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....

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©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)

Love This Story

Would you consider the audio edition of Ender's Shadow to be better than the print version?

Like Ender's Game I also read this book before I listened to it, granted it was many years ago, but I still have the book on a shelf in my home. I feel that yes the ability to listen to this book rather then being tied to the book itself enhanced the feel of the book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Well Bean. Scott Card did an amazing example of bring Bean to live in this novel. The story of his life, and the reasons as to why Bean works the way he does is clearly put out for all to know and understand.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

The Narrators like those in many of the Ender Series have the ability to bring the listener into the story through their tone of voice. The ability to be a single person but have a distinct tone for each character is amazing.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I am worth no more than one Bean.

Any additional comments?

I would like to thank Scott Card the narrators and the editors for taking time time to commit this book to an audio file for all to hear and love.

Breathtaking!

Were it possible, Ender's Shadow is more than just a "shadow" of Ender's Game, it is the much deeper story in my opinion. Seeing Ender through Bean is genius and worked so well, that I feel it's an improvement on Ender's Game. Wow, what a book, what a series! More!

best book ive ever heard

i am in love with these books and i hope there are more to come

Superb companion novel! More Ender! More Fun! :-)

Would you listen to Ender's Shadow again? Why?

I would indeed. I have listened to Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow multiple times. in addition to the Earth Unaware prequel trilogy, these are the only Ender's Game stories I have really liked.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked Achilles, an interesting and creepy antagonist.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

I enjoy all these guys immensely, Scott, Gabrielle, Stefan, the whole team, all great.

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

I suppose so, loved the story, loved seeing much of Ender's Game from another perspective.

Any additional comments?

If you enjoyed Ender's Game, you will want Ender's Shadow. An amazing companion novel, that works to expand on the stories and characters of Ender's Game perfectly. I so much enjoyed learning more about Bean, and his perilous plight. Now as far as the Ender/Bean novels, these were really the only two I wanted to relisten to. I couldn't get into the Ender in exile branch-off, and the subsiquent stories after Ender's Shadow that follow the other students from battle school just are not anywhere as good as these two. Now I have enjoyed the Earth Unaware prequel stories, but they are not really Ender-related per say, merely a story of the events years before Ender was born.Overall, a must have for any Ender fan. Bean is facinating, and so much fun to root for!

better

The narration has made improvements over the Ender Saga. Thankfully. If only Card would've realise then, that while writing the screenplay, once they finally accepted a working copy to put into a movie, they would all destroy it. It's a shame he lacked, or ignored, this foresight, for he ultimately sold out all of us, bringing utter destruction to a wonderful story, becoming our version of the Formics.

Better as an audiobook than when I first read it.

I read Enders Game at 12 was disappointed with Speaker for the Dead and barley grasped some of concepts in Xenocide. Enders Shadow perfectly fills in that gap and allows a path for the continuation of the story I was searching for.

I've reread (listened) to all of them and as an adult have a great appreciation for their complexity. I was genuinely surprised at the details I missed in Enders Shadow when I read it 20+ years ago.

Orson Scott Cards afterword discusses the topic of audio books possibly being the best way to experience a book as it's read to you. I wholeheartedly agree and feel the Audio Renaissance group that does Card's books to an excellent job presenting the equivalent of an audio play versus a simple reading of a book.

Very good but 2 problems keeps it from being great

This is a very interesting and well done parallel story to Ender's Game. OSC does an excellent job of conveying the internal dialogue of a child prodigy. Of course, none of us knows what it is like to actually be able to make deductions in a way that would put Sherlock Holmes to shame, but listening to Bean from inside his head is enlightening and yet believable. And, OSC completely succeeds at creating a story that weaves in and out of the Ender's Game plot with so much ease it is almost as if both books were written at the same time. So, all is good there.

