There is no way to review this novel without comparing it to its far superior predecessor, Ender's Game. Consider this review, then, a parallel review, as I mention why I liked Ender's Game so much--and why Ender's Shadow, though not a bad novel by any means, fails to measure up.

The most important flaw in this book is in its depiction of Bean's character. Bean is far too intelligent for a child. Indeed, he is so perceptive and so self-sufficient that nothing gets past him in this book except for one key fact, which he ultimately figures out anyway. He is so intelligent, in fact, that whatever problems crop up are easily dealt with. **SPOILER ALERT** At one point, for example, Bean's arch-enemy from Rotterdam is purposefully placed in Bean's army, but Bean, in the space of only a few pages, identifies and disposes of this "deadly" threat.

The other problem with Bean's intelligence is his tendency to analyze everything. When the teachers tell him something, he analyzes it (accurately); whenever a problem appears, he analyzes it (accurately); whenever he has a question he answers it (accurately). This over-analysis makes the text boring: when a single line of dialogue is followed by two or three paragraphs of Bean coldly identifying and comparing potential responses, the drama suffers.

But didn't Ender's Game suffer from exactly the same flaws? Wasn't Ender too smart, too analytical for a child? Perhaps he was. But Ender's Game's primary draw was not to showcase the intelligence of its protagonist, but instead to show us how an admittedly unusual boy with the mind of a full-grown adult was still suffering through the pains of a lost childhood. The important thing was that, while Ender may have taken care of many problems swiftly, there were many problems that he could not take care of swiftly. The simplest example is that of Bonzo Madrid: which reader of Ender's Game can forget the slow build-up of tension surrounding that figure, as well as the dramatic conclusion? But Ender's most compelling problems were never solved. These problems were set up in Ender's Game's first two chapters: Ender's capacity for violence and his searing remorse afterward, his intense love for his sister, and his fear (but perhaps also love?) for his cruel brother. Unlike Bean, Ender was not proud of his intelligence, nor of his ability to see past the ruses his teachers set up for him. In fact, some of the most memorable moments in Ender's Game--including the harrowing climax--came when Ender had actually won, but his emotional turmoil prevented him from celebrating his victories. Ender's problems, the flaws that Battle School tried to separate from him, and then decided to use against him, were never just analyzed away. And the effect of Ender's long internal struggle on the reader was profound: by the end of the book, we didn't care if Ender won or not; we only wanted him to be happy.

I experienced nothing similar when it came to Bean. He was too cold for too long to evoke any empathy from me.

I also had some more minor problems with the book. There were parts of the book that were almost exact duplicates of similar scenes from Ender's Game: the shuttle launch, the whole "the enemy's gate is down" training, etc. Bean makes a couple of fairly corny and overly dramatic speeches that have a much bigger impact than they should have. The parallel storyline involving Bean's ancestry is slightly dull and a little gimmicky. And Card, perhaps in an attempt to make Bean's character consistent with the dialogue that already appears in Ender's Game, makes Bean over-analyze every line that is repeated from the previous book.

Still, the book is not a bad one--it just comes nowhere close to its incredibly powerful predecessor. Card writes well, so the book is always easy to read. The opening chapters on Bean's childhood in Rotterdam--probably the most compelling chapters in the book--are visceral and evocative, if perhaps a little sensationalistic. And it was always a joy to see Ender Wiggin again, even when that joy was tempered by sorrow for the pain that young boy was going through. But the joy of seeing Ender simply showcases the greatest tragedy about this book: it only becomes truly interesting when it associates itself most directly with Ender's Game. The title may be only too accurate: this book truly is in Ender's shadow.

UPDATE: (11/10/01) My friend Pat Nichols from MIT had this to say about this book: "I think you let Orson Scott Card get off easy with a '6' for Ender's Shadow. Bean is annoying and predictable, and the whole 'Bean was genetically engineered' subplot was just plain retarded. Ender's Game was a great book, but the rest of the books in the series were nowhere near as good."

Copyright © 2001 Steven Wu