Ender's Shadow

I thought this was a great book that goes well as a companion for Enders Game. Told through the eyes of bean! I loved this one almost as much as the original

This book arrived quickly and in good conviction.

I never thought Card could have written something else as good as Ender's Game but I think he surpasses it with this one!I couldn't put it down and highly recommend it to all fans of Ender's Game.

Read together with OSC's classic Enders Game, Enders Shadow is a masterpiece of perspective on leadership. While this is basically the same story as the Original Enders Game, Card gives us an improvement on his own great work by way of his improved and matured abilities as a writer, but more so with the unique privilege or seeing a story you think you know through another viewpoint, changing what you thought you knew. The great lesson I took away from this story is this, 1) The smartest person in the room isn't necessarily the best leader. 2) The best leader always listens to the smartest person in the room Orson Card is the master of the moral dilemma, the conflicted hero, and for requiring the reader to examine his own motives. I love this story

There are very few examples of "parallel novels," and I must confess that when I think of such things it is Tom Stoppard's play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead," which parallel's "Hamlet," that first comes to mind. Anne McCaffrey plays around with it to a limited extent in several of her Pern novels and there is a book out about Ahab's wife, but neither of those is trying to do what Orson Scott Card attempts in "Ender's Shadow." It is rare indeed when the original author decides to go back and cover old ground from a new perspective. But then as most of us well know by now, Uncle Orson does not disappoint his legion of readers. The title character is Bean, who was introduced in the original novel as even younger and smaller than Ender Wiggin when he first arrived at the Battle School. The Bean of "Ender's Shadow" does not conflict with the character as originally presented in "Ender's Game," but certainly there is little to suggest in the first book of the true extent of Bean's abilities. There was the definite notion that Bean was closest to Ender in terms of being the chosen one, but it was a sketchy idea at best. The strength of this book is how Card expands Bean's character, developing the idea that Bean, the production of an illegal genetics experiment, is the main competition for Ender and perhaps the only viable alternative. It becomes clear early on that Bean is smarter than Ender, maybe smarter than anybody else in the world. However, what is in doubt is whether that awesome intelligence is enough to make him the best choice to lead the Earth's forces against the Buggers. Again, as in the entire Ender series, the question of "humanness" comes into play because of the genetic experiment that resulted in Bean's birth. As always, Card wants to explore this issue in terms of actions and behaviors rather than physical forms and structures.In his forward Card tells us that he wanted to write "Ender's Shadow" so that it would not matter to the reader which of the two parallel works they read first. In the abstract he has certainly succeeded in this regard, but of course they should be read in the "proper" order simply because it is this newer novel that better informs us of what happened in the first rather than the other way around. When Card actually does cover a scene from "Ender's Game" one of the things I really appreciated was how he could give added significance to dialogue from the first novel (the best example of this is Bean's "The gate is down" during the battle at the Bugger's Homeworld). For those who always liked "Ender's Game" as the first and best of the Ender novels, this one is certain to be their next favorite work in the series.

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.)

Every few years, a book comes along that burns into the very core of the reader, leaving memory of the book for many, many years to come. When ENDER'S GAME first appeared in the mid-80's, the groundbreaking novel did more to turn legions of "mainstream" readers into sci-fi fans. The gripping human drama in that Hugo & Nebula winning book left many of us stunned and wowed.While some many have followed Mr. Card's foray into the further adventures of Ender Wiggins through the sequels, I personally couldn't get through SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD and decided to abandon the further life story of Ender. And when I saw that a "parallel" novel of ENDER'S GAME was published, I thought to myself, "Well, Mr. Card is selling himself out. Talk about rehashing."Then as fate would have it, I picked up ENDER'S SHADOW anyway about a week ago and began reading a few days ago. By page 2, I was hopelessly lost in the world of Rotterdamn, where the 2-year old Bean begins his political maneuvering, leading to murder, lies and powerplay by various memorable characters. Forget SURVIORS. The truth about human nature and its various social manifestations are in ENDER'S SHADOW. The reason why ENDER'S GAME was so successful was that, despite its background as a SF story, it was really about believable characters that you cared about. ENDER'S SHADOW does that, too, and by the end of the book, you're sad that you'll have to say goodbye to your imaginary friends.From the backstreets of Rotterdam, through the Battle School, then to the final simulation game that signals the end of the war between human and buggers, we see the transformation of Bean, from the secretive, emotionless, distrusting schemer to a full-fledged leader of soldiers.For those who think SHADOW might be rehashing old story, read the book and see how perfectly it fits into the GAME. While events are the same, Ender is only a pivoting point for Bean, the lead character. They say that the journey isn't the destination; it is the journey itself, the road by which you arrive at the destination. The story here is the road where you walk with Bean, where the now-old surprise ending of the GAME is not the point.For those who have never read ENDER'S GAME, you might want to read that first, but frankly, even without that first book, you'll thoroughly enjoy this one. But, again, frankly, you'll be mad at yourself in the end because, 9 out of 10, you'll wind up picking up that first book immediately.Is ENDER'S SHADOW equal to ENDER'S GAME? Probably not. But what can equal the power of the first book? ENDER'S SHADOW is almost as good, and will not disappoint. Don't take my word for it. Go ahead and read it.