"Cheater" is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

story by American writer

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...

, set in his Ender's Game universe. It tells the story of how "Hot Soup" Han Tzu got into Battle School. It appears in Card's Webzine ''

InterGalactic Medicine Show ''InterGalactic Medicine Show'' (sometimes shortened to ''IGMS'') was an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It was founded in 2005 by multiple award-winning author Orson Scott Card and was edited by Edmund R. Schubert from 20 ...

''.

Plot summary

"Cheater" is the story of Han Tzu as a child. Han Tzu was born in Nanyang, Henan, China and was a descendant of

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...

, a great Chinese general. From a very young age, Han Tzu's father would play with him every day. It was his wish that Han Tzu would become a great general and bring glory back to China. When he got a little older, tutors began to come to his house to play games with him. After a while, Han Tzu discovered that the games were actually to prepare him for a test. One day, his tutor began teaching Han Tzu games from a list that his father had provided. When the testers from the International Fleet showed up to give Han Tzu the test, he figured out that his father was cheating. Han Tzu didn't want to pretend to be the best so he answered all but the first three questions wrong. The next day, the people from the International Fleet showed up at Han Tzu's house and arrested his father for cheating but decided to test Han Tzu again, thus discovering how smart he really is.

Characters

*Han Tzu *Han Tzu's father – Han Pei-mu *Han Tzu's mama – unnamed and not appearing *Tutors **Wei Dun-nuan – language tutor **Shen Guo-rong – testing tutor *Boys to play with – unnamed *Girls to play with – unnamed *Mu-ren – household cook *Pei-tian – father's driver *International Fleet testers – unnamed *Soldier – unnamed

Audio

In addition to the text version of the story, "Cheater" is also available from ''InterGalactic Medicine Show'' as an audio download. The story was read by Orson Scott Card himself.

Publication history

"Cheater" was published in the October 2006 issue of ''Intergalactic Medicine Show''.Orson Scott Card, "Cheater"
''Intergalactic Medicine Show'', October 2006. It also appears in the anthology ''

Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show ''Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show'' (2008) is a science fiction and fantasy anthology edited by Edmund R. Schubert and Orson Scott Card. Originally published in paperback by Tor Books in August 2008, it contains eighteen stories ...

''.

References

Ender's Game series short stories Short stories by Orson Scott Card Works originally published in InterGalactic Medicine Show Short stories set in Henan Cultural depictions of Chinese men 2006 short stories Short stories set in the future {{2000s-sf-story-stub