Ender's Shadow

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as "Ender's Game"...
Review: ...but then, "Ender's Game" affected me like very few books ever have. "Game" is about the personal journey of one boy through the events chronicled in both books. "Shadow" is about the larger events and ideas that were background filler of the original. Which isn't to say that we don't care about Bean, but the reader's relationship builds much more subtly... Bean possesses an analytical view of the world. He is a robot struggling against his own humanity while Ender was a human struggling against being turned into a machine.

Still, "Shadow" is one of the best books I've read in a long time, and it's incredible the way that Card can bring two completely different outlooks to the same story. The writing style is the same... one can tell it's the same author. But few authors could play with the events they wrote decades ago to create a new purpose. Characters that exited stage left at a point in "Game" often continue their storylines in "Shadow." Characters that Card went to pains clearly establishing and fleshing out in his first telling and relegated to the background. Had "Ender's Game" not shown me all the tricks, it is quite possible that this book would have had the same impact.

Still, when Bean finally lets go and lets his emotions flow, it was one of the most uplifting experiences I've garnered from a book in a while. And unlike the ambiguous and somewhat downbeat ending of Ender's story, Bean gets a clearly happy ending. This book is highly recommended. Rarely do you find sci-fi with characters as complex and three-dimensions as those in this book. Card is a brilliant writer, and perhaps a brilliant philosopher as well. He isn't pretentious enough to give you the anwsers, but he gets you asking the questions.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely wonderful---as good as Ender's Game
Review: If you loved Ender's Game, I can say you will definitely love Ender's Shadow. Orson Scott Card's concept of a parallel novel is brilliant. These two books fit together incredibly well.

Ender's Shadow focuses on Bean, one of the members of Ender's Dragon Army. If you read Ender's Game, you'll remember Bean, who was the small soldier that Ender saw as a younger version of himself. Bean was more brilliant than any other of Ender's soldiers. His size and his brilliance form the basis for Ender's Shadow--along with a lot more.

The events from Ender's Game are repeated in some places in the novel, but from Bean's viewpoint. This "Rashomon" style of story telling is always exciting--you get the story as told by two different participants and witnesses to the same events.

We also get two important new characters here; Sister Carlotta, a feisty, brilliant nun and Achilles, Bean's nemesis and all-around nasty guy.

The opening chapters that describe Bean's first years are some of the best writing Card has ever done. Bean's early life in Rotterdam just about made me want to cry. I loved the wider perspective on Bean and Ender and the other members of the Battle School. The twists of plot, the surprises and the interactions of the characters are gripping. I couldn't put Ender's Shadow down. Along with Ender's Game, it's on my list of top ten favorite science fiction books of all times.

Rating:
Summary: A parallel book, but...
Review: ...it's even better than Ender's Game. This is just a really terrfic read...you will not be disappointed!

Rating:
Summary: Pale Shadow
Review: Ender Wiggin made an indelible impression on me when I first read Card's earlier book. So, sadly and inevitably, to accept Bean as a surrogate Ender (with even greater military skills) just did not work. O.K. its a good novel in its own right but for a lover of the earlier 'Ender's Game' it came as a damp squib. It would be like accepting that all along Stonewall Jackson was a greater general than Lee, or Messena greater than Napoleon, or Ptolemy greater than Alexander. Further, the novel is weakened considerably because you know the secret of 'Ender's Game' from the start, and that the Battle School has a darker purpose than just training military officers by realistic war-gaming. Card pulled off a brilliant coup at the end of 'Ender's Game' when the secret was revealed (I for one had not guessed it) but with that tremendous climax, he destroyed the chance of any sequel that could equal it for drama and tension. So I found the Ender sequels and the development of Ender's character (while good) not equal to the first book, and this one seems to fall again below that standard. So buy it for a good read, but it will not abide in the memory like 'Ender's Game'. Ender Lives!

Rating:
Summary: Nearly As Good As Ender's Game !
Review: I have read all four books in the Ender series. Ender's Game remains one of my all time favorite books. Number 2 - Speaker For the Dead was very good. Xenocide and Children of the Mind were good, but extended the series a bit longer than necessary I felt. I enjoyed Ender's Shadow almost as much as Ender's Game! You're hooked right from the start! Bean was a fascinating character in the original book, and it was great fun finding out more about his life, thoughts and personality. Card's writing style is so fluid, his characters so interesting and real, and his dialogue is always so believable.

Personally I would recommend reading Ender's Game first and then this book, then Speaker For the Dead. If you enjoy science fiction, trust me, these three books are unforgettable and will stay with you forever! Get ready for a journey to a different place and time you will really enjoy!

(Note to future reviewers: Please be careful not to reveal plot twists in your review as several below have done.)

