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cr0ybot 's review for:
Ender's Shadow
by Orson Scott Card
It's hard to imagine that 2 incredible books could be written about the same story, and with so much time between writings. Yet Card has done it.
I could even go as far to say that I enjoyed this book even more that Ender's Game, but I could only say that as I set this book on the shoulders of the first.
I appreciate Card's eye for symmetry in his stories even as I want to criticize it. I've noticed that he foreshadows heavily, and ties everything up into a relatively neat package where past experiences matter more than they realistically should. But really, why would I be reading fiction if I wanted reality? I admire that Card can create such logical-yet-exciting plots.
If you have read Ender's Game, read this. I might even recommend that you read it right after that one instead of reading the whole series in the order of publication as I am, but doing it that way might be disappointing. Bean is never mentioned again in the rest of the Ender series, even though he obviously plays a huge roll in the Bugger Wars final battle and in the ensuing political turmoil on Earth. Obviously Card recognized this when he decided to give Bean his own series. Better late than never.
Unfortunately, Card obviously didn't know that he would be writing Bean's story when he wrote the original. The crucial intersection points between the two books, where Ender and Bean have confrontations/conversations, made sense in Ender's Game, but felt forced and patched in because they were required in Ender's Shadow. Bean's character became too big to fit back into the shallow container that was originally created to tell al part of Ender's story.
I could even go as far to say that I enjoyed this book even more that Ender's Game, but I could only say that as I set this book on the shoulders of the first.
I appreciate Card's eye for symmetry in his stories even as I want to criticize it. I've noticed that he foreshadows heavily, and ties everything up into a relatively neat package where past experiences matter more than they realistically should. But really, why would I be reading fiction if I wanted reality? I admire that Card can create such logical-yet-exciting plots.
If you have read Ender's Game, read this. I might even recommend that you read it right after that one instead of reading the whole series in the order of publication as I am, but doing it that way might be disappointing. Bean is never mentioned again in the rest of the Ender series, even though he obviously plays a huge roll in the Bugger Wars final battle and in the ensuing political turmoil on Earth. Obviously Card recognized this when he decided to give Bean his own series. Better late than never.
Unfortunately, Card obviously didn't know that he would be writing Bean's story when he wrote the original. The crucial intersection points between the two books, where Ender and Bean have confrontations/conversations, made sense in Ender's Game, but felt forced and patched in because they were required in Ender's Shadow. Bean's character became too big to fit back into the shallow container that was originally created to tell al part of Ender's story.