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May 07, 2011

Stephen rated it:

5.0 stars. Sometimes love is not a strong enough word so I am going to borrow from Woody Allen, "I LURVE THIS BOOK!!! This is my second favorite book in both Ender series (behind only Speaker for the Dead). In fact, like Speaker for the Dead, I thought this book significantly surpassed its predecessor, Ender's Shadow which I loved by the way.

This story takes place in the latter half of the 22nd century (so my poster above is for the 2208 elections), soon after the More...

13 comments like (24 people liked it)

Nov 15, 2011

Seak (Bryce L.) rated it:

I enjoyed Shadow of the Hegemon but not nearly as much as Ender's Shadow, the first in the Shadow series.

I don't know, and I had this same problem after finishing Speaker for the Dead (Book 2 in the main Ender series), but I just feel like this series is getting beat to death. I'm not the only one right? As good as these sequels are, I still think Ender's Game (with possible addition of Ender's Shadow) should have been left that way, on its own, no sequels. I know, now I'm beating a de More...

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 02, 2008

Missy rated it:

This is the second book I've read in the series in the same universe as the Ender Quartet. I read it basically in 24 hours, which speaks to its fast pace and readability. I'm starting to like this series possibly even more than the quartet. There are a lot of really interesting characters - the complex Bean, the ambiguous Peter, etc. Plus I really like the theme of genius kids who aren't cutely precocious, etc. This book deals a lot with military strategy, which doesn't tend to be my thing, but More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 22, 2009

Nicholas rated it:

I'm tired of you Orson Scott Card.

Ender's Game was fun. Ender's Shadow was a similar kind of fun in the same setting. I had hoped Shadow of the Hegemon would follow the nifty character of Bean back to Earth.

It does.... sort of.

Have you ever met one of those nerds who owns multiple editions of Risk? Who had complete DVD series spanning half a wall that's entirely about World War 2? Who owns board games relating to a single historical battle? That's how Card see More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 06, 2008

Eric rated it:

I didn't enjoy this one as much as Ender's Game or Ender's Shadow. As in those two, the plot and action were just backdrop. The book was really about people deducing what other people were thinking. In the previous books, this was used for character development and I enjoyed it. In this one, it seemed like the author used it more as a gimmick. Rather than use it as a tool to accomplish something else, he just trotted it out to do tricks over and over. It accounted for most of the book and got ol More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 13, 2011

Peter added it

Now I remember why I stopped reading science fiction: I grew up, that's why. I read this on holiday as it was one of only a few English language books in the hotel. Pretentious, overblown, ridiculous. Those words don't even begin to cover it. Maybe I am being unfair to the genre, although the pompousness of it all rang a bell from science fiction that I have come across in the past. However this book is ludicrous in its portrayal of politics and military planning. Its plotting is confused and no More...

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Nov 01, 2011

Maureen rated it:

Opening: "Dear Admiral Chamrajnagar: I was given your idname by a mutual friend who once worked for you but now is a glorified dispatcher--I'm sure you know who I mean."

I've been reading through the Ender and Bean books recently, because I never finished and I wanted to. I love the first books in both series and find them resonant on a deeper level than just cool scifi.

With Shadow of the Hegemon, I found my reactions to be quite different. While I was reading, I More...

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Jun 15, 2011

Critical rated it:

Shadow of the Hegemon is the sixth chronologically written book of the Ender's Game Series, the first sequel of Ender's Shadow (book five). Orsen Scott Card is an indisputable literary genius, and to critique his book is to dabble the black arts. Flawless characterization and storytelling is expected, and again, Scott Card weaves and stuns with each keystroke. Therefore, expect this 'review' to be only the most humble quibble and sigh.

Shadow of the Hegemon follows the storyline of Bea More...

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Jan 16, 2011

Leonid rated it:

I hope I can finish this book. I liked the Ender quartet and Ender's Shadow too much not to try. Yet it is difficult to actually believe the same person wrote Shadow of the Hegemon and the others. Ender’s Game is a fun fast paced book of adventure while the other three books in the Ender quartet borderline on genius. The formulations of issues of xenophobia are uncanny in SFTD, Xenocide, COTM and integration of Christian beliefs into the mix yield an unparallel argument for empathy being central More...

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Dec 29, 2010

Allen rated it:

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Sep 25, 2010

Duffy rated it:

This book moved along at a pretty good clip. It was easy to read and kind of entertaining. I like Bean. So it was OK.

Except that it was really pretty terrible. All the Battle School kids are back on earth and they are basically shunted away as being "just" children. That means that all the kids who won the war for mankind's survival now have subordinate roles. And that's just fine.

But then there's Achilles. He got into Battle School, and was there for a c More...

9 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 29, 2010

Chad rated it:

I was underwhelmed by Ender's Shadow, but this book was much better! The characters are more fully developed, and we learn more about their thoughts through their conversations and internal dialogues. There are plenty of action-packed scenes that quicken the story's pace.

This book takes place after Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, when the kids from Battle School have returned to Earth. Now that the threat of the Buggers is gone, the nations have begun vying for political and militar More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 11, 2010

Lionel rated it:

The follow up to Ender's Shadow, this unfortunately showcases Card's tendency to write sequels for the sake of growing a successful franchise, even when the stories don't quite merit it. This is not a bad book, but it suffers in comparison to its predecessor.

Again, this book showcases many of Card's strengths: internal character monologoues reveal mostly well developed characters with psychological foibles; moral and religious discussions/debates; strong young adults. But, as wi More...

