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Ender's Game Sequels

Despite the fact that the names of all the sequels were bolded, underlined, and italicized in my wishlist, with Amazon links and prices right next to them, I only got [i]Ender's Shadow[/i] for Xmas (The whole family, all 14 aunts and uncles plus their kids had it yesterday)... Thankfully, I also got enough Barnes & Noble gift certificates to buy our local store, but until I can get there, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the book isn't a direct sequel to the previous books (Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, etc), so much as a follow-up; in this case, on Bean, if the title is any indication. So... if I read it having read only Ender's Game before, am I spoiling anything?

Comments

  • BUMP

    You know you want to answer me...
  • MessiahMessiah Failed Experiment
    Bump. Wrong thread.;)
  • JackNJackN <font color=#99FF99>Lightwave Alien</font>
    Re: Ender's Game Sequels

    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by the_exile [/i][B]So... if I read it having read only Ender's Game before, am I spoiling anything? [/B][/QUOTE]

    Nope... ;)
  • C_MonC_Mon A Genuine Sucker
    Reply!!!
  • bobobobo (A monkey)
    I haven't read [i]Ender's Shadow[/i], but believe your correct in that its a reteling of [i]Ender's Game[/i] from Bean's persepctive. I recommend the other two.
  • JackNJackN <font color=#99FF99>Lightwave Alien</font>
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by bobo [/i]
    [B]I haven't read [i]Ender's Shadow[/i], but believe your correct in that its a reteling of [i]Ender's Game[/i] from Bean's persepctive. I recommend the other two. [/B][/QUOTE]

    I have, and yes it is, and you'd think that it would be a rehash of the same ol same ol, but it's actually very good...

    ;)
  • PhiPhi <font color=#FF0000>C</font><font color=#FF9900>o</font><font color=#FFFF00>l</font><font color=#00F
    I really liked Ender's Shadow. It's may not be quite as good as Ender's Game (and what is?), but Bean's perspective is rather interesting.

    And as has already been said, no it's no spoiler for the Ender's Game sequals, especially since they are set a thousand years later or so. :) (that's not a spoiler)

  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by the_exile [/i]
    [B]BUMP

    You know you want to answer me... [/B][/QUOTE]

    I do, but I haven't read Ender's Shadow. :)
  • JackNJackN <font color=#99FF99>Lightwave Alien</font>
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Biggles [/i]
    [B]I do, but I haven't read Ender's Shadow. :) [/B][/QUOTE]

    You have it? If not, I'll send that too... ;)
  • ArikArik Galen's Apprentice
    While there are connections between books in the Ender series (as well as spoilers), they are fairly minor. One example would be if you read a sequel to Ender's Game before reading the original, then when you get to Ender's Game, you will know ahead of time that the buggers lose the war.

    With that said, it's also important to know that reading books out of order does not spoil them at all. Depending on the order in which you read them, it may take some of the 'edge'/urgency off, but they will still be interesting and thought provoking.

    Also, while we are on the subject of Ender's Game, I believe there are plans to make it into a movie. Not sure how far along they are, but it could be very interesting, if done right.
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    I think the middle three are actually very linear and you'd be silly not to read them in order. In fact, [i]Children of the Mind[/i] follows directly from [i]Xenocide[/i], so much so that it uses the same event to end and start the two books. Naturally, anyone should really start with [i]Ender's Game[/i] since that is the beginning of the whole thing.
  • PhiPhi <font color=#FF0000>C</font><font color=#FF9900>o</font><font color=#FFFF00>l</font><font color=#00F
    The latest I could find about the Ender Movie, from [URL=http://www.philoticweb.net/archive.phtml]The Philotic Web[/URL]. It's seems to be positive... And I don't really see spoilers in it:

    September 1st, 2003:

    -OSC`s Draft of the script is finished, and would clock in around 2 hours and 15-20 minutes. Peter is in this draft, but in a very minor role. The events in Battle School are condensed into one year`s time. The Adults are keeping watch on both Ender and Bean, trying to decide which of them will be the One.

    -Another writer is now being pursued to work on a tightening-up re-write based on OSC's script. This is an expected normal procedure, and does not reflect on the quality of OSC`s script, which the producers are reportadly very happy with, and find to pack an emotional whallop.

    -If a finalized draft is ready by the time Wolfgang Petersen is wrapping up Troy/Trojan War, then hopefully that`s when things will start going ahead full force.


    Apparently OSC also wants Dakota Fanning to play Petra. Not quite who I picture but...I'd say she's at least a decent actor.

  • Worst part of watching the movie will be that there's no one they can cast for most of the roles, that I'll like; I've got my own mental image for them all. :)

    And... if I'd bothered to read the intro to ES, I would know that it doesn't spoil anything... :p

    Finally, CotM takes place 3,000 years after EG, IIRC.
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    Yes, but it's still quite connected. Have you forgotten Mazer Rackham, or relativity? :)
  • Rogue TraderRogue Trader Somebody stop him...
    i cant forget what i dont know :D
  • [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Biggles [/i]
    [B]Yes, but it's still quite connected. Have you forgotten Mazer Rackham, or relativity? :) [/B][/QUOTE]

    Yeah, I know it's related... it obviously is about Ender :p

    I was just correcting someone who said 1000.
  • SquidgySquidgy Earthforce Officer
    Well, good to hear that the movie is still plodding along, even if I suspect it's not going to be all that good. I mean, he wanted that annoying Star Wars kid to be Ender! :eek: Also, the script that Card posted a long time ago was pretty weak, although I'm having difficulty finding a copy of it online anymore.

