Ender's Shadow

''Ender's Shadow'' (1999) is a parallel science fiction novel by the American author Orson Scott Card, 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. It was originally to be titled ''Urchin'', but it was retitled ''Ender's Shadow'' prior to release. ''Ender's Shadow'' was shortlisted for a Locus Award in 2000.

Plot summary

Bean is a homeless child living on the hellish streets of Rotterdam around 2170 after escaping as an infant from an illegal genetic engineering laboratory. Highly intelligent and extremely young, he is on the brink of dying from starvation, but manages to convince a nine-year-old named Poke to let him join her band of homeless children by offering her an idea. He tells Poke she should recruit an older bully to help fend off other bullies who prevent the younger children from eating at a local soup kitchen. She chooses Achilles, a bully with a bad leg; Bean realizes that Achilles is too intelligent and dangerous a choice, but is unable to change Poke's mind. Achilles is able to manipulate Poke's group, gaining the trust of all except for Bean, and eventually kills Poke.

Bean's incredible intelligence, creativity and determination bring him to the attention of Sister Carlotta, a nun who is recruiting children for the International Fleet (IF) for a war of survival against the alien Buggers. She gets him admitted to Battle School, despite official resistance and skepticism about his background. Bean has to overcome being much younger and smaller than the other child recruits and faces scrutiny when it is revealed that he scored record highs in all of the school's mental tests. As he proves himself, they constantly compare him to Ender Wiggin, another prodigy who preceded him a few years before Bean's admittance to Battle School. Bean begins to ferret out secrets and truths about the school. Meanwhile, Sister Carlotta uncovers Bean's past, trying to find a reason why he is so mentally gifted.

Ender has been chosen as the best chance to save humanity from the Buggers; Bean is selected to be the backup in case Ender breaks down. Bean is assigned to draw up the roster for Ender's army, called Dragon Army. At first, Ender does not appear to recognize Bean's brilliance, but time shows that he was grooming Bean and he finally puts Bean in charge of a special new platoon within the army to handle extraordinary missions. Ender wins combat games against the other, more established armies within the Battle School; as time goes on, the other side is given more and more unfair advantages, but Ender never loses. Ender and the leaders of several armies all graduate at the same time, giving Bean and other former members of Dragon Army command of the various armies in Battle School. Achilles, with his leg healed joins Battle School, having also been selected for his high intelligence. Sister Carlotta pleads with the Battle School administration to not admit Achilles due to his manipulative tendencies and past history with Bean, but in vain. Bean concocts a scheme to trap Achilles and make him confess to multiple murders, including Poke's, revealing that he is a sociopath bent on killing anyone who has seen or made him helpless. The IF arrests Achilles, and Bean graduates from Battle School to Tactics School. In Tactics School, Bean learns about historical defensive strategies and eventually hacks onto an officer's desk (similar to a tablet) and distributes a memo suggesting that the best strategy for humanity is to attack the Buggers and wipe them out. This memo causes panic in the IF, as they are unable to trace the memo's origins, and the memo perfectly details humanity's actual battle strategy.

Eventually, Bean and other students graduate from Battle School to work under Ender, who now commands one side in electronically simulated battles; he is told that his foe is Mazer Rackham, the hero who saved humanity from the Second Invasion. (Rackham had been sent out in space and back on a fast starship so as to age more slowly due to time dilation.) However, Bean deduces that the "simulations" are real battles: Ender and his "jeesh" are commanding human fleets attacking Bugger colony planets using the ansible, an instantaneous communications device. The pace increases and the enemy forces become larger and more advanced. Through it all, Ender keeps on winning, but he begins to struggle; at times, Bean gives the jeesh additional commands. In the final battle at the Buggers' home planet, Ender faces seemingly impossible odds against a gigantic Bugger fleet; his only edge is a weapon—"Dr Device"—that can start a chain reaction that destroys matter; if the matter is concentrated enough, it triggers a chain reaction. Ender freezes, unable to come up with a plan, until Bean's prompt (inadvertently) shows him how he can win. Ender unknowingly commits genocide by destroying the Buggers' home world with Dr. Device.

Bean makes friends with an older boy named Nikolai. Sister Carlotta discovers that the two boys are genetic twins, except for Bean's genetic enhancements. When Bean was illegally genetically engineered, the scientist Volescu had "turned Anton's Key," meaning that Bean's body—including his brain—will never stop growing, which will result in a premature death between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. Sister Carlotta ensures that Bean will get to live with Nikolai and his parents after the war. After they defeat the Buggers, Bean is united with his real parents and Nikolai.

''Ender's Shadow'' is the first of a series that includes '' Shadow of the Hegemon'', '' Shadow Puppets'', '' Shadow of the Giant'', '' Shadows in Flight'', and '' The Last Shadow''.

Comics

A five-issue comic book limited series based on ''Ender's Shadow'', called ''Ender's Shadow: Battle School''. was released on December 3, 2008. It was written by Mike Carey, with art by Sebastian Fiumara.Enrolling in School: Carey on Ender's Shadow: Battle School
Newsarama, December 2, 2008

Awards

The novel has received numerous awards, including:
* New York Times bestseller (Fiction, 1999)
*SF Site Reader's Choice (1999)
* Alex Awards (2000)
*ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2000)
* Geffen Award (Best Translated Science Fiction Book, 2001)
*ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (2004)

Translations

* Chinese: ''""''
* Czech: ''""''
* Hebrew: ''""''
* Dutch: ''""''
* Polish: ''""''
* Russian: ''""''
* Spanish: ''""''
* Romanian: ''""''
* French: ''""'' ("The Shadow's Strategy")
* German: ''""''
* Hungarian: ''""''
* Korean: ''""''
* Bulgarian: ''""''

See also

* List of ''Ender's Game'' characters
* Orson Scott Card bibliography

References

External links

About the novel ''Ender's Shadow'' from Card's website
*

{{Orson Scott Card , Enderstate=expanded

1999 American novels
1999 science fiction novels
Ender's Game series books
Tor Books books
Works about child soldiers