Ender's Shadow
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| Ender's Shadow | |
 Front cover. |
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| Author | Orson Scott Card |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Ender's Game series |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
| Publication date | 1999 |
| Media type | print (hardcover & paperback) |
| Pages | 480 pp |
| ISBN | 0-312-86860-X |
| Followed by | Shadow of the Hegemon |
Ender's Shadow (1999) is a science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. The book takes place at the same time as the novel "Ender's Game", depicting the same events from the point of view of Bean, a supporting character in the original novel. Ender's Shadow was shortlisted for a Locus Award in 2000.[1]
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[edit] Plot summary
Bean, the main character in the book, is an orphan living in the hellish streets of a future (roughly 2170 A.D.) Rotterdam, after escaping as an infant from an illegal genetic engineering laboratory. Being hyper-intelligent but extremely young, Bean's experiences all center around his need for food. He joins a small gang of children led by Poke and sets up a system in which they can all receive nourishment at a local soup kitchen. The draw-back is their increasing dependence on the bully Achilles, who is ruthless, mad, and methodical. Luckily for Bean, his incredible mind, creativity, and determination bring him to the attention of Sister Carlotta, a nun recruiting children to fight a war against the Buggers. At the training facility, Battle School, Bean's true genius becomes apparent. Not only is he smarter than average, he's smarter than any other child at Battle School, including Ender. Despite Bean's intelligence, it is Ender who has been chosen to save humanity from the Buggers. Bean struggles to understand what quality Ender has that he does not, until he is assigned to draw up a "hypothetical" roster for Ender's army, and adds himself to the list. At first Ender doesn't appear to recognize Bean's brilliance, but time shows that he was grooming Bean as his tactical support, putting him at the head of an unorthodox platoon challenged to out-think the teachers who designed the game, and defeat their attempts at cheating.
Throughout the book, the main theme rests on Bean's personal struggle against the IF administration, who seems bent on breaking Ender--even if it means murder. Throughout all of this, Bean has to contend with the reappearance of Achilles and his own struggle to understand what makes Ender human.
He also makes friends with an older boy named Nikolai Delphiki who is drawn to Bean because of their similar looks. It is soon discovered, through Sister Carlotta's research, that the two boys are actually genetic twins, except for Bean's genetic enhancements. Back in the lab, the scientist Volescu had turned Anton's Key, which means Bean's body will never stop growing - including his brain - until a premature death between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. Sister Carlotta manages to ensure that Bean will get to live with Nikolai and his parents after the war.
This story takes the reader through Bean's experiences in Battle School and shows how Bean, a secondary character in Ender's Game, is much more important to the fate of Earth than he originally seemed. In addition, the book depicts the first of Bean's encounters with Achilles. At the very end of the story, Ender leaves on a colonization ship and never returns to Earth as part of a treaty. (After the war with the buggers, there is a war between several nations on earth. In the Locke Proposal, Peter Wiggin writes terms for a treaty, including that Ender will never be allowed on earth, as everyone fears he will become a general and other nations can use him to take over the world.)
Ender's Shadow is the first of a series that includes Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, and Shadow of the Giant.
[edit] Comics
A five-issue comic book limited series based on Ender's Shadow, called Ender's Shadow: Battle School. was released in December 3, 2008. It was written by Mike Carey, with art by Sebastian Fiumara.[2]
[edit] Translations
Chinese: "安德的影子" ("Ender's Shadow").
Czech: "Enderův stín" ("Ender's Shadow").
Hebrew: "הצל של אנדר" ("Ender's Shadow").
Dutch: "Enders Schaduw" ("Ender's Shadow").
Polish: "Cień Endera" ("Ender's Shadow").
Spanish: "La sombra de Ender" ("Ender's Shadow").
Romanian: "Umbra lui Ender" ("Ender's Shadow").
[edit] See also
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ender's Shadow |
- List of characters in the Ender's Game series
- Concepts in the Ender's Game series
- List of works by Orson Scott Card
[edit] References
- ^ "2000 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2000. Retrieved on 2009-07-15.
- ^ Enrolling in School: Carey on Ender's Shadow: Battle School, Newsarama, December 2, 2008
[edit] External links
- About the novel Ender's Shadow from Card's website
- Ender's Shadow at Worlds Without End
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