Rating: 
Summary: My first Card book.
Review: This is the first book by Orson Scott Card that i have read, and i found it to be pretty good. I would have liked to have started with one of the Ender books, but this is an interesting place to start as well, being as all of Ender's glory is referred to in the past. I enjoyed the characterizations of the kids. They obviously went through a lot in Battle School and in the previous wars, and now that they are back, they are struggling to be kids and to be human again. (That is, if they ever were.) One of the gripes that i have with this book is that i am never sure about time. Petra's age is given, but i am never sure how old Bean really is - and with growing kids, i think this makes a difference. I think there was a mention in there of Bean not looking older than 6. Well, if you are 10 and being mistaken for six or if you are 13 and being mistaken for 6, this makes a difference. In the same way, the period of time in which this takes place is fuzzy too. We know that it is sometime a couple centuries in the future, but the countries of the world look pretty much the same, and when Card refers to past wars, generals, etc, they are 20th century at the latest. I know, i know, there was the Hedgemon and the Formic wars and stuff, but i didn't READ the Ender books, and seeing a map so similar to the one today is just strange. The other criticism of this book that i have is of the national characters. There is a lot that Card writes that is true, but even if i believe that the US is "a nation in decline", i don't think it will be as fast as Card makes it out to be. Similarly, i don't believe that Russia will be in the same situation that she is in now in 300 years' time.. Again, it may be that the maps will change more dramatically. Overall, i really did enjoy the book.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good just like the rest of the Series
Review: I really liked it, because almost all of my favorite characters were there. It was very dramatic and really pulls you in after the first couple of pages and you can't put in down because you want to know what happens to Bean, Petra and the rest of Ender's crew from the 3rd invasion. Both Bean and Petra come back but they are older and try tp fit back into their old lives where it seems they might not beable to. You meet Peter Wiggin(Locke) and the Parents of the Wiggin kids.
Rating: 
Summary: Great stuff
Review: Don't fall prey to the nitpicking reviews that crab Card for the odd error, or supposedly flat military strategy and the like. This is a great book and a fun read that takes you back to first time you read Ender's Game. Favorite passages of mine are Card's musings on how nobody understands anyone else's motivations and his slamming of the American "intellectual community." If I were to criticize this book at all, I would say it's a bit too short, and seems to rush to the finish at the end. He promises two more books in the series, but I think he/the publisher could have expanded this book a bit. Nevertheless, a strong entry from Card into a series that by and large has been terrific (I confess, Children of the Mind, failed to hold my interest.)
Rating:
Summary: Shadow Of the Hemogen-Kates Review
Review: Shadow of the Hemogen was very good. Some might feel it is not up to Card's regular standards but don't forget everyone who reads this book is expecting another Ender's Game, but this is Beans story. Card did an excellent job in this installment of the Bean Saga, you get the picture of Bean and how he really works. This is a great read and for those of you who are a fan of the other Enders books then you will enjoy this one. Except for on scene of the book that was a mistake it was very well written..though the ending does keep you hanging a bit..
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been so much more
Review: When I heard Card was coming out with another Ender book I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and be one of the first to read it. Well that excitement lasted for about the first 100 pages before Shadow of the Hegemon took a serious turn for the worse. Card opens this 6th installment of the Ender series from the prospective of Petra Arkanian, Ender's only female "jeesh" member. The war against the formics has ended and the planet has now only to worry about squabbles within itself. Petra is a famous war hero - a great resource to her homeland and this demand for battle school successes is the foundation of the plot. Shadow of the Hegemon is a major step down from it's classic predecessors. At no point did I have the "wow" feeling that I have grown to depend on from Card. Only at isolated points is any real creativity displayed and more often than not, he uses his work as a platform for a history lesson. The in-your-face, real, and primal action that is the trademark of Ender's Game NEVER comes and only rarely was I turning the pages for a reason beyond getting to the end. There is simply WAY too much politics in this book and not enough action. Shadow of the Hegemon is only recommendable to the most hardcore of Orson Scott Card fans. I though I was one of them until finishing this job. For those of you who want to get into the Ender series, PLEASE begin at the core, Card's best work and MY favorite book, Enders Game.
Rating: 
Summary: Wait till the second printing
Review: Orson goofed with this one. It is probably hard to keep track of all those characters, but in the second printing the mistakes will be printed correctly. Here's the deal - Bean the primary protagonist is now on Earth. Every other soldier from the final battle waged in "Ender's Game" has been kidnapped. The premise for these kidnappings was predictable from "Game", but in the actual writing, it came across poorly. But here is where it really fails, Young Bean, in an effort to contact Peter, goes to the Wiggin Home in Greensboro of the future. He has a dialog with Mrs. Wiggin and we see them discussing where Ender used to live. If you read the first edition you'll see the error. Luckily the corrected scene is located on Card's Website hatrack.com . Otherwise you too would be confused too. That was a fogiveable error. After all Card is human. But the unforgivable part is that the characters are not as clever or imaginative as they should be. Card can do much better. They are genius kids who think like grown-ups. Mr. Card has forgotten that kids suffer from biology - even if they are geniuses. The kids all behave like adults. Orson forgets that these kids are apt to behave like kids at least once in a while. He wrote about short people who have been programmed to behave like adults and never fail to do so. In the first book, at least they acted like kids once in a while. This book could have been better thought out. If you want to stay abreast of these characters, read the book. But wait till the corrections are made in the second printing.
