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Ender's Shadow

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Ender's Shadow

By: Orson Scott Card
Narrated by: Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir
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The novel that launched the bestselling Ender's Shadow series—available for the first time on unabridged cd

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....

 Adventure Military Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction Thought-Provoking War
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Critic reviews

“You can't step into the same river twice, but Card has gracefully dipped twice into the same inkwell--once for Ender's Game, and again for his stand-alone ‘parallel novel.' 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 (starred review) on Ender's Shadow

“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

“I've saved my favorite for last; if you loved Ender's Game, you will go nuts for these fantastic full-cast recordings.” —Examiner.com on Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow
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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

If you enjoyed Enders game, buy this

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If you read enders game already, then you will really enjoy this. Totally different and as good.

Not a sequel but a dual book

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I loved Ender's Game, This runs extremely well alongside it. performance of each is great and easily flows from one character or group of characters to another. The way that it is narrated explains the story well, the characters and the images. I know it says that it does not matter in which order you listen tomorrow read these to books, but I personally think that you get the greatest impact if you read/listen to Ender's Game first.

Absolutely Fantastic.

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What did you like most about Ender's Shadow?

The desperate struggle of a boy who feels totally abandoned and alone to stay alive and win at everything he does.

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

Good narrator

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

No, not as gripping as Ender's Game

Good story but not as good as Enders Game

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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.

A "parallax" novel of Ender's Game

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