posted
Now I realize the title for the Shadow and Ender series crossover book has already been announced as being Shadows Alive, and I wouldn’t dare to condescend that somehow my idea is in anyway better or otherwise. But in the months since Shadows in Flight and Shadows Alive have been announced, I’ve been doing a lot of musing on the series and its role in my life. In some hypothetical scenario in which the title for the crossover novel had been put to public brainstorming like the novel Ender in Exile, I would’ve had a suggestion somewhat different than Shadows Alive.
Provided this scenario, I would’ve suggested the title Shadows of the Speaker. There are a variety of reasons for this, and these are just a few:
#1. The title Shadows of the Speaker is equally evocative of both of the series being tied together by the novel. The give and take provided in “of the” phrasing is reminiscent of the Ender series novels Speaker for the Dead and Children of the Mind as well as the Shadow series novels Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow of the Giant.
#2. The structure of the title places equal weight on the novels in both series. It’s symmetrical in syllables. A single two syllable word on both sides of the phrase. By using Shadows and Speaker, it also calls to mind elements of both series in title and content. It’s also suggestive of the crossover novel’s role within the series. The term Speaker obviously refers to Ender’s role as a Speaker for the Dead and calls to mind the original conflict on Lusitania initially established in the novel Speaker for the Dead. Shadows can refer to the new Peter and Valentine (also the physical manifestation of Jane) created in the Outside, but it also is suggestive of how these two characters are shadows of Ender’s previous life. The objectives of these two to sustain relations with different alien races can also be viewed as shadows of the influence of Ender. In the Enderverse, many of the events which take place come as a result of Ender’s actions in Ender’s Game or Speaker for the Dead. These events are often shadowing Ender’s life and decisions and continue to have an effect on the people surrounding them.
#3. This title also serves to individualize this entry in the series. For many of those of us who are members of Enderverse fandom, the series is also a shadow in our life. Something which has had a monumental influence on us individually. In a way, this also means that we too, as the readers, are shadows of Ender or of the Speaker.
Posts: 4 | Registered: Dec 2011
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posted
I think Shadows Alive actually contains hints of the things you articulate here - "Alive" is a reversal of "Dead," which Ender obsessively "speaks." So I'm hoping that just as (spoiler) Peter II gives Ender a second chance, the Beanie babies are part of the process of reversing the evils of descolada and the Formic Wars.
Good thoughts, though!
Posts: 428 | Registered: Nov 2006
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I mostly just liked the symmetry of the structure.
