It says you can read this before Ender's Game, but read Game first, though this one is a far better read!

I read this book out loud to my husband. I needed to pause before a few chapters to gather WHO was speaking in the little blurbs at the beginning of each chapter, but that worked out okay. I was able to put on each character's "hat," so to speak, and dive in. These books are so much more fun with buddies! Our daughter (19) is also reading some of them, and our son (22) listened to Ender's game on audiobook.

Bean is, by far, my favorite character in Ender's world. He already was in Ender's Game. I was the smart little kid who was bullied in school, so I related to him more than anyone. I didn't connect with Ender because of the violence inside him. I was so small, that when I opened my mouth as a kindergartner and started to speak, mouths would drop. I remember clearly that my kindergarten teacher split the class in half. She read a book to half the class while I read to the other half. I look back now and think HOW AWFUL. That would never fly with me as a parent. I homeschooled my own kids when my son was also a very early reader and was doing second-grade math by kindergarten age.

I truly love almost everything about Orson Scott Card's writing. I get a bit annoyed at the many Christian Bible references, knowing that many sci-fi fans won't understand the meaning. I am a Christian living with three atheists and had to explain every single one. It's tedious. They were unnecessary and many times I couldn't find a real reason for having it there. He could have reduced the word count a bit and stretched his imagination further.

Overall, I'm still giving this five stars because I never wanted to put it down. I always wanted to know what happened next with Bean, and I'll definitely be reading the rest of the quintet (and the rest of Ender's quintet) all out loud to my husband so that we can enjoy the book that connects the two series together.

I recommend Ender's Shadow.

*****

I cannot believe it's been five months since I read Ender's Shadow and I have yet to write its review like, right now. It's not as much as I could not put my coherent thoughts in place, but perhaps it is hard to give justice to the brilliance of Ender's and Bean's story.

Bean is a freakin' genius. In Ender's Game, he wasn't much of a favorite because he barely registered in my radar while reading it. Imagine me getting a little surprised that a parallel book was written for Bean's story. I asked myself, then: is he really that strong a character that he needs a book on his own? I dunno. But reading Ender's Shadow was worth the doubt.

I just find Bean too good to be true. You know? I mean, I know I will always be an Ender Wiggins fan. This book said that Bean is almost an equal to Ender, but to me? No, not really. Ender is far more human in the aspects of guilt, remorse, and conscience. And for that, he has more edge than Bean. I thought Bean's character too technical and too perfect for my taste in heroes. Still, he captivated me with the raw innocence he unknowingly has because of the decisions of the adults before his time.

Ender's Shadow is a terrific companion novel of Ender's Game. It brought me back to the viciousness of battle school. I believe I will be a completist of the Ender (and Shadow) series. :D

I read this before Ender's Game and fell in love with Bean. He was so smart and protected himself so well. Bean became a little brother for me that got picked on and I wanted to jump into the book and protect him. Achilles was a great nemesis. Fantastic, futuristic, far-out.