monkey as part of her job, her response is "when your brain is funky, add a monkey."



Azure is a genki girl. She goes full throttle on everything, be it sports or Laddertop training. She's also reckless, even in dangerous situations like living on the moon. Fortunately for her, her thoughts move as fast as her feet and she takes advantage of the situation or minimizes the damage.


Other characters I am not fond of. Nine, for instance, comes across as a conflict ball character. She's belligerent to everyone, makes a fuss about the computer chip, and is easily manipulated into spying for a villain.


POLISH

The artwork looks good. It's not as beautiful as say, CLAMP, but it's still good.


Trickster Eric Novels gives "Laddertop (Books 1 and 2)" a C+

[Andrew Stansbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second volume ends on a really shocking cliffhanger that won't be answered any time soon (volume 3 will be released in 2015?).

[Ichika27 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book when I saw it on sale online. It looked interesting and fun so I gave it a go and it was as fun as I thought it'd be. The story is about two best friends and a bunch of other kids who want to go to space and have to pass tests. Said tests are from some mysterious aliens that arrived on Earth years ago and gave people useful tech for reasons unknown. What seemed like fun at first start turning dark with the protagonist getting worrisome visions in her dreams and a conspiracy unfolding.

The art is nice. It's a mix of cartoony character design with some anime art sprinkled in (some of the expressions and such are reminicent of art tropes used in older manga series). The background are detailed though with the tech stuff the story has. I like the characters as they are kind of interesting.

It sucks it ends in a cliffhanger and it seems the finale is an audiobook. I'm not really into audiobooks (I have issues paying attention to anything I'm not really seeing) so I won't be able to find out what happens next which is sad. The story so far is still fun and it got really interesting at the end.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the books of Orson Scott Card but had no idea that there were also graphic novels. I ran across this in the YA section of the library and decided to check it out. I really enjoyed it and will now have to see if they have the next installment in the series. Aliens, called the Givers, helped Earth by building Laddertop, which reaches 36,000 miles into space. After the Givers completed their project they instructed the people of Earth to maintain the structures and then they disappeared. Now a quarter of a century later, the most intelligent youngsters are recruited and sent to help maintain the Ladders. But...will one of them finally have to break one of the Givers major rules in order to save Earth?

[Chapters Lethbridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

LC'S REVIEW:

My nephews (10 and 12) loved this book and keep asking me when more will come out in the series. A very Cardian premise modernized and stylized by his daughter. Aimed at younger children with themes of friendship, bravery, and critical thinking. Multiple female protagonists, a strong mystery aspect that totally has me hooked, and fun, clean artwork.

[tzinnamon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book was interesting but a cliffhanger. I read it in 2020 and searched for more volumes and found a second book which is also a cliffhanger. There is no more and after so many years I doubt there’ll be more. Only read this if you can enjoy a book that doesn’t end just stops in the middle of the story.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story (even if it's a kind of stereotypical Card story of mysterious aliens and the humans who can't understand them) but the art was a detriment to me. A lot of the kids it was difficult to tell the difference which caused lots of confusion for me while trying to figure out what was happening. If the pages were colored I think it wouldn't have been an issue at all.

[Gwendolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed the ride and was looking forward to reading 3 and 4, only to discover that 3 was published in 2013. It is now the year of our Lord 2020, and no 3 has been published as far as I can tell. Yippee.

[Acebur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this a few years back, and it was (and stilk is) such a good book, I love the concept, and the art is really good! I couldn’t put it down, the story was so captivating to me. I’m looking forward to reading the third, when I can eventually get a copy

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun quick read, but didn't realize it is to be continued, like years ago, and it was never finished!!!!

[Synøve]

Ends on a cliff hanger and there is absolutely no indication that it will ever be continued =(

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

They pulled me in with that cliffhanger. But is that it? Was the series canceled?! 😭😅

[Wolverinefactor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Hope we get the next part soon

[Kieran Nurmi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The books set up a lot but nothing actually happens. it's like trying to read The Phantom in the newspaper.

[Leia Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel series is the best one I have ever read. My favorite part of this book is the little robot monkey assistants and each one has a different, unique design.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun sci-fi story. It follows two characters and their journey to get to space. Azure and Robbi are both entertaining and unique in their own ways. It was nothing spectacular and can see there are some influences taken from other places, but the characters and fun dynamic between characters make the book stand out. I really hope there are plans to finish this series in the future, cause I haven’t heard anything about a book 3.

[Margot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very awesome compilation of the first two books in Orson Scott Card's Laddertop comic series. The story is great, though the illustrations just kind of get the job done. In this version, the illustrations are black and white and small, unlike the glossy color images in the graphic novel Book 1 only version (Laddertop, Volume 1).

Azure and Robbi are best friends selected to join Laddertop Academy and become potential candidates to travel thousands of miles above Earth's surface to the Laddertop Station to help maintain the hundreds of solar panels that serve to give the planet power. Laddertop and all its technology were given to the humans by a seemingly benevolent alien race, called The Givers, less than a century earlier.

