posted
Yesterday, I got Ender's Shadow and Shadow of the Hegemon via interlibrary loan and I've started to read Ender's Shadow.
My impression on Ender's Shadow so far:
I'm only on chapter 6 or 7 but so far I think that the novel is, imo, much better then Ender's Game.
I know that isn't the popular opinion (most people seem to like Ender's Game the most out of all the Ender series), but its my opinion.
I thought Ender's Game was an good-to-ok novel, but it was Speaker of the Dead and Xenocide that really made me interested in the Ender series (especially Speaker, though I do like Xenocide quiete a bit).
Ender's Shadow, imo, seem much better then Ender's Game, because I actually like Bean more then I liked Ender in Ender's Game. Bean seems to have much more history and more mystery to him then Ender did. He also is more of a thinking person then Ender (who was more of a doing person). I like that better.
I like how Ender's Shadow shows us where Bean starts out (and gives much more detail about Bean's background then Ender's, while still leaving some mystery) and then takes him to the setting of Ender's Game. And so far, I find Bean's impressions of Battle school much more intersting then Enders.
I think I'm going to like Ender's Shadow and hopefully the other Shadow books alot. I don't know if I'll like them better then Speaker or Xenocide, but I know already that I like Ender's Shadow more then Ender's Game and Children of the Mind.
I look forward to reading more.
Any thoughts on the series by anybody else?
Please try to keep spoilers out of this for awhile. I have not read all of Ender's Shadow yet and I have a feeling there will be a couple of suprises along the way! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this novel and then Shadow of the Hegemon!
DF2506 " Also hopes to read Shadow Puppets and of course Shadow of the Giant next year! "
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I liked the beginning of Enders Shadow much more than the beginning of Enders Game. BUT the time spent at battle school... I prefer Ender's point of view. After that, the serieses diverge so as not to be comparable (though that won't stop some from doing it anyway).
The Bean series is really good. The remind me of the Dirk Pitt novels by Clive Cussler. They're good reads.
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I dunno i disagree even though i like the rest of the shadow series better than the ender series.
Card also had alot of time to write enders shadow and put in things that he wouldve liked to put into enders game.
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I just got into the battle school stuff and I definitly prefer Bean's point of view with the battle school. With Bean, you find out a lot more about how the Battle school works and you get Bean's insights into what the teachers and I.F. are up to. I find that alot more interesting then Ender's take. Ender was all about doing things. He did some planning, but most of the time he'd just react to things. He was a very violent kid too. Bean is more introspective though (Ender became more thoughtful when he got older in Speaker and Xenocide. Thats why I like him better there. Much better character in those novels). He thinks things through. He plans things out. More thoughtful and imo, more intersting. Though I guess I can see how people might like the Ender's pov better. Ender's Game had parts that were exciting I suppose, where as Ender's Shadow is a bit laid back so far, but very interesting never-the-less imo.
Personally, though, I continue to like Ender's Shadow more then Ender's Game.
DF2506 " Looking forward to reading more of Shadow! "
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I really don't think Ender was violent. He had people attacking him. He had to fight back, he had no choice. They could have just left him alone, but they didn't, they kept needling him. As for Ender's Shadow, I did find Bean's childhood to be fascinating, but in my eyes the series slowly goes downhill.
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Well, I'm almost near the end of Ender's Shadow and I'm liking the book alot. It's a TON better then Ender's Game, imo.
I definitly like Bean better then young Ender. While Ender just goes all out and kills his enemy, Bean sets a trap for Achilles. I think that tells you alot about Bean. Ender could have done the same thing for Bonzo, but he didn't. He waited for Bonzo and had it out then. I think that tells you alot about Bean and Ender.
These two are really opposites. Ender is the rebel and Bean is the thinker.
I definitly prefer the thinker to the rebel. I guess that prob tells you guys something about me. lol.
I think that Bean's prespective on Battle school and all of the rest of Ender's Game is better because with Bean you learn alot more about battle school and you learn more about the people around Ender. I think that Bean's pov on Ender works alot better then Ender's pov on himself. I'm finding that I like Ender better here then I did in Endr's Game.
Anyway, VERY good novel. I'm looking forward to reading the rest.
So far, I'd rate the books as: Speaker, Xenocide, Ender's Shadow, Children of the Mind, and Ender's Game.
I haven't read any of the other books yet, so I don't know where they fit in that.
I do know that I'll definitly want to read Ender's Shadow again, while I'm not sure if I want to read Ender's Game again. Maybe. Prob just to see how much it differs from Ender's Shadow though.
DF2506 " Is definitly in the minority on this one! I know most people like Ender's Game better. I guess more people are into the rebel type character."
