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4.5*

Very good book. Love Bean. Love the interplay with Bean and Peter.

Interested to continue the series

Shadow of the Hegemon
This series is just not at the level of the original Ender series. All the things that could have been a problem in Ender's Game become one here.

First you have really smart kids, removed from the interesting situation in Ender where they have little power and therefore act like human beings and don't know things and fight amongst themselves. Now they are on earth where they all know better than every grownup that ever lived. They all work together almost seamlessly above the petty bickering of their home nations. And Card’s way of compensating for the lack of suspense and reader sympathy in a story where the characters cannot be uncertain or ignorant because their magical brains know exactly what he is thinking just by reading the screenplay, is to present some alternative screenplays from his early planning stages as though the characters might actually believe in them for a moment before they jump to the real conclusion.

In Ender, you had a character whom you knew was admired, envied and hated, but the author's character worship didn't interfere as much because most of the story was in Ender's head, where he was lonely, frustrated and questioned his actions and motives to his core. You knew the other characters were practically incidental, that their whole existence was defined by how they interacted with Ender, but you were comfortable with that, because that's how your life story goes, with all the people around you existing in reference to you.

But now fuller, self-contained characters are being drawn up for their own story, and to maintain any kind of continuity with the original book they are still defined by Ender. All Petra's insecurities are tied up in her shame over letting Ender down in the Great War. Bean is the guy who could have replaced Ender. Peter (who is much more interesting than Bean and should have got more airtime, but I guess even his creator can't forget that he's not Ender) is the kid wonder who will never escape his little brother's shadow, even in the hearts of his parents. The only battle school kids worth kidnapping are the kids who worked under Ender. It's like Ender is still the main character, he's just never actually present. The Shadow series is aptly named, except that the real situation isn't Bean in the Hegemon's shadow, or a giant's shadow, or any such nonsense. Everybody that matters is in Ender's Shadow, and the people outside that shadow are just comparatively dumb grownups who might as well not exist.

You also have some fairly dull background world. It's about two centuries in the future, and the political scene is pretty much exactly what it is now. Technology outside of space exploration has barely advanced. Except for political lines Earth seems pretty homogeneous in terms of language and culture. Now, there are more or less viable reasons for all of this, or perhaps just one reason besides convenience: history has been put on hold for the Formic Wars. Technological advances and national resources have all been focused on interplanetary warfare. Regardless of the excuses, it remains that one of the best parts of Speaker and its successors was the way Card let himself go in the thickets of culture, religion and personal relationships. There was a staggering amount of material for him to play with, but it was all sacrificed to the Bean Is Omniscient story. Am I saying the story would have been improved if he had given that stuff more time? Not really. It probably would have been too long and too unfocused. The problem is that I would much rather have read the kind of book that had that stuff than the kind of book he wrote. So it’s partly my fault.

I’m loving the shadow series so far, it’s a lot more down to earth (literally and figuratively lol) than the main series of Enders game. And as much as I enjoy deep philosophical science fiction stuff, I think I enjoy this style more. One thing that’s unclear tho is how much time passed in this book? Like it didn’t feel like that long but I think it was supposed to be more than a year or something??? Idk hopefully the next book will clarify the ages of the characters now lol

I just find it shocking that almost all the main characters are children in their tweens and early teens and yet it seems for the most part that they are treated with the same respect as the adults and i love that bc me being a similar age as many of the characters I love seeing kids that are smart enough to do what they do in this hahaha bc although i know it’s not true I’d like to imagine I’m just like them

A very smart, engaging read--though without the mass appeal of its predecessor, Ender's Shadow, mainly due to Card's decision to drop virtually all the sci-fi aspects, as well as to cut down on the amount of action contained in the story. What you end up getting is a lot of political intrigue and strategizing...like one of those alternate history novels, but taking place in the future. This would be a very difficult novel to pull off, seeing as how most of the characters in the story are geniuses who constantly brag about their extraordinary intelligence and there's a lot of expectation as to what brilliant ideas they will come up with next. Yet, somehow, Card never flags in his portrayal of their extraordinary capabilities, despite just how brilliantly readers are expecting the characters to behave. Having these genius kids pitted against each other is what makes this story truly engaging. In addition, Card's three-dimensional character portrayals and thoughtful dialog make this novel a much more enriching experience than most other military fiction offerings. I'm looking forward to whatever direction Card heads the story toward next.

This was a great sequel! There’s something about the Ender universe that has me hooked on every entry. Though overall I had a great time with this book (had me excitedly awaiting my nightly reading sessions with my boyfriend), I did find that the last third didn’t quite hit as hard as what preceded it and I think that’s largely due to my trend of difficulty with global politics as a backdrop for narrative tensions. Again, overall, had a blast and am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series :).

You can have it all.

