Ender's Shadow (Ender, Book 5) by Orson Scott Card Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Ender's Shadow (Ender, Book 5)
Book Review: Great story in it's own right
Summary: 5 Stars
Having read many of the card novels, I would say that the shadow series with this book the first is more powerful than the series with Enders as the central character. I loved Ender's Game but the exploration of Bean's personality deeper and more thoughtful. I resent one review that describe Bean as something of a second fiddle. To be second fiddle, you have to want to be first fiddle and it becomes clear that Bean wants to and is destined to play a different song.Book Review: H. Durnan's Book Review
Summary: 5 Stars
Every kid dreams about going into space. In Orson Scott Card's novel, Ender's Shadow, this dream becomes reality for a boy called Bean. A street urchin in the city of Rotterdam, he has always had to fight for is own survival. So when he passes the International Fleet's intelligence tests with flying colors, going to Battleschool in space allows him to concentrate on studies rather than survival, though this is only the beginning of his fantastical adventures. Bean meets Ender, a boy who is destined for greatness. With Ender as his commander, Bean learns about the exciting "game" played at Battleschool, and his aptitude leads him to further thrilling events.
Ender's Shadow is a great read for most middle schoolers and adults. Bean's intelligent insights are provocatively complex, yet simply expressed and easy for younger readers to understand. The plot is bizarre and new, but the futuristic element makes it believable, and the fact that Ender's Shadow contains only a slightly different story from Card's previous novel, Ender's Game, but in a different perspective, will draw fans of Ender's Game to this book. Readers will recognize some of the dialogue from the other book, but will be pleased with new exchanges between Bean and Ender as we see how Bean views his commander. Fans of science fiction (and most other books) will devour this glorious retelling of Ender's Game from a fresh new perspective.
Book Review: I have one gripe
Summary: 5 Stars
Pretty much everything about this book is fantastic, I only have one problem, Card changed his view of Bean. There is no doubt in my mind that from Ender's game to this, Card completely revamped Bean. You see this in the areas that the books overlap as Card tries to explain what Bean was really thinking or doing, and I just knew that he was full of it.Book Review: Incredible characters
Summary: 5 Stars
There are very few writers who are able to really introduce you to the characters. So many book are written as stories where we watch what is going on, similar to a movie. Card takes us into the characters helping us to see as they see, think as they think. For me this happened as I got to know Bean and it changed the way i saw the world.Book Review: Interesting Angle
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a companion book to "Ender's Game." It tells the story of the same time from the point of view of another student at the battle school. Bean, the smallest boy under Ender's command, had an entirely different experience from Ender growing up. Bean starts off on the streets in a city slum at the age of four. He was tiny but brilliant and managed to give advice to a gang leader that let him into her gang, where he was able to get food and belong to something like a family. But his intelligence was dangerous to him. The boy who takes over as leader of the gang holds a grudge against Bean. When a missionary tests Bean and decides he is bright enough to get into battle school, Bean takes the opportunity.
At battle school, Bean tries to figure out what is going on behind the scenes. He refuses to participate in the mind games the teachers want him to play, and instead he spends his time trying to figure out what the teachers know. He comes dangerously close to getting sent home because of his good guesses. But the teachers need him and think that if something happens to Ender, Bean will be the one to take over his command.
It isn't until halfway through the book that Bean actually meets Ender and their lives intertwine. This book is interesting because it shows Ender from an outsider's point of view. I kept thinking back to what was going on in Ender's head and comparing it to what Bean was thinking about him. It made for an interesting side story to "Ender's Game." I found myself wishing I had been able to read this book first.
I didn't like how Bean and Ender never really ended up understanding each other. I had hoped by the end of the book Bean would like Ender more than he did, since I found Ender such a likable character in "Ender's Game."