Rating: 
Summary: WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This is the book for every one who Ender's Game was not enough for. It tell the same story but from a very different perspective. It is interesting watching how the other charecters react to Ender. (Since the first book was only from Enders perspective.) I highly recomend this book to anyone who liked "Ender's Game"
Rating: 
Summary: Ender Schmender
Review: This review is a response to those who disliked ENDER'S SHADOW because Bean is not as likeable a character as Ender. He doesn't have the ability to lead, to attract people to him. And he's not as nice. Of course he's not as nice! Look where he grew up compared to where Ender grew up. In the introduction, and even throughout the book itself, everyone is saying, "WE DON'T LIKE BEAN AS MUCH." He uses his brain for his own selfish purposes (survival) rather than to make the people around him better, but he grows. Bean's analytical mind is as fascinating as Ender's leadership ability, if not more so. Bean's automatic distrust of everyone because of what they might be thinking is well worth learning from. His view of humanity and methods of dealing with it are certainly different from and less admirable than Ender's, but that doesn't make it a bad book. The whole point of science fiction is to make people think, and ENDER'S SHADOW certainly does that. It is a spectacularly well-written book. People who didn't like it most likely didn't want to think about its message or adopt Card's views about the capabilities and attitudes of children. If you don't want to do this, then don't read the book, because it did a great job of convincing me.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely does not live up to its predecessor
Review: I think that my main problem with Ender's Shadow correlates with what many other people seem to be thinking. Through this novel, the image of Ender Wiggin is weakened. He is one of my favorite characters of all time, and that is a big thing to say, considering that I normally detest science fiction as a genre.The main character in Ender's Shadow is that of Bean, a genetically altered whiz who's basically a street urchin. He comes to the attention of Battle School recruiters because of his amazing intellect - which is too amazing, come to think of it. I will echo what so many other people have said - all of a sudden we are supposed to believe that Ender's triumph over the buggers is due to Bean's efforts? I find this incredibly unbelievable, and I am inclined to believe that OSC didn't even have this in mind while writing Ender's Game, and just decided to twist with the whole legend of Ender when he took up Bean's tale. I don't know whether OSC meant to make Bean a memorable character - because his character just left me cold. He definitely is not as likeable character as Ender Wiggin is, or Valentine (Ender's older sister). At times, I found myself wanting to smack Bean for being such an arrogant jerk. This book definitely does not live up to the original spell of Ender's Game.
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Summary: What a GREAT idea!
Review: I picke dup ES thinking it was a *sequel*. I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't. Card simply tells the same story from the perspetive of a different character. And what a character to pick! I had read Ender's Game a long time ago but the story quickly came alive again but from a different point of view. If you enjoyed Ender's Game you should like this one as well.
Rating:
Summary: If Bean doesn't scare you, you're not human.
Review: In Ender's Game, Card introduced us to the old-before-their-time children of the Battle School, and the battle agianst a powerful enemy (the "Buggers") that threatened to destroy humanity. In the books that followed, the story developed well away from its origin in Ender's Game. In this, the fifth book in the series, we return to a parallel story centered around another student, named Bean, who is intellectually Ender's superior. Genetically modified and "raised" a street child, Bean is discovered by the International Fleet, sent to Battle School, and quickly peers through the wall of secrecy surrounding the IF's war against the Buggers. Nothing can be hidden from him for long, and he eventually proves himself invaluable to humanity's fight for survival. Although Bean is a prominent character in Ender's Game, the change in perspective greatly changes his importance from peripheral to central. Bean is modelled after the people in institutions everywhere who receive no notice yet perceive everything about the organization's mission and without whom nothing would happen. Only Bean is superhumanly bright and quick to a degree that could only be described as frightening. Although too young for Battle School, and very small even for his age, there is nothing child-like about Bean. Even his curiosity has cold purpose. Although you need not have read Ender's Game to understand or enjoy this book, you will want to read Ender's Game if you enjoy this book. I would recommend this book highly to anyone for whom intelligence is a fundamental, and not always benign, fact of life; particularly if a child. Obviously, I would also recommend it for fans of Card or of the Ender series.
Rating:
Summary: wow.... and all this time I thought Card sold out...
Review: When Ender's Shadow first came out I, apparently like a lot of readers, thought that this was just some quick money making deal for Card. But surprisingly it wasn't. Rather, Ender's Shadow is an entertaining, plot driven story, which can be enjoyed even though the reader already knows the ending. Some reviewers say that Ender is weakened, made to look wimpier, when seen through Bean's eyes. And thats true, to Bean, an independent loner, Wiggin's sensitivity seems weak. But thats part of the coolness of the book, it gives unique perception on the same events.
Rating:
Summary: Good news, bad news
Review: The good news is that your worst fears are not true. This is not merely a cynical attempt to cash in on Card's most popular book by rewriting it. It's a fast-moving novel, a good read, and an interesting parallel--Bean has to learn to become civilized, even as Ender has to learn to become savage. It's quite a bit better than most of the direct sequels to _Ender's Game_. The bad news is that it significantly weakens the original novel. It turns out that Ender is really a putz, while Bean is infallible. Bean is never wrong. Bean knows everything before Ender knows it. Bean whitens while he brightens. And so on. We are *told* that the difference is that Ender has the gift of making people devoted to him, as if this will preserve his heroic status. But we're never *shown* it--it's simply stated. It might be more convincing if Bean were more credibly socially dysfunctional, but Card makes Bean sufficiently sympathetic that this doesn't work either. We're left with the impression that Ender is a meaningless figurehead. In the end, therefore, this book represents the inverse of a phenomenon often seen in action-based books/movies/comics/games: villain inflation. Villain inflation means that, after the heroes defeat the big bad guy in episode 1, there has to be an even *bigger* bad guy in episode 2, and an *EVEN BIGGER* bad guy in episode 3, ad infinitum. _Ender's Shadow_ is, if you like, "hero inflation": Card magnifies Bean and, in the process, undermines his original protagonist.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth reading, but don't take it too seriously
Review: While at certain points of Ender's Game I remember thinking that a child that age does not really think in those terms, Bean makes Ender look like a simpleton. Even allowing for the high intelligence of Bean, there is no way an infant less than a year old does what Card describes in the book. It is really too much at times; had all the children been ten years older, suspension of disbelief might have been achieved. But I really had to make an effort to cope with the level of sophistication Bean achieved. I am trying not to give anything away to people who have not read the book, so my explanation probably does not make too much sense. So my advice is don't believe what Card writes and just assume everyone i nthe novel is ten years older.
Rating:
Summary: Card delivers again!
Review: Card as created a novel with as much action and emotion as its original parallel. Ender's Shadow is not only packed with excitiment and adventure, but is full of wicked twists and surprises that will keep you reading long into the night. Ender's Shaodw revisits the famous battle school from the original Ender's Game, where the story of Ender is told through a person with different eyes and with a different mind.
Rating:
Summary: Card proves his brilliance yet again.
Review: I tore through this book in a day. A wonderful read, but also an absolutely superb example of how Card understands people and the human condition. This book will enrich you and your understanding of what motivates people, how they think, and what they feel. Though the book parallels Ender's game, it stands apart, and you need not have read one to appreciate the other. The story of Bean is brilliant unto itself.
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