Pablonaj reviewed Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Review of "Ender's Shadow" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Amazing book.
Kindle Edition, 484 pages
English language
Published by Tor Books.
- ASIN:
- B003GWX8SK
Orson Scott Card brings us back to the very beginning of his brilliant Ender Quartet, with the novel that begins The Shadow Series and allows us to reenter Ender's world anew.
With all the power of his original creation, Ender's Shadow is Card's parallel volume to Ender's Game, a book that expands and complements the first, enhancing its power, illuminating its events and its powerful conclusion.
The human race is at War with the "Buggers", an insect-like alien race. The first battles went badly, and now as Earth prepares to defend itself against the imminent threat of total destruction at the hands of an inscrutable alien enemy, all focus is on the development and training of military geniuses who can fight such a war, and win.
The long distances of interstellar space have given hope to the defenders of Earth--they have time to train these future commanders …
Orson Scott Card brings us back to the very beginning of his brilliant Ender Quartet, with the novel that begins The Shadow Series and allows us to reenter Ender's world anew.
With all the power of his original creation, Ender's Shadow is Card's parallel volume to Ender's Game, a book that expands and complements the first, enhancing its power, illuminating its events and its powerful conclusion.
The human race is at War with the "Buggers", an insect-like alien race. The first battles went badly, and now as Earth prepares to defend itself against the imminent threat of total destruction at the hands of an inscrutable alien enemy, all focus is on the development and training of military geniuses who can fight such a war, and win.
The long distances of interstellar space have given hope to the defenders of Earth--they have time to train these future commanders up from childhood, forging then into an irresistible force in the high orbital facility called the Battle School.
Andrew "Ender" Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In this new book, card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean--the one who became Ender's right hand, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers.
Bean's past was a battle just to survive. He first appeared on the streets of Rotterdam, a tiny child with a mind leagues beyond anyone else's. He knew he could not survive through strength; he used his tactical genius to gain acceptance into a children's gang, and then to help make that gang a template for success for all the others. He civilized them, and lived to grow older.
Bean's desperate struggle to live, and his success, brought him to the attention of the Battle School's recruiters, those people scouring the planet for leaders, tacticians, and generals to save Earth from the threat of alien invasion. Bean was sent into orbit, to the Battle School. And there he met Ender....
georgewhatup reviewed Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Review of "Ender's Shadow" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A great example of how much you can get out of retelling of a story from a different angle.
Lacks the more philosophical stylings of the later Ender books but an entertaining page-turner that sets things up well for the rest of the series.
Books That Burn reviewed Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Review of "Ender's Shadow" on 'Storygraph'
1 star
Ender's Game is more homophobic than I remembered, with antisemitism I'd never noticed, and a weird insistence on stating how clothed the child soldiers are at any time. The battles remain exhilarating and children are taken seriously, but the bigotry isn't worth it.
I’m not here to tell you that you can’t like this book. I used to, I loved this series, read it over and over (I’ve finished Children of the Mind at least thrice), but you need to know that it’s blisteringly homophobic and consistently has the message that no one in power will help a kid being bullied. It starts off pretty blatantly homophobic by calling the alien enemy “Buggers” and then keeps going from there. The way the kids bully each other reeks of homophobia and toxic masculinity. The adults are either useless or actively encouraging the kids to humiliate each other. Ender’s parents are portrayed …
Ender's Game is more homophobic than I remembered, with antisemitism I'd never noticed, and a weird insistence on stating how clothed the child soldiers are at any time. The battles remain exhilarating and children are taken seriously, but the bigotry isn't worth it.
I’m not here to tell you that you can’t like this book. I used to, I loved this series, read it over and over (I’ve finished Children of the Mind at least thrice), but you need to know that it’s blisteringly homophobic and consistently has the message that no one in power will help a kid being bullied. It starts off pretty blatantly homophobic by calling the alien enemy “Buggers” and then keeps going from there. The way the kids bully each other reeks of homophobia and toxic masculinity. The adults are either useless or actively encouraging the kids to humiliate each other. Ender’s parents are portrayed as completely oblivious to how his older brother tortured him, and the adults when he’s in training are specifically described as being the real enemy.
There's a lot of bigotry and racism wrapped up in names and nicknames. We get Han Tzu's real name once before being told that he just goes by "Hot Soup". There's a very antisemitic digression surrounding the introduction of "Rose the Nose" which contains a slur I will not repeat here. A very antisemitic conspiracy theory in the real world is made canon in the world of the book (e.g. Jews simultaneously being in most positions of power but also able to be outsmarted by one clever non-Jew). I'm sure there was more stuff that I'm just missing the cultural context to pick up, but what I did notice this time around ranged from slightly cringy and insensitive to straight-up slurs. I understand that the protagonists are kids and that kids mimic what's around them, and I'm not shocked that a military environment bent on training and indoctrinating kids so they can save the planet from aliens maybe isn't super concerned about them calling each other names and using slurs as jokes. But the author made a choice to not call any of that out in the same chapters which otherwise contain something approaching an anti-bullying message.
It has the message that kids are smart and brilliant and can handle the weight of the world if they have to, but it'll break them. When I was a kid I loved how it didn't talk down to me, how it got that I felt too old for my skin, like I knew too much for how adults saw me. It made me feel like a person while I was still a child. If you're in that space, I get it. I understand feeling seen and taken seriously by a book that doesn't talk down to you. But I don't recommend this one, the toxic messages aren't worth it. There's much better books that don't make homophobia casual, that don't treat antisemitism as logical and cool.
