Ender's Game

A few years ago, I read through a few of the books in the Ender's Game series. I was introduced to the series in my Science Fiction Literature class while at college, and have really enjoyed reading it. I recently picked up a book in another of Orson Scott Card's series, The Seventh Son, and it rekindled my love for his writing style. I ran out to the used book store to find the second book in the series, and finding that it wasn't available, I came home with Ender's Shadow.

There are two story lines in the Ender's Game series and there are a number of short stories that flesh things out. I haven't read all of these (though I plan to in the future), and have stuck to the Ender Series so far. I have been curious about reading Ender's Shadow, which focuses around another boy in Battle School named Bean. I was also a little hesitant because Ender's Game doesn't really give Bean much of a personality, and so I didn't find him particularly endearing, or know what his story could add to the story line.

Well, I read it, and I loved it. Card succeeded in making Bean a genuinely interesting character, and even though a good portion of the book centers around things that were already talked about in Ender's Game, having it from another view point really rounded out the story.

After reading Ender's Shadow, I dug out my old beat up copy of Ender's Game, and started to re-read it. Ender tends to examine things internally, he's wrapped up in emotion and fear. Bean, on the other hand, is interested in analyzing other people, and so his story examines other people, and why the events in the first book happened as they did.

All of this has also reminded me about how much of a story I forget over time, and I'm considering re-reading some of my other old favorites.