    I actually really, really hated Ender's Shadow. In a lot of ways, it undermined many of the good things about the first book, and directly contradicted it at other times.

    Um, spoilers below.

    ------------
    In the original, Bean was brilliant, yes, but he was never as brilliant as Ender. He never had the time to get to that level, as the dude was just too young. Ender, whose success depended on knowing exactly what his squad members could do, pegged Bean as an artist, capable of deadly close range work with a handful of ships, but incapable of keeping track of the rest of the fleet. I can dig out the exact quote if you want - I have a dog-eared copy of EG on my dorm shelf. :)
    I disliked that in [I]Shadow[/I] he was suddenly even more intelligent than Ender, who was already ridiculously smart - Geneering aside, it just got really nuts after a while, and annoying. It was almost like a certain bad anime which shall remain nameless. ("It's time you witnessed my true power!" "No! My true power is even more true and powerful!" "No way, mine is ..." )

    I mean, I [i]liked[/i] the character of Bean in the first book, but in the second one, he just got tiresome. Fast.
  • [Spoilers for ES, I guess]

    Au contraire, I almost liked Bean better than Ender at points; aside from the fact that I'm 100% natural-born Human, I found I had a lot more in common with him. :)
  • SquidgySquidgy Earthforce Officer
    Heh, fair enough. As some famous guy said, there's no accounting for taste. (just joking) :D

    Shadow's sequel, Shadow of the Hegemon, almost made up for it, though. There was some pretty damn good stuff in that one. Global war is always interesting, even if some of the tactics might have been a little unlikely to succeed in the real world. I think the saga should have ended with Hegemon, though, as Shadow Puppets felt like more of a very, very lengthy afterthought.

    Also, I can never forgive Card for killing [COLOR=#464774]Hot Soup[/COLOR]. :D
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Squidgy [/i]
    [B]It was almost like a certain bad anime which shall remain nameless. ("It's time you witnessed my true power!" "No! My true power is even more true and powerful!" "No way, mine is ..." )[/B][/QUOTE]

    DBZ? :)
  • SquidgySquidgy Earthforce Officer
    Heh, yeah. I was quoting Atomictoy's extremely offensive [url=http://atomictoy.org/comics/buttlordgt/]Buttlord GT[/url] (a parody thereof), but yeah.
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    "They could fight any week now..."
    :D
  • JackNJackN <font color=#99FF99>Lightwave Alien</font>
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Squidgy [/i]
    [B]Um, spoilers below.

    ------------
    In the original, Bean was brilliant, yes, but he was never as brilliant as Ender. He never had the time to get to that level, as the dude was just too young. Ender, whose success depended on knowing exactly what his squad members could do, pegged Bean as an artist, capable of deadly close range work with a handful of ships, but incapable of keeping track of the rest of the fleet. I can dig out the exact quote if you want - I have a dog-eared copy of EG on my dorm shelf. :)
    I disliked that in [I]Shadow[/I] he was suddenly even more intelligent than Ender, who was already ridiculously smart ...[/B][/QUOTE]

    It's been a while since I read it, ES that is... but if I remember correctly it was Bean himself who thought he was smarter than Ender throughout the book. A lot of it was from Bean's own internal outlook on things...

    The other thing being that some very young kids are incredibly smart damn near out of the womb in real life... ;)
  • SquidgySquidgy Earthforce Officer
    Well, Graff thought Bean was smarter than Ender too, at least according to Ender's Shadow. You're right that a lot of it is probably subjective info from Bean's POV, but Graff did set up a switch to allow Bean to take command of the final battle because they thought Ender wasn't smart or strong enough to handle it. And of course, everyone's favorite deus ex machina helped poor plodding Ender see the final solution with his reminder of "The enemy's gate is down."

    It just seemed pretty patronizing, or at least in my reading of it, which was also a while ago, I admit. :)
  • BekennBekenn Sinclair's Duck
    Ack... this thread just [i]had[/i] to come while I was on a three-day ski trip....

    ...and now I'm left with not much to say, most of it having been said above. All I can really add is that there is one more [i]Shadow[/i] book coming, which will complete that series. OSC hasn't been very clear on whether or not he'll go back yet again and do more spinoffs focusing on other battle school kids -- his latest musings seem to indicate that he won't -- but he [i]has[/i] expressed definite interest in doing a Mazer book or two, which could be interesting.

    I actually think the movie has the potential to be really good. Unfortunately, so much depends on the casting that it's really difficult to predict at this point. You have to find kids -- real kids -- who are capable of acting well and exuding intelligence at every turn. What you really need are prodigies who are almost as gifted as the characters they're portraying! That's the biggest hurdle to overcome. If they can get appropriate actors, then I think the movie will be great.

    I talked with OSC a while back when he was in Pasadena signing copies of [i]Crystal City[/i], which is the sixth book in the not-nearly-as-interesting Alvin Maker saga. Great guy; I have to say he's one of my two favorite writers. The other one should be obvious.
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