CW for murder, assault, homophobia, bullying, children in dangerous situations, body horror, religious suppression, torture, animal cruelty.
I’m not here to tell you that you can’t like this book. I used to, I loved this series, read it over and over (I’ve finished Children of the Mind at least thrice), but you need to know that it’s blisteringly homophobic and consistently has the message that no one in power will help a kid being bullied. It starts off pretty blatantly homophobic by calling the alien enemy “Buggers” and then keeps going from there. The way the kids bully each other reeks of homophobia and toxic masculinity. The adults are either useless or actively encouraging the kids to humiliate each other. Ender’s parents are portrayed as completely oblivious to how his older brother tortured him, and the adults when he’s in training are specifically described as being the real enemy.
There's a lot of bigotry and racism wrapped up in names and nicknames. We get Han Tzu's real name once before being told that he just goes by "Hot Soup". There's a very antisemitic digression surrounding the introduction of "Rose the Nose" which contains a slur I will not repeat here. A very antisemitic conspiracy theory in the real world is made canon in the world of the book (e.g. Jews simultaneously being in most positions of power but also able to be outsmarted by one clever non-Jew). I'm sure there was more stuff that I'm just missing the cultural context to pick up, but what I did notice this time around ranged from slightly cringy and insensitive to straight-up slurs. I understand that the protagonists are kids and that kids mimic what's around them, and I'm not shocked that a military environment bent on training and indoctrinating kids so they can save the planet from aliens maybe isn't super concerned about them calling each other names and using slurs as jokes. But the author made a choice to not call any of that out in the same chapters which otherwise contain something approaching an anti-bullying message.
It has the message that kids are smart and brilliant and can handle the weight of the world if they have to, but it'll break them. When I was a kid I loved how it didn't talk down to me, how it got that I felt too old for my skin, like I knew too much for how adults saw me. It made me feel like a person while I was still a child. If you're in that space, I get it. I understand feeling seen and taken seriously by a book that doesn't talk down to you. But I don't recommend this one, the toxic messages aren't worth it. There's much better books that don't make homophobia casual, that don't treat antisemitism as logical and cool.
CW for murder, assault, homophobia, bullying, children in dangerous situations, body horror, religious suppression, torture, animal cruelty.
Allen reviewed Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Review of "Ender's Shadow" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I love when stories are retold from a different perspective. I loved Ender's Game, so when I heard about Ender's Shadow which is told from the viewpoint of a different character, I knew I had to read it. I like how it was a good blend of retelling the story from a different perspective, but it was also a unique story with its own plot and drama. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that there were a few brief section that really made me roll my eyes (including a speech where "and then everybody clapped"). But otherwise I loved this book and would definitely recommend it!
I love when stories are retold from a different perspective. I loved Ender's Game, so when I heard about Ender's Shadow which is told from the viewpoint of a different character, I knew I had to read it. I like how it was a good blend of retelling the story from a different perspective, but it was also a unique story with its own plot and drama. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that there were a few brief section that really made me roll my eyes (including a speech where "and then everybody clapped"). But otherwise I loved this book and would definitely recommend it!
alexcurtin reviewed Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Review of "Ender's Shadow" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Not a fan of Orson Scott Card the person, but he's a great author. Reading the plot of Ender's game from a different perspective felt a bit like re-reading a book after an original drunk/tired run-through; you know generally what's going to happen but most of the details seem new. (And in this case actually are). I found Beans cool, calculative (transitioning into caring) voice drastically changed the tone of the book. It's been about 6-7 years since I've read enders game though, so I'm not sure how accurate my previous statement was.
Not a fan of Orson Scott Card the person, but he's a great author. Reading the plot of Ender's game from a different perspective felt a bit like re-reading a book after an original drunk/tired run-through; you know generally what's going to happen but most of the details seem new. (And in this case actually are). I found Beans cool, calculative (transitioning into caring) voice drastically changed the tone of the book. It's been about 6-7 years since I've read enders game though, so I'm not sure how accurate my previous statement was.
bondolo reviewed Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Review of "Ender's Shadow" on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
I enjoyed the first part until the stories of Bean and Ender converge but honestly none of the rest stuck with me. I won't be reading any of the others which follow.
I enjoyed the first part until the stories of Bean and Ender converge but honestly none of the rest stuck with me. I won't be reading any of the others which follow.
Mark reviewed Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
None
4 stars
Explains far more of the secondary characters and brings them back on par with Ender himself. While this time we have a different hero to worship I felt a lot more time was given to the battle school politics then the original.
willhopkins reviewed Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Review of "Ender's Shadow" on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
An interesting companion/alternative to Ender's Game. Not as good, but definitely worth reading if you've read Ender's Game.
An interesting companion/alternative to Ender's Game. Not as good, but definitely worth reading if you've read Ender's Game.
Subjects
- Child soldiers
- Child soldiers in fiction
- Bean (Ficticious Character)
- Ender Wiggin (Fictitious character)
- Exceptional children
- Exceptional children in fiction
- Fiction
- Generals
- Imaginary wars and battles
- Male friendship
- War games
- Reading Level-Grade 9
- Reading Level-Grade 11
- Reading Level-Grade 10
- Reading Level-Grade 12
- Fiction, science fiction, hard science fiction
- Wiggin, ender (fictitious character), fiction
- Battle school (imaginary place), fiction
- Fiction, science fiction, general
- Space warfare
- Margaret A. Edwards Award
- Extraterrestrial beings
- Science fiction