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adammuly's review against another edition
4.0
If you love the way you view and feel about Ender’s Game, then don’t read this book. It will change your outlook on the original story, strengthening portions and weakening others. However, it presents a much fuller picture of the events in Ender’s game, expanding upon them and their complexity. In the end, it is a really good book. It’s not as good as the original, but the whole idea of it being a “parallel novel” is really interesting and entertaining. Card does a good job revisiting events without making it feel too redundant along with Ender’s Game. Plus, Ender’s Shadow gives readers more time in battle school and all that goes with that, which was my favorite part of the original story!
terras's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent book. Honestly liked it as much, if not more so, than Ender's Game.
jklingsporn's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
roseleaf24's review against another edition
4.0
I found the street violence at the beginning of this book very difficult to get through. The rest of the book is brilliant. It has been several years since I last read Ender's Game, so in my desire to read the rest of the series, I decided to start with this one to review what had happened. The ending was as spectacular as in Ender's Game, with an additional Bean only scene that made me sob.
ponch22's review against another edition
5.0
Listened to the audio version of [b:Ender's Game|375802|Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1)|Orson Scott Card|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408303130l/375802._SY75_.jpg|2422333] years ago, but it was just after watching the film that made me want to finally dig out this "parallel novel."
Anyone who knows the original story may remember a small (in more ways than one) character, named Bean. This is his story.
From his days as an urchin on the streets of Rotterdam through the armies of Battle School we've already seen, to a new perspective of the final "training" sessions Ender led against Bugger armies, we have another great story about a world relying on its children to survive.
Bean is hyper-intelligent and he often knows more than the adults realize and it's a great look at stuff we already knew. The final few chapters did have a LOT of internal struggle while Bean debated how much he knew/inferred/could handle. It was a little too repetitive in this finale but overall, it was great to revisit Battle School with a new protagonist. It's very interesting to have someone else to root for. I knew how the story ended, but I kept wondering how things could have turned out if the adults would have chosen Bean to be their hero. It's almost as if [a:J.K. Rowling|1077326|J.K. Rowling|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1596216614p2/1077326.jpg] had written seven follow up novels from Neville's point of view, showing his home life and struggle to come to terms with possibly being the Chosen One.
Anyone who knows the original story may remember a small (in more ways than one) character, named Bean. This is his story.
From his days as an urchin on the streets of Rotterdam through the armies of Battle School we've already seen, to a new perspective of the final "training" sessions Ender led against Bugger armies, we have another great story about a world relying on its children to survive.
Bean is hyper-intelligent and he often knows more than the adults realize and it's a great look at stuff we already knew. The final few chapters did have a LOT of internal struggle while Bean debated how much he knew/inferred/could handle. It was a little too repetitive in this finale but overall, it was great to revisit Battle School with a new protagonist. It's very interesting to have someone else to root for. I knew how the story ended, but I kept wondering how things could have turned out if the adults would have chosen Bean to be their hero. It's almost as if [a:J.K. Rowling|1077326|J.K. Rowling|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1596216614p2/1077326.jpg] had written seven follow up novels from Neville's point of view, showing his home life and struggle to come to terms with possibly being the Chosen One.
chelsinpdx's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
markguitar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Genocide, Bullying, and Child abuse
earth2alaysia's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ewingo401's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good overall. Although I felt at some points that things were forced into the story to make it mesh better with "Ender's Game". I'll be interested to read the next one where Bean's story won't be forced to be as closely tied to Ender's.