After Enders Game i was like Enders the best, but then after shadow Bean became my favorite of the two, Ender seemed to whiney in EG. But i jus finished Speaker, and wow. Ender is defently cooler when he is older. And im so glad i read speaker, cause at first it took me for ever to get started. I couldnt get past who was who in the beginin, but i got through that and now everything is sweet.
Posted by archon (Member # 8008) on :
The only character I genuinely liked in the Shadow series was Peter, strangely enough. I actually wish the entire series had been solely about him and his political maneuvering to gain total power. Bean was a cyborg that showed very little emotion in my eyes, making him that much harder to relate to compared to the Wiggin children. Which is actually what I feel that Mr. Card was trying to accomplish with Bean... that he was the master at strategic maneuvers, but that he lacked the real humanity of Ender. His humanity was something that Bean had to learn, versus Ender who was born with the gift to see life through others' eyes.
What I'd like to see a short story on is John Paul and Theresa after Peter has firmly solidified the FPE, at least before the US finally joined. It'd be a nice way to wrap up the mini-story of the parents of the most influential people in that human history. I'd actually enjoy that more than a Mazer story, myself.
Petra was another potentially cool character that I feel lost her fire somewhere along the way, despite how she stood up to Achilles' various games. Her draw to Bean didn't seem natural in my eyes, but on the otherhand how natural could love be given the circumstances both had been raised in? In the end she was still interesting if not as engaging in my opinion as the other Wiggins.
Posted by kaioshin00 (Member # 3740) on :
They're both the best! Everyone's a winner!
Posted by Portabello (Member # 7710) on :
I also loved Peter and his parents. Bean never really did it for me.
Posted by Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged (Member # 7476) on :
I'm in the loves Peter and Parents/didn't really like Bean camp myself.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I loved Bean in Ender's Shadow, although I resented some of the glory taken from Ender. However, I never really believed his transformation.
I know someone that distant from people as Bean was in the beginning, and almost as smart. I don't believe that he could just grow out of it.
However, I LOVE Ender from the Speaker books. Absolutely. He's wonderful.
Posted by TheDisgruntledPostman (Member # 7200) on :
But truthfully i was just amazed how much i enjoyed the book. Of course my expectations for any book by Mr.Card is high, and yet to have been set down. I was just so used to Shadow that i didn't think the rest of the ender books would have been as good, i was so wrong. I think i used to be afraid to stray for The Ender Universe but now im reading Orson's other books. The Memory of Earth, and Enchantment. Such great books, I cant wait to read Xenocide.
Posted by Dread Pendragon (Member # 7239) on :
quote: I know someone that distant from people as Bean was in the beginning, and almost as smart. I don't believe that he could just grow out of it.
I agree that when someone's personality is organized like that they tend not to change easily, but if they do change it is due to some very significant things. For example, a person who you've known for years that has loved you unconditionally dies while acting for your good, or when your in a relatively safe relationship -- both things were true of Bean so it his story was plausible for me (in a speculative fiction kind of way). Were it real, the death of Sister Carolotta would have made him dig his emotional trench deeper or do just the opposite.
It is interesting too that the person you know (who was emotionally or interpersonally withdrawn)was quite intelligent. I think high intelligence can be a hinderance for someone in reconnecting with others in relationships and in reconnecting with their emotions because they can lean so much on intellect and get by in life. Intellectualizing is a great way to stay safely away from your emotions and other people. If I remember right, much of Petra's interactions with him were about sparing with his defense mechanism of using his intellect and getting beyond it. And who else could have done that besides Petra? It is hard to keep people from seeing behind your defenses when they've already seen it. You both know it is a lie.
(edited because I hit 'post' instead of 'preview')
Posted by archon (Member # 8008) on :
One thing I really liked about Bean was that he was basically like a second narrator for the story due to the fact that nothing could be hidden from him. That was fun. It was cool reading about him researching the other children and spying on the teachers and stuff. I still loved both series though.