Rating: 
Summary: Almost, but not quite.
Review: this book is good, but ender's shadow was better. ender's game was the best. i reccomed reading those three, and then swearing off of the rest of the ender's game novels...
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: When I first heard that this book was being published, I was wary. While "Ender's Shadow" proved that Card could produce an excellent novel of a story he had already told us once in "Ender's Game," I was somewhat doubtful that Card could write another novel in this storyline and have it come out well. Indeed, in my opinion "Xenocide" was a very poor sequel to "Ender's Game" and "Speaker for the dead". However, like "Ender's Shadow," this novel is surprisingly good, adding some intriguing insight into already familiar characters, nicely filling in the history and character gaps of previous novels, and doing it all with comfortable but imaginitive prose.However, somehow the Battle School children in this novel are less believable than previous novels... In "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow", Ender, Bean, Petra, and even Achilles were presented in a manner that I thought was believable, and somewhat representative of the more brilliant children I have met. However, in "Hegemon", while Bean and some of the other children are still well written, Achille comes across rather two-dimensionally, and it's rather hard to actually accept this character as Card wrote him. However, this is a minor flaw, the storyline and discussion of politics and war are interesting by themselves. If you've read the rest of the "Ender" novels, and like "Ender's Shadow," you'll probably like this novel. If you're new to the "Ender" books, I certainly wouldn't recommend starting with this one, however.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, it's getting old already.
Review: I'm a fan of this series, but enough is enough. Authors throw originality out the window every year to write sequels to neverending series that drag on and on. I have a pet peeve with authors that continue to churn out books with the same subject. Stop already and write something new for us. Please!!
Rating: 
Summary: More great reading about Bean
Review: I couldn't wait to pick up my copy of Card's new book! Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow are important books for me so it is hard to be critical of this new installment. However, this book is much more accessible than some of the other Ender sequels and is a great continuation of Ender's Shadow. Bean is far from normal and he makes an interesting character to follow. Without giving any spoilers, it is great to finally read about Peter and the events on Earth after Ender's departure. Of course, the other books set in this universe have referred to some of the events that occur, but now knowing the story behind them is much more satisfying. If you are not familiar with the Ender series, please do not start with this book. Ender's Game should be read first for the pure joy of it. Then read Ender's Shadow and finally this book. You won't regret it. I have recommended Ender's Game over and over for more than a decade and have never had a negative response.
Rating:
Summary: I haven't read it, but...
Review: I had to do a book report two years ago. It was about Ender's Game, the first of Card's novels in this series. I then read the three books following it -- all the way through Children of the Mind. I fell in love with Card's writing style, and his characters, not to mention the thought provoking ideas that came with it. I then read Ender's Shadow which put a new twist on the Battle School. I loved it. This book, as a continuation of Ender's Shadow, brings to light the things Ender and Valentine's brother, Peter the Hegemon, did after his siblings started traveling. Better yet, it is from the point of view of non-settlers, the people on Earth. I keep trying to understand the universe of the pequeninos and the buggers, and this book helps describe the Earth of that universe.
Rating:
Summary: The Next Great Political SF Novel?
