Author: Orson Scott Card
Title: Ender’s Shadow
Place Published: New York
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction
Year Published: 1999
No. of Pages: 467
Price: P360
Place Bought: Fully Booked Greenhills Promenade
I read Ender’s Game back in September 2013, in anticipation of the book’s movie adaptation (which was alright, but paled in comparison to the book). I reviewed that Orson Scott Card science-fiction novel and gave it a perfect score.
While I enjoyed the novel immensely, I found that it left too many questions unanswered. I wanted to know more about what happened behind the scenes in Battle School and the I.F.’s battle against the Formics. Ender Wiggin was mostly clueless on both accounts.
That’s when Blooey, a fellow book blogger (and one of my favorites!), recommended that I read Ender’s Shadow as a companion guide to Ender’s Game. She added that the former was told from Bean’s point of view—and that she liked Bean better than Ender.
[Click on this link to read her blog post: Return to Enderverse.]
How was I able to contain my curiosity for so long? I saw a copy of the novel during one random trip to the bookstore and bought it instantly. The best impulse-buy ever!
Bean is such a likeable character. Only a kid, he survives living on the streets of Amsterdam without help from anyone, despite being much smaller (hence the name “Bean”) than the other kids. He keeps himself (barely) fed and learns how to read on his own. Of course, nothing beats the fact that when he was still a toddler, Bean finds himself living inside a toilet tank.
Despite this, he remains a very thoughtful and fair-minded person.
Bean is more than just super smart, he is also relentlessly curious about how things work. He always finds a way to get to the bottom of every mystery, so he find answers to the many questions that plagued me when reading Ender’s story.
He spies on the teachers at Battle School by hacking onto their computer accounts. He also crawls through air ducts to gain access to secret locations, so he is privy to secret conversations and information. Oh, the benefits of being small!
Although he was always overshadowed by Ender, Bean accepted his role as second in command, supporting Ender without attempting to assume leadership, even when he was given the option to do so during the final battle. He does so many things for the commander, such as handpicking every member of Ender's Dragon Army--which I think is just awesome.
And that's not all!
There so much about Bean and his story that deserves mention in this review, but there is no better way to discover this than to read the book itself. Ender’s Shadow is an essential read for anyone who has read Ender’s Game, and it’s a great read on its own as well.
And yes, I now love Bean more than Ender! :)
My Rating:
5 out of 5
Title: Ender’s Shadow
Place Published: New York
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction
Year Published: 1999
No. of Pages: 467
Price: P360
Place Bought: Fully Booked Greenhills Promenade
I read Ender’s Game back in September 2013, in anticipation of the book’s movie adaptation (which was alright, but paled in comparison to the book). I reviewed that Orson Scott Card science-fiction novel and gave it a perfect score.
While I enjoyed the novel immensely, I found that it left too many questions unanswered. I wanted to know more about what happened behind the scenes in Battle School and the I.F.’s battle against the Formics. Ender Wiggin was mostly clueless on both accounts.
That’s when Blooey, a fellow book blogger (and one of my favorites!), recommended that I read Ender’s Shadow as a companion guide to Ender’s Game. She added that the former was told from Bean’s point of view—and that she liked Bean better than Ender.
[Click on this link to read her blog post: Return to Enderverse.]
How was I able to contain my curiosity for so long? I saw a copy of the novel during one random trip to the bookstore and bought it instantly. The best impulse-buy ever!
Bean is such a likeable character. Only a kid, he survives living on the streets of Amsterdam without help from anyone, despite being much smaller (hence the name “Bean”) than the other kids. He keeps himself (barely) fed and learns how to read on his own. Of course, nothing beats the fact that when he was still a toddler, Bean finds himself living inside a toilet tank.
Despite this, he remains a very thoughtful and fair-minded person.
Bean is more than just super smart, he is also relentlessly curious about how things work. He always finds a way to get to the bottom of every mystery, so he find answers to the many questions that plagued me when reading Ender’s story.
He spies on the teachers at Battle School by hacking onto their computer accounts. He also crawls through air ducts to gain access to secret locations, so he is privy to secret conversations and information. Oh, the benefits of being small!
Although he was always overshadowed by Ender, Bean accepted his role as second in command, supporting Ender without attempting to assume leadership, even when he was given the option to do so during the final battle. He does so many things for the commander, such as handpicking every member of Ender's Dragon Army--which I think is just awesome.
And that's not all!
There so much about Bean and his story that deserves mention in this review, but there is no better way to discover this than to read the book itself. Ender’s Shadow is an essential read for anyone who has read Ender’s Game, and it’s a great read on its own as well.
And yes, I now love Bean more than Ender! :)
My Rating:
5 out of 5
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