Standing In The Shadows Of Victory

McCoy Vandermolen

Ender's Shadow
by Orson Scott Card

In an imagination of the far, far future, Earth is in a destructive war with aliens known as the “Buggers”. After an initial invasion in which humanity barely managed to fend off the insect-cognate species, the people of Earth must now prepare for a second invasion-- or face complete extinction. One key part of this preparation is finding new generals and military masterminds to lead Earth’s fleet. The time elapsed between invasions has rendered the commanders of the past unusable, so humanity must train and raise their only hope: the children.

At Battle School, located somewhere in the vastness of space, the brightest and boldest kids are taught skills and strategies in the hopes of eliminating the approaching alien menace. Readers are introduced to Bean, a young orphan from the streets of Rotterdam with an intellect far bigger than his height. Growing up in a street gang, Bean endured experiences most people would find traumatic and gained an instinct for survival. It’s this intellect and survival instinct that puts him way ahead of his Battle School classmates and inhibits most possible bonds with them too. He thinks he is the smartest person in the entire school, but that all changes when he hears of a kid named Ender Wiggin...

One aspect of this book that attracts readers is how the author, Orson Scott Card, is a master of using perspective. Ender’s Shadow is a compelling novel that is told through the perspective of Bean, but the readers know the perspective of most others characters because he is written as an intellectual genius. Since Bean is smart, he guesses what other characters are thinking and/or feeling at any moment and is usually right about it. He accurately guessed the image “in Achilles’ mind, all the time he must remember it, must dream about it, him lying on the ground, a nine-year-old girl standing over him with a cinder block, threatening to kill him” (Card 45) that would then drive Achilles into a violent rage. This gives the illusion of multiple perspectives; readers can stay in the head of Bean and avoid the confusing jumps from one p.o.v. to another.

This novel creates a portrayal of war in the future that seems to be more a realistic prediction than other sci-fi books, and that is due to the vast military knowledge presented in it. From Charlemagne to Churchill, a variety of military generals and battles are mentioned and applied appropriately in the book. It might seem impossible to answer “what did seventeenth-century fortifications have to do with war in space,” yet Bean links it to Louis XIV’s “ mini fortresses, where you leave a sallying force outside the main fortification. You can station squads of ships to intercept raiders. And there are barriers you can put up. Mines. Fields of flotsam to cause collisions with fast-moving ships” (Card 130). The fact that there are historical examples to justify these futuristic battle strategies spoke to me. Card has clearly done his research, and it shows. Even those who prefer novels on military history or analytical essays could enjoy this book at least a little.

A big theme in Ender’s Shadow is the disconnection between Bean and his peers. His tough past separates him from everyone else in Battle School, as their lives have been easier. For Bean, he “just didn’t get it. He didn’t feel that way about anybody. You just live in the place you’re in, you don’t worry about where you used to be or where you wish you were, here is where you are and here’s where you’ve got to find a way to survive” (Card 116). What also separates him from the others is his intelligence; people resent him for being the smartest kid in class. I struggled to make friends in middle school, so I felt a connection to Bean as a character. Bean’s almost inhuman intelligence damaging his social skills also brings up another theme of what truly makes someone human, but that theme delves in spoiler territory, so you should read the book first.

While this book has many shining qualities that make it a great read, there are some problems with it too. Orson Scott Card is a very religious man, and his beliefs tend to seep into the story for unnecessary reasons. At some places, there’ll be a random biblical reference that does not add anything important to the story. Also, the ‘cold opens’ of just pure dialogue between characters at the start of each chapter get extremely repetitive after a while, even if they are well-crafted. This isn’t ‘My Dinner With Andre’ we’re talking about here.

Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Shadow is a parallel novel to his previous work, Ender’s Game that mostly succeeds independently of its predecessor. On its own, it’s still an intriguing book with clever ideas and twists, but all the plot can be a little confusing for those new to the science fiction genre. Those who have read Ender’s Game will have a much easier time understanding the futuristic concepts and mechanisms that are associated with science fiction. But to those who are fans of science fiction, young and old, you should give this book a try. Young readers can enjoy the basic human vs. alien story, and older readers can indulge in the more detailed intricacies of military ethics and wartime politics. And I would absolutely recommend it to those who have read the original, as this one provides enough new story and perspectives to satisfy veterans of Cards’ stories.

Card himself said this book was useful for writing about military strategy in his novel:
“Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age.” Princeton University Press, https://press.princeton.edu/titles/1033.html. Accessed 16 Jan. 2019.