mossflower_bibliophile 's review for:

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

5.0

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I am just starting the Shadow Series, having very recently read all of the Ender quartet. While Ender's Shadow follows the same story line as Ender's Game, it truly is a unique and separate book. I enjoyed how different Bean was from Ender; Card definitely did a great job of creating a new, unique and just-as-intriguing personality in Bean. While Ender is a master of human nature, Bean begins as someone completely clueless in this area, almost not human. Bean is simply an extremely intelligent survivor. I found much pleasure in following Bean as he began to better understand human nature and learn from Ender. Bean was able to see his weaknesses, accept them, and try to improve them, which is a difficult thing for most people to do. I don't believe that Bean takes away any of Ender's appeal, despite how much he helps Ender without Ender knowing it. Rather, I believe that Bean's story helps to illustrate how everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and that recognizing that is the only way we can understand ourselves and others, and live harmoniously in a society of incredibly social beings. I think an important message of this book, and perhaps of the entire Ender's series, is that that no matter how much we disagree with society/the general public, shrinking away from it and avoiding it is of no use. Naturally, we are social animals, no matter how much we may want to deny it and say we don't need anyone. But everyone knows, or one day will have a moment when they realize that that having someone care for you that you also care for perhaps brings us our greatest joy in life. Those who deny this either feel lonely and don't want to admit that they need people (I felt like this almost my entire life), have never had someone care for them, have found love and lost it, or perhaps have some other reason. But eventually, if you haven't realized it already, disregarding or rejecting other human beings isn't going to make anything better. We need to embrace our differences; our weaknesses; our insecurities; if we really want to see an improvement in the world. We are too smart too act so stupid and to deny what we are and how we need to act as a species to survive without destroying our home. Bean is brilliant, and I am happy to see how see how his story develops as he continues to grow.