The Ender a POV Exercise

Finally I will do the post Daeruin requested so long ago about “Ender’s Game” and “Ender’s Shadow,” both being fine books in their own right but inspiring some definite monologue from me in combination. Let me preface my thoughts with the following truth statements:

“Ender’s Game” is a great book. – True

“Ender’s Shadow” is a great book. – True

“Game” and “Shadow” are the same story told from different points of view. – False

Now I hope that if you are going to get your ire up about it that you will hear me out first. When I read “Shadow,” it had been many years since I last read “Game.” I was impressed by what a great story Card came up with, and how well he retold the “Game” story with Bean. Where my perspective became altered was during my recent days of commuting when I checked out the audio books of “Game” then “Shadow” back to back. Listening to “Game” I was again impressed with Card’s tale and his depiction of all those darling lads and lasses. Conversely, when I listened to “Shadow” I experienced a combination of the sensations of “that is great” and “what the 7734?” that kind of cramped my style.

Here is the thing that bothered me about the books as they are presented – one story, two points of view:

(This may be completely unnoticeable unless the books are read in a short duration and one after the other. Furthermore, it may not be noticeable unless listening to the audio books. I still maintain that it is so and invite you to check it out yourself if you do not immediately agree with my observations.)

In EVERY SINGLE INSTANCE of personal interaction between Ender and Bean, “Shadow” shows Ender to have his head completely where the sun don’t shine. At the same time it tries to maintain, like “Game,” that Ender has some sort of intuitive sense for people and how to read them, use them, and win with them. He is also shown to be wrong about Petra, who in “Game” is one of his most stalwart allies. I know I get hung up on believability – still, how can he be oblivious to the people that he has to most depend on and still have the main difference that Card tries to sell between him and Bean. I think “Shadow” is probably the better book – the writing is stronger, and I liked the complications to the story. I do not think it is the same story as “Game” from a different point of view, but more like an alternate Ender universe where Wolverine only has one hand and Magneto gets Rogue.

In summary, I think that while as a POV exercise (quite a lucrative one for Card, by all accounts) “Shadow” is a failure. There are too many discrepancies for my believability, from the mixed presentation of Ender’s abilities to the complete alteration of the supporting cast. That being said, “Shadow” is still a great book, worth reading, and I intend to read the rest of the Shadow series now that I am done graduated.

On that note, it feels good to be done – I got my grades back and I finished strong with my highest achieving semester of my whole undergrad career. It pulled my GPA up into the potential grad school range so that I won’t have to rely totally on my GRE scores to get me in. Anyways, thank you all for your support and don’t forget to let me know what you think of my “Ender” interpretation.

R.