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Ender's Shadow cover art

Ender's Shadow

By: Orson Scott Card
Narrated by: Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, full cast
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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

“An absorbing, near-flawless performance.” —Kirkus

“The wonders of Battleschool and flashsuits and children's armies should keep readers turning pages.” —Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

“An exceptional work.” —School Library Journal

What listeners say about Ender's Shadow

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A Return to Battle School.

This book takes us back to the Battle School events in Ender's Game, but retold from the perspective of a secondary character, Bean. You may wonder why you would want to read the same story again, but the manner in which it is written is excellent and at no point did I feel like I was going over old material. The back-story of Bean is gone into in detail which introduces new, interesting characters. The story from when he arrives at Battle School is very much Bean's and the author has ensured that Bean develops his own identity in the school and his own story before even meeting Ender.

This is the first in the "Shadow" series and of the five Enders books I have now listened to, this is just behind Ender's Game which is firmly the best. OSC uses his monumental skills to tell another great story, with great character, plot and dialogue. The narration team are as always exemplary.

You do not need to have read the Ender's series first, but I would strongly recommend it.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant version

I didn't particularly enjoy this book when I read it. But this is an example of how excellent narration can improve the whole audiobook experience. The different voices are excellent and work well together, adding an extra dimension to the book and making me wish my commute home from work took longer. I don't know how this was recorded but the quick interchange between voices at times sounds very real as though they were having a direct conversation. The occasional use of music adds to the atmosphere.

This book is a perfect example of what an audio book should be and I hope that the same excellent production is in place for the rest of the Ender series of books.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A "parallax" novel of Ender's Game

Story: This is an interesting story, basically retelling Ender's Game from one of the supporting character's view. Bean is by far my fave from Ender's Game, so a whole book devoted to him? I'm in there :) His back story is fleshed out, and Bean is far more aware of the whole political dynamic, which gives a whole new flavour to the story. So whilst you know exactly what happens, there's enough new material for those who are familar with Ender's game; but for those who haven't read it; it's self contained enough that it shouldn't need the knowledge of what's coming to make sense.

Audio: The full cast recording, was more like "three cast parts". But it really worked: the dialogue between Graff and Sister Carlotta was excellent, in particular. I had a bit of a flub at the end, where the audio seemed to skip back half a chapter, but then it carried on without any issues. Excellent narration.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Big fan

Big fan of the author and his work. Have read most of his work several times and now listening to them.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Bean’s story

This book is well written, it fills in gaps from ender’s game without repeating much unnecessary information and was great to get a look inside bean’s mind to see how he thinks.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The other side of the coin

I think this was better than trying to make enders game 2. At first I was like how can Bean play such a big part now I'm team Bean!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible

Every bit as good as Enders game, would highly recommend to anyone who likes science fiction, and now on with Shadow of the Hegemon…

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The most like for like sequel to Ender's Game

I read the Enderverse game in close to publication order and Ender's Shadow is much closer to Ender's Game than any of the first sequels (the Speaker series). If you want more of Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow is your best bet.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

If you enjoyed Enders game, buy this

This is a good parallel novel to Enders game, while it's not a sequel (as much of the Ender/Bean stories overlap) it provides another unique perspective which is well worth listening to

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

worthy series

each book in the Ender Saga has it's own engaging complex life.....they stand alone but are even better read in sequence.

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