Review: Orson Scott Card says in the afterword to "Shadow of the Hegemon" that this book is as different from "Ender's Shadow" as "Speaker for the Dead" was from "Ender's Game". He's right. Where "Speaker for the Dead" turned and looked at the universe 3000 years hence and examined, in great detail, religion and life, "Shadow of the Hegemon" turns and looks at political interplay and fear in this world 150 years from now. What made "Shadow of the Hegemon" stand out for me was the political aspect of the novel. Orson Scott Card has done a better job of painting national politics and intrigue across a worldwide scale better than any science fiction or fantasy writer I've seen since George R.R. Martin's "A Game of Thrones". The scope that he uses is very impressive as he takes the political action of the novel across most of the Asian continent and shows situations that are, on the whole, relatively plausible. Card's work in blending national policy with personal motivation is very impressive. However, there are a few small areas I quibble with. I think that the world community he paints one hundred and fifty years hence is a little tainted by personal bitterness, both to the US and China. Whether he meant it to or not, it does, to me, detract a bit from both the plausibilty of the book and the overall quality of the writing. Likewise, while I am not a student of South and Southeast Asia, I question his wisdom in using just once source apiece - as he states in the afterword - when creating his India and Thailand circa 2150. This fact appears rather obvious when reading characters' discussions of these two countries. Card trys very hard to make the countries he creates plausible extrapolations of today's countries, and they suffer for these two reasons. Nonetheless, the novel is still a wonderful read. Card takes a couple of classic premises for novels and blends them into a story that, if it occaisonally lacks for original plot twists, one that shows how well he grasps both individual struggle and national interplay. On the individual side of the novel, Bean, Peter and Petra all take on additional depth in this novel and all three become characters that I am eager to read more about in the remaining two novels in Card's "Shadow" series. As adolescents and teenagers, they are as believable as they were as children in "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow". As people, they develop more depth to their character - especially Peter - and move in directions that are, if predictable, certainly arrived at unpredictably. In retrospect, what definitely stands out for me in this book, are the political machinations. I'm sure that will be what primarily stands out one, five, or ten years from now. Anyone with an interest in political struggle should read this book, as well as any Orson Scott Card fan who wants to see him successfully tackle new areas of writing. While I do have minor reservations about the world as he creates it, I have none about the way his characters move it and move through it.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: When I first heard that this book was being published, I was wary. While "Ender's Shadow" proved that Card could produce an excellent novel of a story he had already told us once in "Ender's Game," I was somewhat doubtful that Card could write another novel in this storyline and have it come out well. Indeed, in my opinion "Xenocide" was a very poor sequel to "Ender's Game" and "Speaker for the dead". However, like "Ender's Shadow," this novel is surprisingly good, adding some intriguing insight into already familiar characters, nicely filling in the history and character gaps of previous novels, and doing it all with comfortable but imaginitive prose. However, somehow the Battle School children in this novel are less believable than previous novels... In "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow", Ender, Bean, Petra, and even Achilles were presented in a manner that I thought was believable, and somewhat representative of the more brilliant children I have met. However, in "Hegemon", while Bean and some of the other children are still well written, Achille comes across rather two-dimensionally, and it's rather hard to actually accept this character as Card wrote him. However, this is a minor flaw, the storyline and discussion of politics and war are interesting by themselves. If you've read the rest of the "Ender" novels, and like "Ender's Shadow," you'll probably like this novel. If you're new to the "Ender" books, I certainly wouldn't recommend starting with this one, however.
Rating:
Summary: Best of Sci-Fi
Review: I enjoyed Children of the Mind very much. In this book you can see the aftermath of the Bugger Wars. You can see a better look at Bean,Petra, and Achilles. These main characters were always my favorite and I feel Mr.Card did a very good job exploring these characters more. You have Bean, the super genius child. You have Achilles the teenage criminal mastermind out for blood and to rule the world by harnesting the top battleschool alumni children. And you have Petra the damsel in distress that's capable of taking care of herself using her mind, skill, and even charm. Put these three characters together with other interesting people, future bamboozled political situations, and lots of guns, brains, and Orson Scott Card and you have a book that is garenteed to keep you on the edge of your seat, never wanting to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Not just another retelling of Ender's Game
Review: This book, although highly readable and recommended, is somewhat of a departure from Scott's usual sci-fi space-traveling "hero's journey" of the Ender series. "Shadow of the Hegemon" is more of a earth-bound story, where space and interstellar xenocide fade into the background amidst the usual suspects in the fight for world domination. Following Bean's story would, in and of itself, make a great novel. We also follow Petra and a few of the other battle school graduates as they show that they have matured past being just child genuises used as pawns by adults to save humanity. In this story, we finally see them using their own resources as they act alone to save themselves. Peter Wiggin, formerly known as the sadistic brother of Ender, becomes a fully rounded character, both impossibly arrogant and charismatic. In my opinion it is this interaction between Bean and Peter Wiggin and what they accomplish together which is truly the gem in the midst of this high-stakes story of world diplomacy. And it is this relationship, and Peter's subsequent rise to power that sets the stage for this story's obvious continuance.
Rating:
Summary: This was absolutely amazing
Review: I can't recomend this book enough if you liked the first one!
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