Ender's Shadow

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, full cast

Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

The novel that launched the bestselling Ender's Shadow series—available for the first time on audio

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....

Browse more titles in the Ender Wiggin series.

©1999 Orson Scott Card (P)2005 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

• Alex Award Winner, 2000

"An exceptional work." (School Library Journal)
"An absorbing, near-flawless performance." (Kirkus)
"As always, everyone will be struck by the power of Card's children, always more and less than human, perfect yet struggling, tragic, yet hopeful, wondrous and strange." (Publishers Weekly)

I enjoyed this more then I thought I would.

I'm gonna be honest. I didn't have high hopes. I figured I'd be hearing the same story as ender's game, but, Orson Scott did a wonderful Jo. making this completely Bean's story.

Great complement to Ender's Game

This was a great listen. I read enders game years ago and this tells the other side of that story but also a standalone.

Well done, but....

Well done, but.... Even though it does well as a side story that does well in filling in knowledge of the over all story, I felt it had a little to much profanity for a story about mostly young people. I realize some of them had lives that hardened them but I still felt the level of profanity was high. Other then that it was a good story that was well read.

Ender's Shadow review

It is quite an amazing book. I listen to it over and over and every time it still seems new. The narrator does an amazing job!

Great Book

Reading his books in order and this probably has to be my favorite since enders game. always neat to see a different perspective of the story.

Bean

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes especially if they had already read Enders Game

What did you like best about this story?

It tell the same story of Enders Game from another point of view

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Because it was narratored by several people it made the story more real

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

definately

Any additional comments?

As the other side of the same story of Enders Game it is a great to have two books that are so close they should be read almost at the same time.

really good book <br />

a story of the Ender's Game from little bean's perspective 5 star book including bean's story

A real greate shadow book

This book is the same story as Ender's game. However the author has done a really good job not to repeat himself. It is definetly worth reading both books and I truely think you will look on both books differently depending on which one you read first. I read Ender's game first. I can't really tell which one was best, but this one gave a good cliff hanger in the end for the rest of the Shadow series.

A protagonist you'll love

What made the experience of listening to Ender's Shadow the most enjoyable?

Scott Brick does an excellent job as a narrator, but the story by Orson Scott Card is absolutely amazing. If you've read Enders Game or seen the movie, you'll love this book even more.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Bean is an excellent protagonist. It's just pure fun reading about him being several steps in front of all the others, and how he (often very subtly) controls and manipulates everyone around him. The kid is practically a robot, but Orson Scott Card manages to portray his feelings in such a way that you end up really loving the kid, and when he succeeds, you feel like you have too.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The audio cast of this book was not stunning, it was good. I enjoyed the voices of Colonel Graff and Bean, but the voices of the other characters were not special enough to be any noticeable.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No spoilers, but the tension in that final battle, and Beans ending was incredible.

Any additional comments?

If you have read or seen enders game, I definitely recommend this book!

Simply amazing

I was blown away by how well this story was written, and how well it transitioned to an audio book.