Title: Ender's Shadow
Author: Orson Scott Card
Published: 1999 by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
ISBN: 0-312-86860-X

I decided my second foray into scifi should also be a sure fire good read. I've known of Card for a while and have heard plenty of good things about his books, but choosing where to start was a tough one. I can't just jump into the middle of a series, but it seems that my library has the fewest of the the first books. It was either wait a few weeks or try to find a suitable alternative. Luckily, Ender's Shadow was in, probably because this particular book was pretty haggard and beat up.

It's a novel written about the same events of Ender's Game, which is the first in the Ender series. The unlikely hero is Bean, an urchin from the streets of Rotterdam. He's unusually small but also unusually bright and manages to keep himself alive. You might even say he was living pretty well, considering how awful a situation he was in.

Along comes a savior of sorts, Sister Carlotta, who is searching high and low to find bring young children to train to the International Federation forces. Bean impresses her with his outstanding intellect at such a young age. She offers him a chance to study in space and given the option of three square meals, a nice bed and all the books he can read or living the rat race on the street he of course enrolls.

Once into school he spends most of his time trying to figure out what it is they're training for. On the surface it seems like a straight forward military school preparing them to fight another Bugger invasion. They had already attacked twice and another one seems imminent. But that seems too easy and doesn't quite fit with the circumstances. Bean is insatiably curious and can't stand to have information withheld from him.

Mustering all his talents, he sneaks around the school using ventilation shafts, steals other students and teachers passwords, and engages in various mind games with the instructors. It turns out well for him though, as he manages to earn his own command and help Ender in their final attack on the Buggers.

During the course of his journey, Bean discovers a lot about himself. When he is learning from Sister Carlotta he regards her merely as a tool to help him out. He appeases her only when it seems to further his goals. Consider this passage:

No point in getting emotional about anything. Being emotional didn't help with survival. What mattered was to learn everything, analyze the situation, choose a course of action, and then move boldly. Know, think, choose, do. There was no place in that list for "feel." Not that Bean didn't have feelings. He simply refused to think about them or dwell on them or let them influence his decisions, when anything imporant was at stake.

Through interacting with other children he comes to find feelings within his rigid intellectual disposition. He finds that he yearns for Ender's approval and is deperate for Nikolai's friendship. He learns compassion and love. It's a pity that he had to destroy billions of Bugger's in the process, but after all, they did start it.

One thing about Card's writing style stood out to me more than anything else. He sure wrote about farting a lot.

A great novel. I will definitely be reading the rest in the series.