Rating:
Summary: Enders Shadow, Towers!
Review: Enders Shadow is the reflection of Enders Game. Except in this book, it shows the perspective of Beans life. The author did an excellent job of Paralelling the two books

Enders Shadow shows the perspective of Bean, wherein this book, Bean living off the streets of Rotterdam, joins a group lead by Poke. From the beginning Bean is an astonishingly bright kid compared only to Ender while in battle school. All is well when Bean joins Enders team. Until he and the rest of Dragon army is split up into different teams pitting them against each other. While Bean commands Rabit Army, he also has the hefty task of finding out all of the information that the teachers are hiding from them. Unfortenatly Bean has an encounter with a well-known enemy from the streets of Rotterdam. Bean must out-smart his enemy before the enemy outsmarts him.

This book is much better to Enders Game. For this book explains why everything that was hidden in Enders Game happend. Bean is one of the brightest kids in battle school. He has the reactions of a fox and the reasorcefulness of... well ender yet better. Bean is able to find things out about battle school that ender didnt learn till it was all over. This book shows the relationship between Ender and Bean while still giving you a brilliant yet understandable reason of it all.

Most Enders Game readers that i have talked with, don't end up reading Enders Shadow, thinking that it would be the entire story over again just writen in a different expression. But that is not true. Enders Shadow explains the unsolved mysteries that leave you hanging and annoyed.

No other author could of writen this as good and as brilliant as Orson Scott Card, KUDOS!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Ender's Shadow Book Reveiw
Review: Ender's Shadow Book Review
By Corey
Ender's Shadow is a parallel novel to Ender's Game. Ender's Shadow is about a boy named Bean. Bean was a homeless child in the city of Rotterdam and was taken off of the streets to a school where he learned what he needed to know for a school in outer space called Battle School. The school that he went to on earth was a Catholic School his teacher was a nun and her name was Sister Carlotta. Bean was taken from her to be sent to Battle School where he meets his twin brother Nickoli and bean doesn't know that Nickoli is his twin brother, but he does find out sooner or later. Sister Carlotta goes on a worldwide search for Bean's parents. Eventually she finds them. Bean believes that he will see the famous Ender Wiggin. Then in the first 3 months of Battle School Bean is transferred to Ender's Dragon Army. Then the mystery unfolds from there on and you need to read it to find out.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the original.
Review: Unlike its predecessor, This work is not driven both by character development and plot. In fact since the plot is already mostly know it is almost evntoirely based on the character of Bean. At first it seems like this will work out very well. The first part of the book where Bean lives on the streets of Rotterdam are fascinating, but things go downhill aftre that. Amazingly despite the fact that the whole book is aimed at developing Bean as a character hhe remains remarkably flat throughout. Furthermore Ender is pushed to the back almost as if he is a nonessential character in the story.
On the up side, the plot moves along quickly. for old fans of the battle school getting caught back up in the setting will not be difficult. Overall the work is entertaining but not on the level of Ender's game.

Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Parallel Novel to Ender's Game
Review: When I first started reading this book, I did not have very high hopes that it would be as good as Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Card has done a wonderful job writing from both character's points of veiw and the book had its own plot line. Ender's Shadow is about a boy who is raised on the streets of Rotterdam. He does not know where he came from but he does know that he has been on the streets since he was 2 years old. He is recognized as being extremly smart and having the qualities of a leader. A school in space called 'Batter School' enrolls him when he is still about 3 years younger than the others first entering the school. There he is compared to another boy who came to school early named Ender. Both Bean and Ender are child geniuses and are smart enough to be aware of the upcoming war with the Alien enemies. Ender is the chosen pick by the teachers to lead this war and have assigned Bean as the back up in case Ender can not do it. Bean studies Ender and the way he works while also studying the ways of the other children. The streets of Rotterdam made him constantly alert and always analyzing people for threats against him. A child from his past comes up to Battle School to haunt Bean's time there. Although Ender's Shadow has almost the same general plot as Ender's Game, this one has more side plots and more feelings. You really get to understand the way that Bean veiws the world, and also how others veiw the infamous Ender. This book is excellent and I would reccomend it to anyone who likes a good science fiction tale. I would say to read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card first though so that way you will get a better understanding of the way Ender feels before you can compare him to Bean. This book lets you tap into the mind of children who are forced to grow up but in a way of playing war games.

Rating:
Summary: Makes hash of the original
Review: I thought this book was mediocre, but I thought some things didn't feel quite right. So I checked "parallel" passages from Ender's Shadow and Ender's Game. That was when I realized that this book makes the original incoherent.

A great example: in Ender's Game, there are some passages written from Bean's point of view. I found these passages well-written and quite powerful. There's a serious problem: Bean's internal monologue in Ender's Game is nothing - absolutely nothing - like his internal monologue in Ender's Shadow. Consequently, this book effectively destroys one of the best and most interesting characters in his original novel. There's more in this vein, but there's no point in going on endlessly.

Furthermore, Ender's Shadow is chock-full of little comments that obviously have no purpose other than to patch up little holes in the original that pedantic readers complained about.