Rating:
Summary: Lack of knowledge hinders this book
Review: I will be very blunt in this review, even though I have been a huge fan of Mr. Card since reading Ender's Game over ten years ago, this latest effort of his just fars fall short of bar he set for himself. The problem is that he writes a novel that deals with the military strategies and political intrigues of a world nearly two hundred years from now, but it appears without actually having thought how advances in technology would effect this. His idea of combat is actually outdated for this day and age, the over use of armor and discussion of supply lines actually comes from WWII military thought. Anyone who has read Brookings Institute reports or bothered to ever read even Scientific America or such info would know that the future is to be based more around the individual soldier, who will be very much like the Mobile Infantry in Robert Heinlein's classic Starship troopers, which was written in 1959. At least with Ender's Game he was descirbing combat that was nonexistent in our day and age and was purely theoretical, he could then enjoy descibing those battles in his own personal way. But when choosing to write a military-political back on our homeground you have to be that much more aware of "realism". Also as student of Political Science, I think Mr. Card's understanding of world affairs and interactions is very basic and actually, for anyone who is also in that field of thought very "traditionalist" or "realist". For others its dated to again a pre-WWII philosophy. Again I think it fails to accept the modifications to human interaction that have occured in the last twenty years alone due to technology advances. His net is about as advanced as the internet is today, if at all. I think in reading the Afterword he left in the book one understands why Mr. Card's vision is so limited. He claims knowledge on subjects from having one book in the area, and in one case on Thailand the concise history. I have read Guns, Germs and Steel, as Mr. Card has and highly recommend it as well, but one of the points of that book which Mr. Card misses is that dynamic changes in technology, through the luck of viral competition and the societies that arise from climate farming techniques, that are unexpected can make all the difference between a Spain conquering the Aztecs or the Aztecs conquering Spain. Mr. Card though writing interesting characters, creates a world, where even thought there was a political stagnation due to the Bugger Wars, there has been no attempt to advance or theorize how that society is different from today, beyond pulling the old stock bit that sci-fi writers have been using since the 60s that America will go into decline and become a second rate power.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book to read!
Review: Shadow of the Hegemon is one of the best books in the Ender Series. It tells you what happened on Earth while Ender is gone. In the book Bean is being tracked down by an old opponent from his childhood. He has had numorous attempts on his life. Not only is Bean in trouble but his old friends from the famous battle of Ender's Game. Petra is with this old opponent and Bean must now figure out how to save her while keeping himself alive. This book was great! It had moments of pure suspense and I would recommend it to anyone.
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Summary: The Children Lead¿And Win
Review: Orson Scott Card has written several novels, but is perhaps best known for his series of stories about Ender (Andrew) Wiggin, the prodigy who led the military of the interplanetary federation in its successful defense against interstellar invasion. Backed up by a group of other children almost as brilliant as he, Ender is responsible for the tactics that provide for a successful counterattack that defeats the enemy and destroys them and their home world completely. After the last battle, Ender moves on into the colonization of space and works through the personal and corporate trauma of the genocide that was necessary for human survival. After taking Ender's story to its conclusion in a series of novels, Card took an interesting tack, returned to the beginning of the story, and retold it from the point of view of characters who were supporting actors in the original. Primary among these were Ender's principal aides, Bean and Petra, and Ender's brother Peter, who was barely mentioned in the original. This new story was appropriately titled Ender's Shadow. That story line is concluded very effectively in Card's new book, Shadow of the Hegemon. After the war is over, and Ender has gone off to colonize deep space, the children who were trained to be soldiers and who helped Ender are returned to Earth and their families. The transition is difficult, since they are used to being treated far differently as they are at home. People can't seem to realize that they are not just children any more. When all of the members of Ender's inner circle, except one, are kidnapped, it seems that someone knows they are more than just children, and wants to use their special skills. Petra is one of those captured. Bean is the sole escapee. With Peter's help, Bean launches an effort to rescue the others and foil whoever it is that has taken them. Card's Ender Wiggin fans seemed to be pleased with the return of the prodigies in Ender's Shadow. They will also be pleased with the neat ways in which Card continues and concludes the story in Shadow of the Hegemon. It is not very often that an author creates supporting characters who are so interesting in their own right that they deserve their own stories.
Rating:
Summary: Does not go far
Review: I really enoyed enjoyed Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, but this book was less of a joy. I was pleased that it covered Bean and Petra more, but was disappointed that the book did not go in more depth about Ender's parent or Peter more. It also did not move the story along very far. It rehashes the Battle School kids getting to Earth and maybe a year or so of what they encounter (kidnapping and battles) and their reaction. It was like a half-sequal setting up two more sequals to finish the story. If you love Ender and the kids, it is worth the read, otherwise save 20 bucks and wait to see if the next does more because in skipping this one you will not miss much of the story.
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