I hope I can finish this book. I liked the Ender quartet and Ender's Shadow too much not to try. Yet it is difficult to actually believe the same person wrote Shadow of the Hegemon and the others. Ender’s Game is a fun fast paced book of adventure while the other three books in the Ender quartet borderline on genius. The formulations of issues of xenophobia are uncanny in SFTD, Xenocide, COTM and integration of Christian beliefs into the mix yield an unparallel argument for empathy being central in Christianity and for human evolution as a whole. In those books Orson Scott Card is a visionary of nearly prophetic magnitude. Then, Ender's Shadow reverts back to the fun, fast-pasted way the first book in the series, Ender's game, was. This is nothing to sneer at but nothing extraordinary either when compared to the depiction of Ender’s adult years. Thus you can’t imagine my current disappointment with this volume. Written with a smug, know-it-all voice and a thinly veiled pro American attitude the book reeks of xenophobia and prejudice. This book is predictable from the first scene. There’s simply nothing cool about it like Ender’s Game or Ender’s Shadow. Worse, there's no deep understanding of motive of the characters as in SFTD, Xenocide, COTM nor the balance of the villain-less environment where even crazy religious fanatics like Qing-Jao are presented in a kind, likable light. For another writer this book would be a subpar effort but for Mr. Card this is a failure of grandiose proportions and may indicate a radical change in the author’s mindset. Too bad... really.

Shadow of The Hegemon is the second novel in the Shadow Series but my first book by this author. I picked it up from the library a while ago. I figured out that it didn't matter that I missed the first novel and that it won't be hard to follow the plot. It wasn't, but I ended up not enjoying the novel anyway. I don't think I will continue with this series. Maybe Shadow of the Hegemon is not the strongest book in the series, but from I read I doubt I would immensely enjoy any of it.

I found it hard to relate to characters that are supposed to be teens and kids (brilliant, but still kids) because they sounded too much like adults most of the time. They did sound and behave like kids occasionally but not very often. Another thing that I didn't like was the cheesy writing. Petra lines are as cheesy as the cheesiest James Bond and action film blockbuster lines. Surely, a brilliant person like her could come up with something better. There were a lot of eye rollers in this one. I remember one of the kid character commenting how he will never fill out a uniform like some soldier but then going on how he is useful in his own ways. Eye roll.

There was a lot of repetition of ideas, especially in dialogues. For a while, I got my hopes up when the nun and Bean started discussing some ideas, but it amounted to nothing. Everything is so cliché in this book: the all powerful villain, the good guys, the kickass girl and so on. There is one line that says that Petra had so much testosterones the doctors didn't believe she is a girl. We are told that expecting to believe that she is a kick ass kind of girl. In fact, high levels of testosterones in young women can be due to various health problems and have nothing to do with one personality. Being a tomboy doesn't get you high on testosterone. I just found that line so off putting. I mean, does she have to be boyish in order to be a hero?

There were some good ideas in this book, but ultimately I didn't dig it. The concept is alright, but the book itself seems to be lacking in many ways. What can I say? This kind of science fiction doesn't appeal to me. This book reminds me of spy kids' genre and James Bond-like novels and that's just not my cup of tea. Besides, I'm not a fan of books targeted at young adults and kids that make them think the whole world is out to get them. Surely that is not the case? To conclude, this book was alright, had some interesting ideas and subplots, but for most part it lacks in the quality of its writing.

Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card is a very different book than Ender's Game or Ender's Shadow. This book focuses much more on political intrigue and military maneuvering. The book involves Bean, Petra, Achilles and Peter Wiggin. I liked this book alright and I actually find the political manipulations and subtle meanings in phrasings very interesting. However, this book is a bit of a slow mover and although alot of things happen that effect the characters, the plot really doesn't move that far forward for the characters. The major world events that occur are huge, but the characters don't really seem to "deve;op", if that makes any sense.

The writing style is the same with the emphasis on conversations telling the story and very little stage setting/description. I like the Bean/Peter/Achilles dynamic. However, Petra's character seems a little forced. She almost seems to just a literary vehicle that Card uses to develop the other characters. Oh look, see how cruel Achilles is. See, look how much Bean will sacrifice for Petra. I don't know, maybe I'm missing something.

Anyway the story if pretty good, if a tad slow. My main complaint is the unsatisfying ending. I know this part of a trilogy and I'm sure the story continues on in the next book. The ending just seemed to say "stay tuned." It was good enough to get me to move on to Shadow Puppets so it must have good things going for it.

#21 Quite possibly the most character development I've ever experienced in 1 book. A majority of the characters that got left behind in the Ender-series take stage here and get their own moment to shine.

This book was amazing! Though not quite as jaw-dropping and gripping as Enders Game and Enders Shadow, it proved to be a thoughtful, fast-paced, and intellectual sequel to Enders Shadow. It continues the story of Bean, victor of the alien war, after he joins his newfound family in Greece. But then the tension between the nations after the distrust reaches a high note, and then the world enters into a vicious dance of war, each nation lead by their victor from the alien war. Bean finds himself the target of his old nemesis, Achilles Flandres, from the harrowing streets of Rotterdam, and must fly for his life from his family. In a brilliant tale of trial and self-discovery, Bean discovers more about his past and himself as he wages war against Achilles from the command center of Thailand, and as he attempts to save his best friend Petra before Achilles can use her to carry out his quest of world domination…