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maggie_sotos 's review for:
Ender's Shadow
by Orson Scott Card
I am still reflecting on this story and processing the backstory of Ender's most worthy lieutenant, Bean. On the whole I liked it, though I think it could have been better.
I think it was an interesting concept that often got in its own way. The deep-dive of Sister Carlotta and Bean's genetic splicing is interesting but ultimately not necessary. The same story could have been told about a random kid genius from the streets of Rotterdam and it would have been just as compelling. In fact, [spoiler alert] the shocking reveal that Bean is actually the genetic identical twin of a sweet kid in his launch group is so unlikely and convoluted of a plot point that it took me out of the story for a bit and really had trouble getting me back in. Again, you don't need characters to be biological siblings to develop fraternal bonds; and in fact the reveal of a secret brother almost cheapens their connection, almost as if to imply that they could not have formed their attachment had they not resembled one another.
Additionally, I wanted the story of Bean to be unique in its voice and arc. Instead, Orson Scott Card basically reconstructs Ender's Game and makes a slightly altered copy to fit a slightly altered version of Ender. The story beats are similar, the character archetypes are similar (a Peter and Valentine duality still exists only now with Achilles and Poke in their place), and the format of the book is even similar with transition chapters told solely through adult voices catching the audience up on exposition. Even the timelines are similar. I would have loved to have a completely new, refreshing account of the Ender's Game story; but this one felt less like a passionate reinterpretation and more like a milking of the original plot from a *slightly* different perspective.
I think it was an interesting concept that often got in its own way. The deep-dive of Sister Carlotta and Bean's genetic splicing is interesting but ultimately not necessary. The same story could have been told about a random kid genius from the streets of Rotterdam and it would have been just as compelling. In fact, [spoiler alert] the shocking reveal that Bean is actually the genetic identical twin of a sweet kid in his launch group is so unlikely and convoluted of a plot point that it took me out of the story for a bit and really had trouble getting me back in. Again, you don't need characters to be biological siblings to develop fraternal bonds; and in fact the reveal of a secret brother almost cheapens their connection, almost as if to imply that they could not have formed their attachment had they not resembled one another.
Additionally, I wanted the story of Bean to be unique in its voice and arc. Instead, Orson Scott Card basically reconstructs Ender's Game and makes a slightly altered copy to fit a slightly altered version of Ender. The story beats are similar, the character archetypes are similar (a Peter and Valentine duality still exists only now with Achilles and Poke in their place), and the format of the book is even similar with transition chapters told solely through adult voices catching the audience up on exposition. Even the timelines are similar. I would have loved to have a completely new, refreshing account of the Ender's Game story; but this one felt less like a passionate reinterpretation and more like a milking of the original plot from a *slightly* different perspective.