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Summary: Enders Shadow
Review: Again card has masterfully put together a book that one cannot tear themselves away from..I couldnt get enough and the chapters that I did read I charished...I needed more and there was none. I am anxiously awaiting its release. Again he has done it!
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Summary: Card physically brings forth the empathy from within you!
Review: Just when I had finally accepted the fact that my favorite series of books was actually over I happen upon a preview of Ender's Shadow. The giddy feeling I had when I finished reading Ender's Game has thankfully returned! Yet again Card masterfully manages to physically bring forth the empathy and compassion from within you. We are once again allowed to see the world through young and brilliant eyes, this time through Ender's right hand man Bean. Two totally brilliant minds with two totally different starts to life. Both travel down separate paths only to end up at the same destination, the Battle School. Read the preview to Ender's Shadow and come and grow with Bean.
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Summary: I read the first chapter and...
Review: ...loved it! I felt like I was back in Ender's Game and I am wanting more. I never really thought a whole lot about Bean, but now he's back! Why is the wait always so long!!!!
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Summary: The ULTIMATE must-read!!!!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Perspective
Review: Many years ago I read "Ender's Game", and I found it one of the best science fiction books I have read. Not only was it fast moving and exciting, it was fairly thought provoking. Rarely do I find a book which combines both aspects as well as "Ender's Game" does. So I read "Ender's Shadow" with great expectation, and perhaps because of that, I was slightly disappointed. I still highly recommend the book, I just found "Ender's Game" a little better. I also think some of my disappointment comes from the fact that I did not like Bean as much as I did Ender. Bean, through most of the book, has a "look out for number one" mentality as well as a level of ambition that is at times scary. There are some very important plot points behind this outlook: from his genetic background, to his early years as a child, to what makes a good commander and what makes Ender special. However, I just happen to like principal characters who are more altruistic. Fortunately, Bean's approach to life improves as the story unfolds, and I came away liking him much more towards the end. What I like best about the "Ender's Shadow" is that it gives another perspective on world and the events of "Ender's Game". Does the book stand up by itself if you have not read "Ender's Game"? I think so, but since I read "Ender's Game", I cannot say for sure. My recommendations: If you have not read "Ender's Game", go buy it and read it first. If you have read "Ender's Game" and enjoyed it, definitely read "Ender's Shadow". It definitely adds to the story.
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Summary: Thoughtful, Wonderful Story
Review: Enders Shadow is actually my favarite story of all time. As a supliment to Enders game it has appeal on several levels. One, it explores the truth that truth is often a matter of viewpoint... That there are many sides to any story, and rarely do we have the advantage of knowing more than one. Secondly it is a great essay into the nature of genius... Often I think that people think that genius is a happy wonderful thing, when in reality it is a lonely place. As the sentiment found in C J Cherryh's book "Wave without a shore" being the smartest person in the world means you have no one that can understand your perspective. It is also an exploration of the diffence of ability and intellegence. For while Bean's character, is clearly the most intelligent, he come's to realize that Ender is clearly the one most fit to lead. Something liberals in our country could take a lesson from. It explores what sacrifices we ask of our military, and reminds us to let our children have a childhood. As the begiining of the Shadow series, it is in more action oriented and fast paced linier exploration of a character than the also wonderful Ender series that gets in to deep religious theory and covers milenia.
I am patiently waiting for my delivery of Shadow of the Giant as I write this.
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Summary: Good, but not Ender's Game
Review: As you probably know by know, Ender's Shadow was written by Orson Scott Card to be a companion volume to Ender's Game, one of the most popular works of modern science fiction. What Card has actually created is the story of Ender's Game from a completely different perspective and thus gives us what is in fact a totally different story. Ender's Shadow is the story of Bean, who like Ender Wiggin is an extremely bright young lad who winds up as one of Ender's captains in the final battle with the Buggers. While this is a fascinating story that seems fresh and new when told from Bean's perspective, it has one major drawback: Bean is just too smart. I had real problems connecting with Bean as a character throughout much of this book, especially when he arrives at Battle School. His actions just didn't make sense to me. He seemed way too adept at figuring things out, way ahead of even Ender. Many times he seemed to guess at things that he could have no way of knowing and come up with the right answer. This issue knocked the book down to 4 stars instead of 5 for me. Other than that this is an excellent work that stands well as a sequel to Ender's Game. I found myself becoming engrossed with what was happening and reading for hours at a time. I highly recommend this to anyone who loved Ender's Game!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't ruin your memory of Ender's game with this
Review: As great as Card was with Ender's Game, he's disappointing with this. I can only guess that this was his editor's idea to revisit the Ender series from a different point of view and that Card went along for the ride to humor the publisher. There is little suspense of course, already knowing the outcome of the main plot.
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Summary: Musst read for Ender fans
Review: The release of Ender's Game, Card's first novel, firmly established him as a major talent in the science fiction genre. Card wrote several sequels to Ender's Game, but they took place thousands of years in the future due to the quirks of faster-than-light space travel. As a result, many fans felt unsatisfied with the sequels, even though they loved the original novel.
In a vast departure from the norm, Card wrote Ender's Shadow, a parallel novel to Ender's Game. A parallel novel takes place at the same time as the original novel, but is written from the viewpoint of a different character. This is a very difficult type of novel to write since presumably the reader already knows how the story will end. However, Card brilliantly executes this story by using a relatively minor (but engaging) character from Ender's Game and providing enough new material that the novel never feels repetitive.
Twice the Buggers, an insect-like alien race, have attacked the human race. The first two wars went poorly for Earth and so a battle school has been established to train new leaders for our military forces. An invasion fleet has been launched towards the Buggers' home worlds. Because of the vast distances of interstellar space, the battle school has time to turn out the supreme commander and his lieutenants before the fleet is in position to attack. The best and the brightest of Earth's children are recruited and brought to battle school to be trained as the future Napoleons of Earth.
Although Ender Wiggin eventually became the supreme commander, there were other candidates at the battle school. Bean, a small child even younger than Ender, possessed an uncanny strategic intellect and eventually became Ender's right hand man during the war against the Buggers. Card now tells the story of Bean's early years and his recruitment to battle school.
Barely surviving amongst the street gangs of Rotterdam, Bean used his vastly superior intellect to gain acceptance into a children's gang. Eventually, he molded his gang into a template for all other street gangs in the city. Bean's exploits attracted the attention of a battle school recruiter and he became the youngest person ever to enter the school. Once there he must use all his mental might to ensure that he becomes one of the few leaders that will have the chance to save Earth from destruction at the hands of the Buggers.
The first half of the book covers Bean's life before battle school and therefore covers totally new ground. Once Bean is recruited and sent up to the school, the action begins to overlap with the original novel. However, Card does a masterful job of constructing the action from Bean's perspective. Even some scenes that were included in the original novel seem fresh and new this time around. This is a very difficult type of novel to write, but Card executes it flawlessly. While this book did not have the surprise ending of Ender's Game (same ending, but we already knew the surprise), it is still a well-paced novel that did not fail to hold my interest. If you enjoyed Ender's Game, you'll love this book too!
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