The Shadow series follows Bean and is a ton of fun. A worthy follow-up to Ender's Game, and a great opportunity to see what happens with the members of Ender's Jeesh, I'd recommend these books to anyone who enjoyed Ender's Game (and how can someone not like Ender's Game?). ( )

The League Wars are over, but the struggle continues between various world powers. Someone kidnaps all the Battle School kids who served under Ender during the Bugger War. Bean alone escapes this fate. Though he must go into hiding, he seeks out the only person who can help him free the others: Peter Wiggin. Most of the story revolves around Bean and Petra, but I didn't feel like I got to know her any better than I did in Ender's Game. Of course, I've noticed Card's difficulty with writing realistic female characters before. The continuation of Achilles's tale was kind of interesting but not especially believable. I hear the series improves as you go along. Not that this is such a bad book - it just didn't do much for me. ( )

The second novel about Bean, Ender's friend and fellow Battle School graduate. By this point Ender is gone and Bean is left on Earth to both survive and try to fend off the schemes of Ender's brother, Peter. In this novel we start to find out what happened on Earth after Ender left. While that turns out to be good material for a novel, it still feels a bit like going over old material, even if this is almost entirely new. Bean is still an engaging character, and the events of the book are plausible and interesting. ( )

Unfortunately, like so many authors who write endless series, Card should have known when to stop. Not one of his best works, Shadow of the Hegemon is filled with cookie cutter characters who are clones of one another to some degree; utterly nonsensical political stratagems that tend to a big yawn; utterly implausible premise of very young adolescents being the political geniuses and power-mongers of the world.

All of this is very disappointing coming from Card, because when he has his literary act together he is so very, very good. It would seem, however, that when he's bad, he's very, very bad.

Ultimately this is a forgettable novel. ( )

The worst of the bunch thus far (comparing it against the first 3 Ender books and Ender's Shadow); a pretty much average science fiction book.

The book is narrative heavy compared to the other Orson Scott Card books I've read. I believe that this made it a bit more boring. I found myself longing for the long philosophical passages of Xenocide and Speaker for the Dead, which were conspicuously absent throughout this book.

Orson Scott Card's handling of international politics seems often naive and superficial, which might make the book more accessible to a wider audience, but still results in the glancing over of certain key events in the politics of the Ender Universe.

Characterizations seemed a bit off key a times, to the point where one may speculate that Card's voice is what you're reading and no the characters themselves. It just seemed as if Bean's personality was not as coherent as in the previous book.

Petra's on the other hand, was on the dot. ( )

Even though you know how this story has to end if you've read Ender's Game (although you don't necessarily know how many books it will take to get there), it still sucks you in and is hard to put down. It's a fairly enjoyable read, but there are a lot of problems. It's not science fiction. It happens to take place in the future, but there are no sci-fi elements whatsoever; that's just an excuse for Card to make up whatever he feels like regarding world politics. And those politics are simplified to a level of a game of Risk. Characters can predict the future of world events based on a handful of pieces of information, which is especially unbelievable since Peter Wiggin, the supposed political genius, comes across as a complete twit in this book. And he and two other of the four main characters are insufferable smart asses. Even Bean comes across that way sometimes. The dialog is often terrible. Sometimes it's just awkward and unnatural. Sometimes Card uses it to frame things he wants to say to the audience, which is the most unfortunate aspect of this book. As great a storyteller as Card usually is, he's kind of a d**k, and as soon as I feel like I'm hearing his opinions rather than his characters' opinions, the book loses a lot for me. ( )

This is not as good as the first of the Bean series but Card is a masterful writer and it is extremely interesting. Whether the characters are discussing religion, politics, war, or childhood it is quite brilliant and the action is lightning fast. ( )

(307/365)

"Shadow of the Hegemon" is another great book in the Ender universe. It is set shortly after the first book, telling the story of what happened to Ender's team, or "Jeesh" after he left earth to colonize one of the many empty Bugger worlds. The story focuses mainly on a character named Bean, who is one of Ender's best friends. In the previous books he had been in the lifelong training program of Battle School, and after he was released, he found his long lost family. Through out "Shadow of the Hegemon" Bean is in constant battle with his greatest enemy, an orphan boy named Achilles. Bean and Achilles were orphans and lived together with a band of other orphans in the streets of a city in Greece. They were once friends but then became bitter enemies, pitting their brilliant minds against each other. As nations fall under the Achilles sway, Bean must work to ensure that the world does not fall under control of this physcopath.
I found "Shadow of the Hegemon" to be a very intracte book. It is full of crazy schemes and brilliant plans that really make you think. There is also a military aspect of it that is very intriguing. Overall, it is a great book that anyone who likes to read should check out.

This book starts right after Ender's Shadow, the Formic War is over and the Battle School children have been sent back to their homes on earth. Earth is in a political turmoil, however, and the children are in danger. Shortly after arriving home all the members of Ender's Dragon Army are kidnapped, except one, who escapes. Bean. Bean and Peter Wiggin turn to each other for help. Bean wants to rescue his friends, especially Petra, and Peter wants to rule the world as Hegemon.

It has been a couple of years since I read the previous books in this series and, wow, I had forgotten just how great these books are. It is like meeting up with old friends reading about these characters again. Bean has always been my favourite and his secrets are revealed in this book. There is a lot of political and military strategizing in the story which I do not have a head for, but Card has a way of writing which kept me interested through those parts. An incredibly involved plot with lots of action and fabulous characters. ( )

Bean, the Brother, and the woman.

Card continues to explore his Enderverse, and this time the story is set after the war, and on Earth as Bean and Peter become deeply involved in the politics and plots of the time.

Nasty conspiracies for all.

Not as good as some of the others, but still a good book.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/10... ( )

Very fine, intense, headspace work. I'm reading it aloud to my son (9 years old) and he doesn't even flinch at the political discussion. ( )

http://yoyogodreviews.blogspot.com/20... ( )

I didn't think it was possible before I read it, but this is even better than Ender's Game. ( )

The second book in the Bean series. It tells of Bean and Peters alliance to save Petra from death. It tells of Petra and Beans romance and secrets about Beans past and future. Cards writing is up to par with the rest of this series ( )

http://www.sfreader.com/read_review.a... ( )

http://www.deathcookie.com/node/484 ( )

not really the greatest, but a nice attempt at a parallel novel, and one that let me dive back into Bean, my second favorite of the Ender characters. ( )

This book is a continuation of the time just after the Bugger Wars on Earth. Brilliant and thought provoking as well as nothing like Ender's Game. It is a great read. ( )

When I picked up the sequel to Ender's Shadow I was not expecting the poltical thriller that is this book. Nevertheless, it is a good read. ( )

Not any better than Ender's Shadow. Save your money (and preserve Card's dignity) by sticking with the original series of Ender books. ( )