Customer Reviews

Ender's Shadow

5 star:		(344)
4 star:		(142)
3 star:		(39)
2 star:		(28)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I have just finished listening to the Audio Book of Ender's Shadow and I was completely impressed with the professionalism of the production and the quality of the writing.
Ender's Shadow is not a sequel or a prequel. It's the same story as Ender's Game but told from the viewpoint of a different charactor, Bean. I was so amazed at the new insight into the original story that I found myself rereading passages of Ender's Game.
The quality of the production on the audio book is amazing. The producers wisely decided to use a full cast to read the story. When the story switched viewpoints and during certain dialogue pieces, it helped to keep the charactors straight and the audio book lively.
Orson Scott Card decided to add a special treat at the end of the audio book. On the final CD, there is a passage where he explains what has been holding up the Ender's Game move. (Yes, there will be an Ender's Game movie) He tells you of the obsticles that had to be overcome, how he overcame them, and why there will be an Ender's Game movie out soon. The insight that he provided is amazing and surprising.
If you are wanting to read Ender's Shadow, I challenge you to listen to it on audio book instead. I listened to it on at the gym and in the car. I'm sure that you will feel the same way I did; that it was well worth the unique experience.

I've always enjoyed Bean's character in Ender's Game and I was excited to learn more about Bean's past, his thoughts, etc. This book offered a different perspective of the Battle School, the games and the war. Overall, it was a good read.

I enjoyed this book, though I'm fairly particular about what science fiction I will read. If you liked Ender's Game, I suspect you'll like this book too.

Although the reviews now indicate how I feel about the book. But at first many probably doubted that card could essentially tell the same story twice. However, the story while similar to Ender's Game, does a brilliant job in its own right in becoming a separate book from it's original predecessor. The storyline of Bean from his struggles on the streets of Rotterdam to his acceptance and difficulties in Battle School , is extremely compelling. If you loved Ender's Game, you might like Ender's Shadow even more. What makes it unique is the fact that not only does it tell some of the events but besides the plot of the Bugger War (Called Formics in Ender's Shadow) and Bean's original struggle to stay alive, is the subplot of his origins. Without giving too much away (POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD), Bean is not a normal child in any sense of the word normal. The source of Bean's intelligence is gradually unraveled throughout the book by the International Fleet and Sister Carlotta (Bean's mentor and protector during his time on Earth before Battle School). I found this subplot to perhaps be the most exciting of all. It gave the original Ender's Game a new dimension to look at. Ender's Shadow not only gives the reader some of the events that the reader read about in Ender's Game but fills in alot of the gaps as well that are told from the standpoint of the people on the "other" side of the equation.

Bottom line is if you haven't gotten this book yet, you are missing out on all the magic that made Ender's Game great and Ender's Shadow even better. Pick it up, you won't regret it!

Many people see this book as just a rewritten version of Ender's Game except from bean's view. That is true in part, but the story tells of bean's past, his thoughts, hopes and wishes. Without reading this book, it would be impossible to understand bean thoroughly.
From the first moment I started to read the book, I was astonish. I simply could not believe that bean, such a small child, had come from the streets living as an urchin for the greater part of his life. Questions as to where bean came from, how he came to be in battle school and other thought provoking questions are answered in this book.

Don't listen to those who say this book pales in comparison to Ender's Game. Sure, you don't get the surprise ending you got in the first book, but you know that before you even start reading this book, so that is a silly argument. Bean is a fascinating character in his own right and this book stands firmly on it's own. Sure, you can argue that Card was just trying to cash in on the success of his original masterpiece, but I read this book in one sitting and loved every second of it. If you like the original, read this book. I had it sitting around the house for two years before I actually read it for the same reason...feeling Card was just trying to relive the glory days and feeling that, since I already knew the "surprise" ending, that it would not be all that worthwile to read. I was wrong. This story stands on it's own as a masterpiece. Don't miss out on it.