Things don't go Azure's way when the strange alien sorting machine doesn't approve her to go to Laddertop. While Robbi's harrowing experience in the sorter nearly breaks the machine. After her close call with the alien technology, Robbi begins having strange alien visions and nightmares, as if The Givers are trying to tell her something. Some factions of humanity are more skeptical about The Givers' motivations and technology, and Azure--left behind on Earth--is recruited.

I found Book 1 of this series very intriguing and, for the last couple of years, have been dying to read the next one. I even re-read it and listened to it (yep, there is oddly an audio book version) while waiting around for the next segment of the story. Finally found this Book 1-2 combo and was not at all disappointed by Book 2 in the series. But it's still driving me crazy that I can't just keep on reading to find out what's going to happen next!

[Craig Childs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Laddertop Vol. 1 when it came out in 2011, and I enjoyed it even though I did not rush out and buy the 2nd volume a few years later. I knew the series was planned as a trilogy, and I thought I would wait until it was completed.

Well, now 5 years have elapsed, and the publication date for Volume 3 is still not set. According to the author’s website, the script was completed over a year ago and is sitting with the artist.

I do not know if this story will ever be completed, but I decided to go ahead and plunge in one more time… Volume 2 was never published as a standalone book. Instead, both volumes were published together. (Normally, I don’t like to re-read books, but since it has been five years, I was glad for the refresher).

The 2nd volume continues the story of Robbi and Azure, two 11-year old girls, the former working as a mechanic on the alien Laddertop space station and the latter joining a subversive group that does not trust the aliens. New characters are introduced who gradually reveal that earth is going to be invaded (although we do not yet know if these are the Givers, the same aliens who gave the Laddertop solar stations to Earth). Another set of aliens appear to be sending Robbi coded messages through her dreams. Volume 2 ends on a cliffhanger as Robbi’s love interest Daniel is hurled from his transportation tube and appears to go supernova into the path of an oncoming ship.

The parallels to Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game continue—kids training in space, telepathic communication with aliens, threat of extraterrestrial invasion. I would have preferred to see the story line veer into new territory to explore the Givers’ culture, why they gave us the solar space stations, and what their aims are.

Still, the characters and plot are engaging. I will read the third volume if it is ever published.

[Shazza Maddog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robbi and Azure are middle school girls who've been studying all their lives in an attempt to get into Laddertop Academy. When Robbi is actually picked to go to Laddertop, despite Azure's incredible abilities in all categories of study, she's unsure she wants to go. Azure all but pushes her to go and live her dream.

The problem is, there's some sort of trouble brewing on Laddertop, and Robbi and Azure might be the only ones who can figure out what's going on.

A SF graphic novel from Orson Scott Card and Emily Janice Card, with art by Honoel A. Ibardolaza, this is a fun read. I like how we don't really know much about Laddertop except it was built by aliens and it provides the whole Earth with power. We don't know any more about why Robbi's considered special when she's chosen by the alien technology to join Laddertop Academy, any more than we know why Azure wasn't. And we don't know exactly why one of the higher ups in Laddertop is trying to keep anyone from figuring out that danger is coming.

The art is good, though the girls are often only distinguishable by the shapes of their noses or their hair styles. The boys are actually more easily recognizeable, as they come in different races.

This ends on a cliffhanger and I do want to know what happens! So I'll be looking for the next part of this series.

[Krainbow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying this series. It's a good choice for people who have read Ender's Game, people who like Sci-fi, and especially people who like manga or comics. the one problem I have (It's the only reason I don't want to give it 5 stars) is that it is taking them SO LONG to publish these! the first was published in September of 2011! Then the second was published in November of 2013!!! I just hope that we don't need to wait till late 2014/early 2015 to get the next book.

[Heydi Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aaarrrgghh what a cliffhanger. I picked this one up after having read book one. I can't believe it ends like it did. 2015 is too long to wait to find our what happens. The poor guy can only hold his breath for so long out there in space.

I really liked this. Unlike Enders Game which I felt should be YA everywhere, Laddertop is really JF with few suggestive situations that would warrant a YA sticker.

[Laurie MacQueen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The few things I can say that really detract from an otherwise well constructed story are that the story, though I can sense the layers that could exist in it, still feels shallow, and the art sometimes tries a little too hard to be manga-like, with the consequence of seeming fake. Otherwise, I very much enjoyed the read, this has been a good foray into graphic novels for the Cards (though I wish I could find a shred of information about volume 3).

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED the start of this English-language manga series by Orson Scott Card. Great sci-fi story, wonderful art with nice characterizations, and I'm definitely itching for book 3 to come out! I don't have one single complaint - even the pacing was perfect...

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this better than just volume 1 alone (which I read a couple of year ago) but the cliffhanger ending is a bit of a torture. There's a lot more info in this version than the previous one which is great.

[Marlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book grabbed my attention in the beginning. I soon lost interest and had to force myself to finish it. However, I have never been a fan of graphic novels. I was trying to appreciate something different. I do think someone that really enjoys graphic novels may enjoy this book.

[Angela M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME I CAN NOT EXPRESS MY AMAZEMENT AT THIS BOOK. IT WAS EXHILRATING, EXCTING, ENTICING, STUFF LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mark Smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Done in manga style, which I am still getting used to. Also, the story is not concluded in these two books, so I will have to read more when they are published.