July 2020 - listened to this again when older, and it was a lot worse than I remember. Sad how some things age badly. The audiobook in particular makes the writing hard to bear. ( )

Much better than Ender's Game, just like Speaker for the Dead. Really a marvelous book, altogether cleverly heartfelt and miraculous. There is not much more to say, except Orson Scott Card is the finest Science Fiction writer I have encountered.
I am eager to continue the rest of the Shadow Series. ( )

Ender's Shadow is the first novel in The Shadow Series by Orson Scott Card. Ender's Shadow (published in 1999) is a parallel science fiction novel, taking place at the same time as the novel Ender's Game and depicting some of the same events from the point of view of Bean, a supporting character in the original novel.

Bean, in many ways, is a more interesting character than Ender. Bean is a homeless child living in the hellish streets of Rotterdam in roughly 2170 after escaping as an infant from an illegal genetic engineering laboratory. Highly intelligent and extremely young, Bean is mainly concerned with his need for food. He joins a large gang of children led by a girl named Poke and sets up a system in which they can all receive nourishment at a local soup kitchen. Specifically, the group gets a bully, Achilles, to be their protector. However, Achilles is increasingly ruthless, protective, and methodical.

Luckily for Bean, his incredible mind, creativity and determination bring him to the attention of Sister Carlotta, a nun who is recruiting children to fight a war against the Buggers. Soon enough, Bean finds himself at Battle School alongside of Ender Wiggin where Bean's intelligence becomes apparent (he is even more intelligent than Ender). We get to see the events that happen in Ender's Game from Bean's point of view and we realize that Ender isn't exactly the savior character we thought he was (he was quite cruel to his friends from Battle School when he led "simulations" in Command School on Eros). Bean is not as perfect as Ender Wiggin either, and although he struggles to understand Ender, he becomes Ender's ally. Though Bean is cold at first, the kind of child who weighs the costs of hugging the nun who saved him from the streets, he wants to understand the respect and love that Ender wields. Thus, Bean's story is twofold: he learns to be a soldier, and to be human.

I love the way Card reweaves the story he told in Ender’s Game, making it both the same and different. And I found it quite emotionally touching and heartbreaking as well, particularly the final battle scene and the end where Bean is united with his parents. ( )

I read this book shortly after finishing Ender's Game; it was highly recommended by a friend. I was uncertain at first, informed that it was the same story as Ender's Game but told from the perspective of a different character. I was afraid I wouldn't enjoy the book, already knowing the ending. This did not turn out to be the case. Yes, it is the same event, but NOT the same story. It is the story of Bean whose life is nothing like Ender's. I enjoyed getting to know Bean. I was impressed by how well the author conveyed the intellectual thinking process of this gifted character. It was interesting to see how he examined situations and how accurate he was judging character and motives. This is a great read; very different from Ender's Game. I highly recommend it. ( )

Ender no era el único niño en la Escuela de Batalla, sólo el mejor entre los mejores. Bean, un ser prácticamente tan superdotado como Ender, verá en éste a un rival, pero también a un líder irrepetible. Con su prodigiosa inteligencia obtenida por manipulación genética, Bean ve y deduce incluso lo que Ender no llega a conocer. Lugarteniente, amigo, tal vez posible suplente, Bean nos muestra el trasfondo de lo que ocurría en la Escuela de Batalla y que Ender nunca llegó a saber.