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)

Mr Bean, Mr Bean, Mr Bean

this one is every bit as good as the 1st. it is captivating from the very beginning and maintains a solid story line all the way thru the book.

I wish Hollywood could listen

Enderverse timeline speaking, this is the parallel book to Ender's Game featuring the story of Bean and makes an arguably more interesting story. Bean grew up under much tougher circumstances and had to overcome much more (I think) than Ender to get to his level. The book is equal in setting to Ender's Game and shows the deep thought Bean goes through when breaking down each problem he faces. I loved Ender's Game and didn't want it to finish. Ender's Shadow is perfect for those needing a further fix of the formative years of Ender and the Battle School.
This is only the second book in the Ender world I have read and plan on reading them in the timeline they happened rather than their release date.

Truly enthralling!

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

I have not read the print version but would find it hard to believe there would be anything to gain from it. The narration is superb.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Bean is easily my favorite character. He is brilliant beyond what his contemporaries or even the adults over him can even begin to understand and while offering no false modesty he is not vain. Just when you start to think that this makes him cold and mechanical he shows just enough emotion to give you a small glimpse into his soul.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

The narrators did an outstanding job of portraying the emotion or lack of emotion present in a scene. The multiple narrators gave a good feel to the books allowing you to quickly distinquish between age and gender. At no point did you not understand who was speaking or what they were feeling.

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

Yes. It was extremely difficult to pause the book or even to divide my attention between it and daily activities.

Great Book!

What a great book! After finishing Xenocide I wasn't sure I could handle another Ender book. Instead of letting the reader find the lessons and truths within the text I felt like I was back in college listening to a lit professor. While Ender's Shadow does go off on political tangents, there's at least enough action and interesting character development to keep me entertained.

It's a great follow-up to Ender's Game. This book would not be appropriate for younger children however.

the detail

great detail I loved how thorough he described the thoughts of bean and ender. all around great book

with an all star cast of course its the best!

loved every moment even theb intro and afterword. card is just fabulous as usual

As always

As always Orson Scott Card's books are fantastic and the detailed performance was amazing. I fully recommend any of the Audiobooks.

bomb ass book; favorite author ever

absolutely loved the book and readers, especially stephan rudnicki! even if you have already read ender's game, this is a completely different perspective of the same tale.

Enders parallax

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

Yes, the Enderverse is a place I have revisited many times. The stories are well told and engaging.

What did you like best about this story?

The different perspective of the Formic War story.

Have you listened to any of the narrators???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. As good as any other performance

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

The story of Poke

Best Audible Book Ever!!

This is by far the best narrated book ever. This definitely lives up to the greatness of Enders Shadow.