Synopses & Reviews
Orson Scott Card brings us back to the very beginning of his brilliant Ender Quartet, with the novel that begins The Shadow Series and allows us to reenter Ender's world anew.
With all the power of his original creation, Ender's Shadow is Card's parallel volume to Ender's Game, a book that expands and complements the first, enhancing its power, illuminating its events and its powerful conclusion.
The human race is at War with the "Buggers", an insect-like alien race. The first battles went badly, and now as Earth prepares to defend itself against the imminent threat of total destruction at the hands of an inscrutable alien enemy, all focus is on the development and training of military geniuses who can fight such a war, and win.
The long distances of interstellar space have given hope to the defenders of Earth--they have time to train these future commanders up from childhood, forging then into an irresistible force in the high orbital facility called the Battle School.
Andrew "Ender" Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In this new book, card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean--the one who became Ender's right hand, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers.
Bean's past was a battle just to survive. He first appeared on the streets of Rotterdam, a tiny child with a mind leagues beyond anyone else's. He knew he could not survive through strength; he used his tactical genius to gain acceptance into a children's gang, and then to help make that gang a template for success for all the others. He civilized them, and lived to grow older.
Bean's desperate struggle to live, and his success, brought him to the attention of the Battle School's recruiters, those people scouring the planet for leaders, tacticians, and generals to save Earth from the threat of alien invasion. Bean was sent into orbit, to the Battle School. And there he met Ender....
Review
"As a maker of visions and a creator of heroes...Card is not to be outdone. "-
Library Journal"Mr. Card writes with energy and conviction." -The New York Times Book Review
"Card is a master storyteller." -The Seattle Times
Review
“You cant step into the same river twice, but Card has gracefully dipped twice into the same inkwell—once for Enders Game, and again for his stand-alone ‘parallel novel. As always, everyone will be struck by the power of Cards children, always more and less than human, perfect yet struggling, tragic, yet hopeful, wondrous and strange.” —
Publishers Weekly (starred review) on
Enders Shadow"An absorbing, near-flawless performance."--Kirkus
"The wonders of Battleschool and flashsuits and children's armies should keep readers turning pages."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An exceptional work." --School Library Journal
"I've saved my favorite for last; if you loved Ender's Game, you will go nuts for these fantastic full-cast recordings." -- Examiner.com on Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow
Review
“You cant step into the same river twice, but Card has gracefully dipped twice into the same inkwell—once for Enders Game, and again for his stand-alone ‘parallel novel. As always, everyone will be struck by the power of Cards children, always more and less than human, perfect yet struggling, tragic, yet hopeful, wondrous and strange.” —
Publishers Weekly (starred review) on
Enders Shadow"An absorbing, near-flawless performance."--Kirkus
"The wonders of Battleschool and flashsuits and children's armies should keep readers turning pages."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An exceptional work." --School Library Journal
"I've saved my favorite for last; if you loved Ender's Game, you will go nuts for these fantastic full-cast recordings." -- Examiner.com on Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow
Review
Praise for Enders Shadow
“The wonders of Battle School and flash suits and childrens armies should keep readers turning pages.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The authors superb storytelling and his genuine insight into the moral dilemmas that lead good people to commit questionable actions make this title a priority purchase for most libraries.”
—Library Journal
Synopsis
The novel that launched the bestselling Enders Shadow series—available for the first time on unabridged cd The human race is at War with the "Buggers," an insect-like alien race. As Earth prepares to defend itself from total destruction at the hands of an inscrutable enemy, all focus is on the development of military geniuses who can fight such a war, and win. The long distances of interstellar space have given hope to the defenders of Earth--they have time to train these future commanders up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high orbital facility called the Battle School. Andrew "Ender" Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In Ender's Shadow, Card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean--the one who became Ender's right hand, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers. Bean's past was a battle just to survive. His success brought him to the attention of the Battle School's recruiters, those people scouring the planet for leaders, tacticians, and generals to save Earth from the threat of alien invasion. Bean was sent into orbit, to the Battle School. And there he met Ender....
Synopsis
The novel that launched the bestselling Enders Shadow series—available for the first time on unabridged cd The human race is at War with the “Buggers”, an insect-like alien race. As Earth prepares to defend itself from total destruction at the hands of an inscrutable enemy, all focus is on the development of military geniuses who can fight such a war, and win. The long distances of interstellar space have given hope to the defenders of Earth—they have time to train these future commanders up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high orbital facility called the Battle School. Andrew “Ender” Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In this new book, Card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean—the one who became Enders right hand, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers. Beans past was a battle just to survive. His success brought him to the attention of the Battle Schools recruiters, those people scouring the planet for leaders, tacticians, and generals to save Earth from the threat of alien invasion. Bean was sent into orbit, to the Battle School. And there he met Ender....