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Mar 18, 2010

Adam rated it:

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Feb 08, 2010

Noelle rated it:

The war against the Buggers is won, and the child military geniuses have been home for a year. War is about to break out on Earth, and Achilles, the villain from Bean's past who somehow managed to easily escape from prison and take over the Russian empire while all of them were sitting at home waiting for something to happen to them, captures what remains of Ender's jeesh: all except for Bean, who he supposedly kills.
At that point the book was still good. I thought Bean would try to rescu More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 06, 2011

John rated it:

A very smart, engaging read--though without the mass appeal of its predecessor, Ender's Shadow, mainly due to Card's decision to drop virtually all the sci-fi aspects, as well as to cut down on the amount of action contained in the story. What you end up getting is a lot of political intrigue and strategizing...like one of those alternate history novels, but taking place in the future. This would be a very difficult novel to pull off, seeing as how most of the characters in the story are geniu More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 28, 2011

Kyriakos rated it:

Kyriakos Katamakis
Period 6
English 3
3-1-10
Shadow of the Hegemon Review
This science fiction book is a sequel to Enders Shadow. In this book all of the battle school graduates return to earth except for Ender so countries won’t fight for his military genius. A little after they come back to earth all of Enders unit is kidnapped except for Bean, who is the main character, to be used as strategists for world More...

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Dec 30, 2010

Kate rated it:

This actually deserves a 3.5 rather than a 4. Hello Goodreads! Give me half stars!

I'm tearing through this series at a rate of about one a day, which must mean something. I'm following the two storylines in parallel chronology (ish, as they move at different rates of speed), by which I mean that I've read Ender 1, Bean 1, Ender 2, and now Bean 2.

I like the Bean storyline because it deals with things that seem very real: the problems left behind on Earth after the globalizing More...

1 comment like

Mar 17, 2011

Oomaf rated it:

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Oct 26, 2008

Batmanintraining rated it:

I read this in Fiji, it was one of the only books that looked interesting when I ran out of reading material. I didn't mind starting in the middle of the series, Orson gave enough background, but it was just bad.

The dialog was just terrible it was always two people judging how smart they were to each other, VERY TIRING. Super boring read, but I had burnt through the 4 other books I had brought with me, so I didn't have much choice.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 02, 2011

Kat rated it:

Partly the lower rating is because a novelized game of Risk isn't really my thing, and also because the writing in this installment of the Ender/Shadow series felt a bit sloppier written than Card's usual. There was a lot of repetition of information, sloppy exposition and the like, which could have been done more gracefully. Also, it seemed (having read Ender's Shadow just before this book) that Card decided to make some tweaks to his characterization of Bean and Petra, which were not necessa More...

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Feb 19, 2011

Rollie rated it:

God! I‘d been having an Orson Scott Card’s books marathon these last few weeks. So far, since there is nothing left of his books in my hand that I haven’t read yet, I’ll have to take a pause reading his books and resume till I find his other books then—especially the sequels of this book.

After checking the rating details of this book on Goodreads, I found out that I belong to those people who are twenty-two percent addicted at this. Unfortunately, since before reading a book, I always More...

13 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 21, 2009

Ami rated it:

Now back on earth, Ender's "jeesh" from the war against the buggers tries to adjust to life as children, rather than war heroes.
A year after they return to earth, each of them is kidnapped one by one; except Bean, who is the target of murder.
Achilles is behind the kidnapping and eventually lets them all go (thanks to Bean and Peter Wiggen), except Petra. Achilles tries to use Petra is his quest for world domination. Bean has the task of saving Petra and humanity at the sam More...

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Jul 24, 2008

Greg rated it:

I got through three books of the original Ender Wiggin series before the returns really began diminishing. Ender's Shadow, a reboot of the series from the POV of a supporting character of the original book, intrigued me, and I found it about as engaging as the original Ender's Game. Here, Card's geopolitics just aren't doing it for me, and I'm not all that interested in the foreshadowed romance between Bean and Petra.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 18, 2011

Sean rated it:

Compared to other scifi/fantasy books, Orson Scott Card's Ender series is pretty good. I've read three of the four on the Ender series (Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide), and two from the Shadow series (Ender's Shadow and this one). Shadow of the Hegemon doesn't totally ruin the series like Xenocide did, and the characters all seem true to themselves and are developed decently. Besides that, the book is marred with the usual flaws: unrealistic intelligence for young teenagers, writin More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 23, 2009

Sabrina rated it:

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Nov 11, 2011

Joy rated it:

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Dec 26, 2010

Flannery rated it:

Honestly, if I hadn't read the third book in this series out of order and enjoyed it, I don't know that I would've continued the Shadow series. There were just so many things about this audiobook (and book) that annoyed me. Now, I know that a lot of OSC's religious views (and misogyny) come out in his books but this is the first one that has really annoyed me. A lot of his characters always "seem to know what is best" and it is frustrating to listen to. In addition, this particular aud More...

14 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2009

Mckay rated it:

this book is pretty cool. being the sequel to the greatest orson scott card book of all time: ender's shadow, which is the completion to ender's game which is the 2nd best book i've ever read. it is about a genetically altered human boy genius named bean who's house explodes while he is on a vacation in his homeland of greece. When they come back to their vacation home, they find it demolished and begin looking for a suspect which is, of course, bean's arch nemisis achilles. There are a couple p More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 21, 2007

Emile rated it:

one of my favorite books. this book is about what happens after Ender and the genii (plural of genius, yes I'm a nerd) have defeated the buggers and are coming back to earth. They are all kidnapped to lead wars against the other nations and the story brings back an interesting bad guy.

highly recommended book. Time for WW3

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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