My one problem with Ender's Shadow is that the Sister Carlotta character seems contrived solely to proselytize for religion, And while I have no problem with religious themes in science fiction, those themes should make sense within the overall story. In a nutshell, If you're going to write science fiction that discusses religious themes, you shouldn't ignore the most basic questions that are raised be the very nature of the universe that you create. OSC violates this common sense view in Ender's Shadow.

The funny thing is, the Sister Carlotta character is much more naturally suited as a very minor character in the overall story. Yes, OSC needed someone responsible for discovering Bean; and it might as well be a religious figure (even though a social worker makes more sense). But after after Sister Carlotta has long since lost her natural importance to moving the plot along OSC contrives ways to keep her and her religious sensibilities in the story. For some reason Sister Carlotta assumes personal responsibility to get to the bottom of the mystery of Bean's background; as if the International Fleet wouldn't do that itself. And even more perplexedly, the people whose job it is to study and train kids at Battle School turn to Sister Carlotta to inform them as to what is Bean is thinking. She's not a genius, she's has no military background, she knows nothing about shat is happening at Battle School, and Bean hid his emotions from her for the entire time that they were together. But hey, let's rely on Sister Carlotta to teach us about Bean.

So, after jumping through hoops to promote Sister Carlotta from relative obscurity to a major character, how does OSC then go about using her character? Well, virtually evert time that he brings her back into the story she give lip service to the importance Christianity. Sister Carlotta makes proclamations about G-d, and the military men who are hoping to extinguish an entire civilization nod their heads in reply. And while an invasion by extra terrestrial beings would seem to raise fundamental questions about the basic tenants of all Judeo-Christian religions, OSC completely punts on these significant religious questions.

Luckily, Sister Carlotta is absent for most of the last third of the book. But Scott Card then pulls her back in at the very end of the story so to hammer his religious themes one last time. In fact, OSC doubles-down by using the final lines of Ender's Shadow to repeat a quote from the Bible that appeared out of the blue and for the first time only a couple of chapters earlier. The ending chapter read less like it was written by a great science fiction writer, and more like it was written by a Sunday School teacher during summer camp.

Absolute Must Read

Bean. what a character. wow. blows me away how I can read into the life of a “side character” and it’s gravity, it’s raw emotion, it’s capacity for analysis and depth just pulls you in like a literary black hole. Fantastic.

balancing action and character development

Not all audio books are the same. I love the use of different voices to tell the story; far from a monotone voice droning on, each chapter starts out almost like a radio drama. After all, the book is written to be read. And though there is plenty of action detailed, it is fascinating to take this journey through the mind of a brilliant child. In many ways, the journey of the mind and behavioral development is more fascinating than any high octane action sequence.

Bravo, Orson, on your complimentary achievement to Ender's Game. Although the author says that Ender's Shadow could be read separate from Ender's Game and be enjoyed, I would highly encourage would-be fans to read Ender's Game first so you can enjoy the thrill of discovery. Trust me; you'll understand. And then attempt to quence your thirst for more by reading Ender's Shadow.

A five star book--across the board!

I listened to Ender's Game way back, maybe as my first Audible book. Then I listened to it a second time somewhat later. Recently, I was preparing to go on a road trip and really felt Ender's Shadow was a good choice, particularly after reading the reviews. Well, we were rivited to our seats over may miles of driving the Pacific Northwest, and in the evenings, I kept thinking of Bean and his adventures, wanting to get back to the book as soon as I could.

I also feel that you should read Ender's Game first. As I listened to the "Shadow" book, things kept coming back to me that I had forgotten. It all fit together so nicely. You realize just how much "mindwork" Card puts into his stories (incredible) and how in depth he takes his characters. This book was very intense for its entirety. It was enjoyable all the way through with a very satisfying ending. I had tears of joy in my eyes at the close. If you loved Ender's Game, I predict you will love this one just as much. I heartily recommend it.

And--words from the author, at the end of the book, discuss the upcoming movie called Ender's Game. Turns out it is a combination of both of these books. Upon further research, I learned it will be released in a month or too. Really, just can't wait to see Ender and Bean on film. The second best thing after the awesome listening experience!