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I finished Ender's Shadow today and I have to say that I liked the book ALOT. It was really good. MUCH better then Ender's Game, imo. Speaker is still my favorite of the books, but Ender's Shadow might grab that number two place. Though maybe not. Xenocide is a pretty awesome book. Ender's Shadow is definitly number three at least.
I thought the ending to Ender's Shadow was great. Perfect, imo. Card could have easily left it at that if he wanted to.
Of course he didn't. So now I find myself reading Shadow of the Hegemon.
So far I'm in the second chapter of Part 2.
Shadow of the Hegemon, so far, is more political and more techical then Ender's Shadow or really any of the other Ender books.
I can see why people might not like this book. Its NOT light reading. Things in the novel are very complicated. I know there are some things in this book that just zoom over my head. The scientific stuff for sure. I could see where that could be a problem and people might just give up on it and not read it anymore.
I continue to read the book though, because I like Bean, Petra, and some of the other characters. Definitly not Achilles. Though, I do find that so far Peter is a little likable.
And I must admit that even though the storyline is political and technical, I am interested in seeing where it goes.
So while some of the stuff in the book is over my head, I'm pretty sure I'll finish reading this book.
Though, I do hope the book gets more and more intersting as it goes and leaves me wanting to read Shadow Puppets. Cause I do what to read more of this series. I think Card has created a great series with Ender/Shadow. I hope that I continue to enjoy it!
posted
I like the shadow series myself better but more needs to happen in it....more action. It seems to involve to much political issues and not enough warfare! I hope giant will be different. In my oppinion, the book Xenocide was the worst in the series because it dragged on and on until finally getting good near the end. I'm sure it was possible for Mr.Card to shorten the book and maintain the story and excitement. It would probably even enhance it due to a faster pace of events. But what's done is done. This is probably why the book was only nominated for awards and didn't win. Don't get me wrong though-the book was awesome! Just not as good as it's predecessors. The Shadow Series is based around bean which I personally like much more than Ender so, yeah, that's my lil' opinion.
Posts: 112 | Registered: Jun 2004
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I finished Shadow of the Hegemon and I really liked it. I like Ender's Shadow more, but Shadow of Hegemon had alot of really good parts. Thought the ending to both books were really good.
I'm going to go to my local library today to order Shadow Puppets from another library. I really want to read that!
After that, well, I'm prob going to take a break from Card books for awhile, till Shadow of the Giant, unless someone has a recommandation for a Card book series that I'd really enjoy having enjoyed the Ender/Shadow stuff. I'm thinking about trying to read some James Bond, but like I said..I'm open to reading some more Card novels if anyone has some recommadations.
First though, I'm going to read Shadow Puppets!
DF2506 " I read the first three chapters of Shadow Puppets online, even though I shouldn't have, and I thought they were really good. I'm looking forward to reading the novel! "
posted
Bean has plenty more time to do what he wants.
Ender is a leader, he has to manage things, and is almost always focused on winning; Where Bean is more about beating the system, because he sees what it really is.
I think you like these other books because the main character had way more freedom, and since it's a retelling of the story from another point of view, you really start to see how encumbered Ender really was with all the things he _had_ to do. Some people will take dependability over insight. I like them both very much. I do think Card had been able to refine his writing technique in the time between the two, as it is quite apparent in the books.
When I first read Ender's Game, I read through it in a couple days, same thing happend with Ender's Shadow.
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Bean has plenty more time to do what he wants.<
Thats true. Ender was on a one-way course, pretty much, while Bean was able to break alot of the rules and find out more stuff about battle school, himself, and the other characters. There was much more insight with Bean. He figured out what was going on and was able to stop playing the teacher's game..well, stop playing it a little anyway.
<Ender is a leader, he has to manage things, and is almost always focused on winning; Where Bean is more about beating the system, because he sees what it really is.<
Yep. Thats definitly why I like Bean better then young Ender. I like that Bean was able to figure everything out and 'beat the system.'
<I think you like these other books because the main character had way more freedom, and since it's a retelling of the story from another point of view, you really start to see how encumbered Ender really was with all the things he _had_ to do. Some people will take dependability over insight.<
I like dependablity, but, you know, if I'm reading a novel I'd rather my character be insightful and unpredictable, rather then dependable.
I do think that Ender, as a kid, was dependable and predictable. Bean, on the other hand, you just never knew what he'd do next!
Of course, when Ender got older in Speaker For the Dead, he was, imo, a much more interesting character. He was insightful and very unpredictable.
I like Bean alot, but I prob like older Ender even better.