Synopsis
The novel that launched the bestselling Enders Shadow series—available for the first time on unabridged cd The human race is at War with the “Buggers”, an insect-like alien race. As Earth prepares to defend itself from total destruction at the hands of an inscrutable enemy, all focus is on the development of military geniuses who can fight such a war, and win. The long distances of interstellar space have given hope to the defenders of Earth—they have time to train these future commanders up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high orbital facility called the Battle School. Andrew “Ender” Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In this new book, Card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean—the one who became Enders right hand, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers. Beans past was a battle just to survive. His success brought him to the attention of the Battle Schools recruiters, those people scouring the planet for leaders, tacticians, and generals to save Earth from the threat of alien invasion. Bean was sent into orbit, to the Battle School. And there he met Ender....
Synopsis
A companion novel to the beloved, bestselling science fiction classic Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, a major motion picture event in November 2013
If Julian Delphiki, known as “Bean,” has learned anything from living on the streets, its how to survive. And not with fists—he is too small for that—but with brains.
Bean is a genius with a magicians ability to zero in on his enemy and exploit his weakness. What could be a better quality in a future general to lead Earth in a final climactic battle against a hostile alien race?
Recruited for Battle School, a military installation designed to select and train children as future officers in the International Fleet, Bean meets Ender Wiggin: soon to become his best friend, and his greatest rival….
Readers can revisit the events of Enders Game through the eyes of Bean in this companion or parallel novel. Readers who have not read Enders Game will want to read it as soon as they finish Enders Shadow. As Orson Scott Card says, “these two books complement and fulfill each other.”
About the Author
Orson Scott Card is best known for his science fiction novel
Ender's Game and its many sequels that expand the Ender Universe into the far future and the near past. Those books are organized into the Ender Quintet, the five books that chronicle the life of Ender Wiggin; the Shadow Series, that follows on the novel
Enders Shadow and are set on Earth; and the Formic Wars series, written with co-author Aaron Johnston, that tells of the terrible first contact between humans and the alien “Buggers”.
Card has been a working writer since the 1970s. Beginning with dozens of plays and musical comedies produced in the 1960s and 70s, Card's first published fiction appeared in 1977 -- the short story "Gert Fram" in the July issue of The Ensign, and the novelet version of "Ender's Game" in the August issue of Analog. The novel-length version of Enders Game, published in 1984 and continuously in print since then, became the basis of the 2013 film, starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin. Card was born in Washington state, and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he runs occasional writers workshops and directs plays. He frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University.
He is the author many sf and fantasy novels, including the American frontier fantasy series “The Tales of Alvin Maker” (beginning with Seventh Son), There are also stand-alone science fiction and fantasy novels like Pastwatch and Harts Hope. He has collaborated with his daughter Emily Card on a manga series, Laddertop. He has also written contemporary thrillers like Empire and historical novels like the monumental Saints and the religious novels Sarah and Rachel and Leah. Cards recent work includes the Mithermages books (Lost Gate, Gate Thief), contemporary magical fantasy for readers both young and old. Card lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card, He and Kristine are the parents of five children and several grandchildren.
Scott Brick first began narrating audiobooks in 2000, and after recording almost 400 titles in five years, AudioFile magazine named Brick a Golden Voice and “one of the fastest-rising stars in the audiobook galaxy.” He has read a number of titles in Frank Herberts bestselling Dune series, and he won the 2003 Science Fiction Audie Award for Dune: The Butlerian Jihad. Brick has narrated for many popular authors, including Michael Pollan, Joseph Finder, Tom Clancy, and Ayn Rand. He has also won over 40 AudioFile Earphones Awards and the AudioFile award for Best Voice in Mystery and Suspense 2011. In 2007, Brick was named Publishers Weeklys Narrator of the Year. Gabrielle de Cuir is a Grammy-nominated and Audie Award-winning producer whose narration credits include the voice of Valentine in Orson Scott Cards Ender novels, Ursula K. Le Guins The Tombs of Atuan, and Natalie Angiers Woman, for which she was awarded AudioFile magazines Golden Earphones Award. She lives in Los Angeles where she also directs theatre and presently has several projects in various stages of development for film.