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Summary: Fantastic addition to the Ender's series
Review: Ender's Shadow is the best book I've read since The Triumph & the Glory. It is Card at his best. I'm going back to reread all of the Ender's books, I almost forgot what I was missing!
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Summary: What you should & shouldn't read of O.S. Card.
Review: Ender's Shadow is good -- surprisingly good -- especially since the only things that Orson Scott Card has written that need to be read are Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead and, now, Ender's Shadow.Card's writing deteriorates in Xenocide, to the point where I've consciously tried to forget that I read the book! His writing becomes very...superficial, dry, and...generic every time he writes about his own religion (Mormon), which is why you should avoid the Worthing Saga. The Tales of Alvin Maker are okay, but nothing exceptional.
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Summary: Good read but somewhat a rehash
Review: For all you people who loved "Ender's Game", I don't think you can go far wrong in reading this book. It's got the same "feel" as "Ender's Game" and explores some new territory -- and, yes, is obviously setting up for one or more sequels, which may actually be better than this book. "Ender's Shadow" has some weaknesses: much of the story is a rehash of Ender's Game, there are a few rather jarring inconsistencies with characterization from the first book (probably unavoidable given the new direction OSC thought of for Bean's character, but inconsistent nevertheless), OSC spends too much time trying to explain - with mixed success - what Bean was thinking when he said certain things (required by the first book's dialogue) that don't really mesh with his new characterization, the Nicholas thing was just too pat, and the Achilles subplot ending just screams "SEQUEL" way too loudly. That said, I still enjoyed the book. OSC has a way of making you think about motivations, relationships, and personalities that is sorely lacking in most science fiction. He mixes that well with intriguing ideas and technologies. It's hard to make a sequel match up to the quality of the first book, but OSC does it better than most. I'll be there for the Peter/Bean/Achilles matchup!
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Summary: Best Card Novel Yet
Review: I'm one who ranks Ender's Game as one of my all-time favorites, and have read virtually everything since that first short story and then novel that Orson Scott Card has written, with mixed thoughts on each. Examples: Game and Saints were superb, Speaker was OK, Lovelock not so OK. The concept of Shadow sounded unusual. I thought I'd be disappointed. I read along until Bean met up with Ender. Then I dug out the old ratty paperback of Ender's Game, and read that until I caught up to the same Ender/Bean encounter. I went back and forth several times, reading the books in parallel (they were written that way...why not read 'em that way?). Again, masterful, brilliant, and all sorts of other adjectives I can't think of. Don't know of any other SciFi novel attempted this way, and don't know of any writer that could have pulled it off as well.
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Summary: Ender's Game is a very good book full of action.
Review: Enders Game is a wonderful story written by a wonderful author. It was full of action and was very unpredictable. Also, I am a teenager so I can realate to Ender. I think enders game is a wonderful book that should be read by any one who likes Science Fiction.
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Summary: Really good, but not great.
Review: This was a really good book, but it was really long, the end was much more rushed than in Ender's Game, and the ending was incredibly inconclusive.
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Summary: First rate novel, well told with new perspective
Review: I really enjoyed Ender's Shadow much more than I expected. It is a much better book than the last couple of novels featuring Ender and Jane. Some reviewers have criticized Ender's Shadow for focusing on a kid who was not as great a person as Ender. To me that was the book's greatest strength: showing how a brilliant young kid damaged by his early life can slowly become more human. I really liked how Bean gradually learned to work with other kids, and how he keeps focussed on the big picture. There's not much point to rewriting the masterpiece Ender's Game; Ender's Shadow succeeds as an entirely different book.
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Summary: Card has returned to the excellent style of Ender's Game!
Review: In the 1980's I had the opportunity to spend a few days with Anne McCaffrey. She highly recommended that I read a new book called Ender's Game. It was one of the BEST references I ever had for a novel that I wanted to read. I have been reading everything that Card has put out since then and none of it came up to the standard that I held for Ender's Game. Until now. I couldn't put it down. Thank you Orson Scott Card for an excellent day of reading! I can't wait for the next book - I can almost see the story line developing already!
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Summary: By far the best book I've ever read!! amazing detail
Review: Orson Scott Card has done it again. I believe that this is by far his best novell. I'm 13, and Orson Scott Card is my favorite author. A master of words, he actually takes into the minds of the characters, so you are almost able to feel what they feel, see what they see, think and predict as they do. With an incredible amount of detail, I could not put this book down. I would recommend reading Ender's Game first, although you do not have to, it is as just as good of a book. I believe Mr. Card is an amazing author. He does not let one subconscious fact go unnoticed. Mr. Card had an amazing talent and flair for writing, and he has definately found his niche. I await his next book excitedly. Hats off to Mr. Card.
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Summary: Marvelous.
Review: I don't understand some of the criticisms below accusing Orson Scott Card of using Bean to 'undermine' Ender's character or diminish the latter character's achievements. Bean himself repeatedly describes Ender as a genius throughout this story. And Ender's Shadow does nothing to dispel the notion that the final victory over the Buggers was entirely due to Ender himself. Others can't believe Bean could be so smart, which makes me wonder if those readers just skipped over every passage featuring Sister Carlotta after Part I. If you can accept the brilliance of Ender Wiggin (not to mention his two siblings), there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do the same for Bean. If anything, I find the explanation for Bean's brainpower far more detailed and thought out than the original rationalization provided for the Wiggin children's amazing intellects. Critics notwithstanding, I have to admit that I thought Card was merely cashing in on the Ender franchise when I first heard about this novel. Maybe he is, but he definitely earned his money. This story is as compelling as Ender's Game, often clarifying some of the murkier points of the original. Card's dialogue has, if anything, improved, although his prose remains merely serviceable. But this is science fiction, so who cares? In any case, Ender's Shadow certainly makes far better reading than its two predecessors in this series, Xenocide and Children of the Mind, which were poorly plotted pieces of pretension. Ender's Shadow is a tight story, gripping enough to get me to read the entire book in one sitting. The only minor complaint I can think of relates to Card's continued reliance on ethnic generalities (Russians -- corrupt, inept democratizers, Chinese -- Self-centered Middle Kingdomish world view, etc.) But (unlike the embarassing stereotypes that crop up in Xenocide and especially Children of the Mind) it doesn't detract markedly from the main story. So, yeah, I'd buy it.
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