You ask: Why would ENDER'S SHADOW be such a must-read? And I would answer: because the plot is AWESOME! OK, a little shrimpy four-year-old who taught himself who to live on the streets, talk, and read? And then his little midget goes into space to Battle School, a school for military genius children to fight in a war against the invading aliens? How is that not awesome? ENDER'S SHADOW is about Ender's shadow: Bean. Bean is a complete genius, but does not understand normal human affecsionism. Here's an example from the book:

'Like the games of Let's Pretend that Sister Carlotta tried to play with him a couple of times. Harking back to her own childhood, no doubt, growing up in a house where there was always enough food. Bean didn't have to pretend things in order to exercise his imagination when he was on the street. Instead he had to imagine his plans for how to get food, for how to insinuate himself into a gang, for how to survive when he knew he seemed useless to everyone. He had to imagine how and when his leader, Achilles would decide to act against him for having advocated that Poke kill him. He had to imagine danger around every corner, a bully ready to seize every scrap of food. Oh, he had plenty of imagination. But he had NO interest at all in playing Let's Pretend.
That was HER game. She played it all the time. Let's pretend that Bean is a good little boy. Let's pretend that Bean is the son that this nun can never have for real. Let's pretend that when Bean leaves, he'll cry---that he's not crying now because he's too afraid of this new school, this journey into space, to let his emotions show. Let's pretend that Bean loves me.
So Bean slid off his chair, walked around the table to Sister Carlotta, and put his arms as far around her as they would reach. She gathered him put onto her lap and held him tight, her tears flowing into his hair. He hoped her nose wasn't running. But he clung to her as long as she clung to him, letting go when she let go of him. It was what she wanted from him, the only payment that she had ever asked of him. For all the meals, the lessons, the books, the language, for his future, he owed her no less than to join her in this game of Let's Pretend.'

You see, Bean is not exacly normal, and that's what makes him SO interesting. If you do not read ENDER'S SHADOW you are really missing out!

This is my 2nd favorite OSC book after Ender's Game and it's a great read. Unlike a lot of readers, I was disappointed by Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide. If I could go back in time and do it again, I'd only read Ender's Game & Ender's Shadow, these two books complement each other beautifully and make for incredibly inspiring reading.

The Buggers are coming! The Buggers are coming! The Buggers are a hostile, alien race coming to attack Earth. An army is needed to fight the buggers. That's where battle school comes in.Beanis a boy who is small for his age, but is very smart because he was a genetically science expieriment. The stoy begins when Bean was only four years old and was living on the streets of Rotterdam. He was tested for battle school and got the highest scores in history. Once at battle school, he meets Nikolai, who becomes his best friend and later turns out to be his brother. The battle school is taken the best, smartest kids and training them hard. They have a game for training where there are commanders of armies of about 40 soldiers each (the armies are the teams and the soldiers are the players of the game). The armies battle each other. They wear flash suits that get stiff when shot with the game weapons.

The commander of Bean's team, Ender, has the second highest test scores at the battle school. He is also the best army commander in the training game. When the teachers give him an army and figure out that he is such a good commander, they get really tough on him and his army to see if he has any weaknesses. They make the opposing teams' suits able to unstiffen after five minutes, but Ender's army's suits do not unstiffen (they are all supposed to stay stiff). They also put Ender's army against two other armies are once. They are only supposed to have a battle once every few days, but the teachers give Ender's army two battles a day plus practices. Even with all those battles, they never lost a single one.

Though the story jumps around a lot and parts of this book sound like the Bible, I really liked it. It is an exciting science fiction story. I would recommend Ender's Shadow to anyone who can keep up with a complicated, hard-to-follow storyline.

bean is a kid that lived on the streets, that is until he took an I.Q. test. this story takes place a couple thousand years in the future. earth has been attacked by a formic race nick-named the buggers. both times earth scapped a win. the international fleet is testing children to find potential commanders, and bean is a good target. bean must not only prove he is a good choice for commander, he must survive.
ender's shadow is a great book for sci-fi lovers.
it has a good story, nonstop action and adventure.
i think anybody would like this book, and i recommend it to everybody.