Kim Miller
While Ender was growing up in a loving family and only have to negotiate his place with an older brother and sister, Bean was having to fight his way upwards from the streets of Amsterdam.
The nameless kid, four years old but looking like two, manipulated his way into a street gang so he wouldn't starve in some back alley. His quick wit and intelligence equipped him for understanding the motivations of the street and although the smallest of his cohort, earning him the name Bean, he survived in their company.
He was picked up from there by a well meaning religious sister who had links into the space force battle school. She recognised Bean's intelligence and his aptness for training. So he finds himself in battle school, even though he is well below permissible age. And there he hears of Ender Wiggin, the hero of the school and somehow not so much older or taller than himself.
It is not until half way into the story that Bean meets Ender as a member of his battle army for training. They do not form any kind of friendship as Ender treats Bean with the same harshness that the teachers have formally treated Ender. Bean cries out internally for recognition but is constantly the target of barbs and laughter. However, by the 75% point Ender is promoted to Command School and Ender is made the leader of his own training army.
As the pressure to get these students battle ready increases the entire cohort is graduated and sent to the command post, built inside a far flung asteroid, to more actively train for the battle against the ant-like alien Formics.
The novel is firstly the story of Bean before we meet him at the battle school in Ender's Game, where he is minor character, and secondly the story of the training and the battle of that book but told through Bean's eyes. In this story we see him as highly intelligent, perceptive, and ready to face down his superiors if he thinks they are treating like a child. Yep, irony there for our six year old hero.
While Ender's Game is more plot driven, Ender's Shadow is taken up with the inner dialogue of the ever-thinking Bean. We see his military and political analysis, his resourcefulness, his ability to subvert the command structure of the battle school, and his struggle to find a place in the hearts of the other students. OSC demonstrates his command of military history as Bean researches the great battles of history, and his understanding of human interactions.
The book is emotionally demanding at times as we read of the abuse, and sometimes murder, of children by each other and by adults. The deep loneliness of Bean at the school finds some relief as his friendship with another boy increases with time. Ironically, the other boy sees Bean as looking like his own infancy photos and so sees him more as a younger brother than as a friend. His view is well placed as we find that Bean is the result of embryonic freezing and cloning that was kept secret from the parents, and is, indeed, the younger brother. Not only brother, but genetically his identical twin although born some years later. The book closes with Bean, now with a proper name, being united with his family.
While Ender was growing up in a loving family and only have to negotiate his place with an older brother and sister, Bean was having to fight his way upwards from the streets of Amsterdam.
The nameless kid, four years old but looking like two, manipulated his way into a street gang so he wouldn't starve in some back alley. His quick wit and intelligence equipped him for understanding the motivations of the street and although the smallest of his cohort, earning him the name Bean, he survived in their company.
He was picked up from there by a well meaning religious sister who had links into the space force battle school. She recognised Bean's intelligence and his aptness for training. So he finds himself in battle school, even though he is well below permissible age. And there he hears of Ender Wiggin, the hero of the school and somehow not so much older or taller than himself.
It is not until half way into the story that Bean meets Ender as a member of his battle army for training. They do not form any kind of friendship as Ender treats Bean with the same harshness that the teachers have formally treated Ender. Bean cries out internally for recognition but is constantly the target of barbs and laughter. However, by the 75% point Ender is promoted to Command School and Ender is made the leader of his own training army.
As the pressure to get these students battle ready increases the entire cohort is graduated and sent to the command post, built inside a far flung asteroid, to more actively train for the battle against the ant-like alien Formics.
The novel is firstly the story of Bean before we meet him at the battle school in Ender's Game, where he is minor character, and secondly the story of the training and the battle of that book but told through Bean's eyes. In this story we see him as highly intelligent, perceptive, and ready to face down his superiors if he thinks they are treating like a child. Yep, irony there for our six year old hero.
While Ender's Game is more plot driven, Ender's Shadow is taken up with the inner dialogue of the ever-thinking Bean. We see his military and political analysis, his resourcefulness, his ability to subvert the command structure of the battle school, and his struggle to find a place in the hearts of the other students. OSC demonstrates his command of military history as Bean researches the great battles of history, and his understanding of human interactions.
The book is emotionally demanding at times as we read of the abuse, and sometimes murder, of children by each other and by adults. The deep loneliness of Bean at the school finds some relief as his friendship with another boy increases with time. Ironically, the other boy sees Bean as looking like his own infancy photos and so sees him more as a younger brother than as a friend. His view is well placed as we find that Bean is the result of embryonic freezing and cloning that was kept secret from the parents, and is, indeed, the younger brother. Not only brother, but genetically his identical twin although born some years later. The book closes with Bean, now with a proper name, being united with his family.