Hmm. I'll have to read Speaker and Xenocide again sometime to know for sure. Both Bean and older Ender are great characters!
< I like them both very much.<
Well, I like Ender's Shadow alot, while I think Ender's Game is just ok. I think Shadow really did improve the battle school concept, Ender even, Bean, and the other characters. It was much more interesting, imo. Bean was definitly, imo, a better lead character for this story.
< I do think Card had been able to refine his writing technique in the time between the two, as it is quite apparent in the books.<
Definitly. Ender's Game was, imo, typical sci-fi with some twists. This, of course, is just my opinion. I know there are a TON of people who disagree with me.
Now, imo, Ender's Shadow had some of Ender's Game story AND much more. It took 'Ender's Game' to the next level. I think Card's writing has definitly improved since Ender's Game.
I think writing Speaker For the Dead and Xenocide had to do with it really. When Card did that, he took the Ender universe, imo, in a totally different direction. He was writing something that was just above and beyond, imo, then Ender's Game. I think Speaker For the Dead and Xenocide are classics. Especially Speaker For the Dead.
Really, even Children of the Mind was written VERY well. I just didn't like how a few of the story elements turned out.
With the experiance of writing those three novels and of course, the other novels that he's written, he was able to improve on the basic Ender's Game storyline and add everything he did to it. I think Ender's Shadow is definitly a great book. Though, I know if I hadn't of read Ender's Game first, I would not have understood Speaker For the Dead or the other Ender books. So I am still glad that I read Ender's Game!
Plus, I think that maybe, even though I think Ender's game is just ok, that having read Ender's Game already made me like Ender's Shadow even more. I got to see the differences between the books and Ender's Game filled in any holes in Ender's part of the story that were not in Ender's Shadow.
<When I first read Ender's Game, I read through it in a couple days, same thing happend with Ender's Shadow. <
It took me more then a couple of days on both books.
With Ender's Game, I enjoyed some parts, but I felt iffy about some other parts. Though, of course, the ending was interesting enough to get me to read Speaker For the Dead.
With Ender's Shadow, I took my time and I found myself enjoying each chapter alot. By the time I was finished, I couldn't wait to read Shadow of the Hegemon! I was very happy that I got the library to order both books at the same time!
Too bad I didn't order all three at once! I should have!
Oh well. I went today to the library and had them order Shadow Puppets. It should prob be in on Thursday. I hope!
DF2506 " Can't wait to read Shadow Puppets! Hmm. I wonder if there's any other Card books I should read after that.."
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Please tell me what you think of shadow puppets, i thought shadow of the hegemon was a great book! how about you, d?
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Outta curiosity....does anyone know when Shadow of the Giant is supposed to be released? It's been a while since Puppets was released so I figured it'd be soon. I wonder what's taking Mr. Card so long. Does anyone know?
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Please tell me what you think of shadow puppets, i thought shadow of the hegemon was a great book! how about you, d? <
I thought Shadow of the Hegemon was really good!
I just finished Shadow Puppets tonight and I thought it was good. Not as good as Shadow of the Hegemon, but still better then Ender's Game and Children of the Mind, imo.
Shadow Puppets is very centered on war and politics. But so was Shadow of the Hegemon really.
The thing I like most about the books and what keeps me reading is the Bean and Petra storyline! I like it alot!
Though I do like the stuff with the Wiggins too!
Overall, really good series! Looking forward to Shadow of the Giant. Speaking of which..
trance
Outta curiosity....does anyone know when Shadow of the Giant is supposed to be released? <
Shadow of the Giant is coming out next year! Amazon.com even has the cover for the book up! No date listed, but I think I heard March... Not sure. I know its next year thought!
I'm looking forward to it!!
DF2506 " Next up on my reading list: Memory of Earth and Seventh Son! "
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I enjoyed the Alvin Maker series. Quite different from Ender's Game and in some ways more similar to the Speaker for the Dead etc. part of the series (not sure how, but a similar feel in some way--maybe more commentary on social and family relationships)--but still unique. It may take a while to get into it, but I couldn't wait to get to each subsequent book and was not eager to finish the last one (and waiting for the next one, I assume).
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Thanks D. Yeah, I like the Julian series but more for the constant political battles between Peter, Julian and Achillies. Sure, the relationship shared between Petra and Julian is cool to see cuz of Petra's constant sarcasm and Julian's stubberness but my own relationship is kinda like that as well. I think every relationship is in a way. But I'll always like Julian more than Andrew. I just wish there'd been a time when Julian proved that he was the only one that could've beaten the massiah that Ender turned out to be. That woulda been awesome!
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