This book was recommended by a classmate who was also choosing books at that time. Ender’s Shadow is a companion novel to Ender’s Game, which I have read and very much enjoyed. I was interested to see how Orson Scott Card would rewrite a story from a different perspective.
The book is about earth’s response to an alien invasion of B.E.M. The strategy is to train young gifted children in battle and command. This book follows a child named Bean through his journey as an orphan on the streets to being an officer in the final battle against the Formics.
It is an Alien Invasion story with political elements, specifically Russia and China as dominant world powers. It also includes space exploration and technological advancements like controlled genetic mutation. The author describes the two companion novels as a type of parallax. I read the companion novel Ender’s Game first, and there is a similar structure that explains certain parts of the book that aren’t necessarily missing without the companion but definitely enhanced when read together. I greatly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others.
Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Shadow. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 1999. Awards: New York Times Bestseller (Fiction, 1999), SF Site Reader’s Choice (1999), Alex Awards (2000), ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2000), Geffen Award (Best Translated Science Fiction Book, 2001), ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (2004).
Great overview, Lily. One thing I have always found interesting about the _Ender’s_ series is how loved it is outside SF readership. It speaks to many people (especially YA) in myriad ways— e.g., q’s of responsibility, goals of education, “specialness,” civic duty, etc. Even though some of OSC personal beliefs are less than open-minded, he does create worlds of “what if” that make sense to all of us. And his works are a great balance of hard SF and social SF.