Ender’s Shadow, by Orson Scott Card

Reviewed By: The Blind Monkey
Monday, September 6, 1999

“First things first. Ender’s Game IS the best body of work Card has ever done.”

That was the introduction of The Goose’s February review, and it still holds true. But before I fall into any lame comparisons, let me tell you what Ender’s Shadow is all about.

This companion novel - or ‘parrallax’ novel, as OSC calls it - takes a whole new perspective on the invasion of the buggers by telling the story of Bean, the youngest and smartest kid in military training. Although it covers the same time period, this tale is told through Bean’s eyes as he lives in the shadow of the famous Ender Wiggin, who must outsmart the adults and figure out how to defeat the Formics.

The idea is pure novelty, and I was anxious to discover if Card was forging new ground with a fresh new literary strategy — or if he was simply out of ideas and grasping for the brilliance exhibited in his early career. Either way, I figured it would be fun finding out.

PHASE I: Elation

So — when I began Ender’s Shadow, I was elated! After all, Game was one of the greatest books of all time, and I have really been looking forward to revisiting Battle School through someone else’s eyes. Now I’m not a serious sci-fi freak or anything, but I recognized the genius in the original, and could only hope that ES would follow in it’s footsteps.

In the first 131 pages, I was not disappointed. These chapters chronicle Bean’s early years as an urchin struggling to survive on the streets of Rotterdam. They give us an idea of what was going on in the rest of the world while Ender was being recruited and prodded by Colonel Graff (the original title was, in fact, Urchin, but it was modified for bankability). This part of the story is dark, cynical, and filled with tormented characters with rich, complex motivations and clever ploys for survival.

PHASE II: Annoyance

The middle third of ES chronicles Bean’s quest to outmanuver the adults at Battle School, and to get everything he can out of his experiences to serve his long term goals. There are two characteristics about this section that truly, truly got on my nerves.

First, Bean deftly deduces some of the key underlying themes revealed at the end of Ender’s Game on page 132. Card then spends the rest of the novel making Bean try to prove or disprove these deductions. This is unbelieveably annoying, as Bean is set up throughout this whole section to be so incredibly sharp that Ender’s intellect pales in comparison.

Yeah, whatever.

The second thing that really got to me is that this section reads like a self-help management rag. Bean’s weakness is his size, and he spends most of his time analyzing the leadership style of the teachers, other commanders, etc. Now what he learns is extraordinary, but it is too heavy handed and takes absolutely no imagination to apply in every day life - which made me feel like it was aimed at readers of somewhat lesser intelligence than your typical Blind Monkey. It’s still good - but grates a bit.

PHASE III: Scepticism

Finally, Bean gets interested in the international ramifications of what the end of the war with the formics may mean on earth. This is intriguing, as political and psychological influences have always been one of Card’s strengths. But even though he spends the entire book explaining it - I never quite believed that Bean could have figured this stuff on his own. And finally, there is the moment where Colonel Graff reveals something that - even though I haven’t read Ender’s Game in a while - I am damn sure he didn’t know to reveal. Because - if he did - Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide would have turned out differently.

Residual Effects

As with all life experiences, people can’t help but bring their own moods, opinions, and personal situations to bear in everything they do. And this simple fact was at the forefront of my mind while reading Ender’s Shadow . I know alot more than I did the day I tore through Card’s original and slowly closed it’s covers with tears brimming over my eyes.

Yes, this book is a novelty. It’s good - but only because Card had so much to work with that it couldn’t possibly have gone wrong. It starts out brilliant. But after the first hundred pages or so, it loses it’s luster.

Still, if I am to step back and measure it on my normal scale, it’s better than most.

Hardcover - 384 pages 1 Ed edition (August 31, 1999) Tor Books; ISBN: 031286860X ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.28 x 9.55 x 6.45