I have just completed Ender's Shadow, and yes it lived up to my rather lofty expectations.
One of the more compelling parts about this book is how much more Card developed the characters. Ender always had a personality, but everyone else seemed more like robots. Really smart robots.
But in Ender's Shadow, Card does a good job of making them all different people, even though Bean might as well be a robot. You feel for Ender as he begins to go crazy, and you can't stand Achilles any more than Bean can.
This novel, and it's parallel, are truly special books, and I would recommend them to anyone and everyone who enjoys any semblance of action or science fiction.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
April Blog #4: Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card, published 1999
I am now a good halfway through the book.
Bean, has made his way to Battle School, and is flying up through the ranks as one of the more intelligent people in the School.
In fact, he is THE most intelligent person in the school, thanks to a genetic alteration, that supplies a weird twist on the story. It's also hard not to sympathize with Bean, because he doesn't really have any friends and is a constant outcast.
Luckily, Bean has gotten away from Achilles, who is one of the more creepy villains I can remember. A serial killer child? Stay away from me!
Bean, has made his way to Battle School, and is flying up through the ranks as one of the more intelligent people in the School.
In fact, he is THE most intelligent person in the school, thanks to a genetic alteration, that supplies a weird twist on the story. It's also hard not to sympathize with Bean, because he doesn't really have any friends and is a constant outcast.
Luckily, Bean has gotten away from Achilles, who is one of the more creepy villains I can remember. A serial killer child? Stay away from me!
April Blog #3: Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card, published 1999
Whereas Ender's Game took Ender to Battle School as quickly as possible, Ender's Shadow focuses a lot more on developing Bean's early life, to great effect. It could just be that I'm a sucker for the Ender books, but they truly are awesome.
As of now Bean is living on the streets, doing his best to survive. It quickly becomes apparent that Bean is much, much smarter than your average street urchin. In fact, he has taught himself to read, at the age of four. Yea.
I look forward to reading into Bean's perspective on the Battle Schools isolation of Ender, and how Bean ends up being one of Ender's greatest allies.
As of now Bean is living on the streets, doing his best to survive. It quickly becomes apparent that Bean is much, much smarter than your average street urchin. In fact, he has taught himself to read, at the age of four. Yea.
I look forward to reading into Bean's perspective on the Battle Schools isolation of Ender, and how Bean ends up being one of Ender's greatest allies.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
April Blog #2: Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card, published 1999
Ender's game is a tough act to follow. It is quite simply one of the best books I have ever read, so it's sequels (Speaker For the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind) were all rather disappointing. So it is with some skepticism that I picked up Ender's Shadow, a 'parallel novel' to Ender's game.
Part of me screams 'Sellout!', but I also am interested to learn more about Bean, the protagonist of the book. Ender's Game was all about Ender, but there were some cool characters. I'd like to learn more about a few of them, particularly Dink, he was really cool.
So let's pick this thing up and read it!
Part of me screams 'Sellout!', but I also am interested to learn more about Bean, the protagonist of the book. Ender's Game was all about Ender, but there were some cool characters. I'd like to learn more about a few of them, particularly Dink, he was really cool.
So let's pick this thing up and read it!
Monday, April 27, 2009
April Blog #1: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (an autobiography), originally published 1997, newest version (w/ afterword) published 2005
Upon completing the book, it is apparent why this is a book that is read in class rooms and talked about world wide. And that is not necessarily a good thing.
The book is filled to the brim with straight up, semi sophisticated language, the kind of language that makes critics go bonkers (in a good way). Unfortunately, that sort of style does not always sit well with me and it made this book dry.
Another one of my issues with this book is the lack of flow, which is especially apparent in the first few chapters. Douglass kind of just randomly puts his thoughts down, which gives it a lack of soul reserved for your average documentary. One chapter he's talking about slave songs, the next one is about random slaves getting treated poorly. It's less an autobiography and more a first hand account of slavery.
The book is filled to the brim with straight up, semi sophisticated language, the kind of language that makes critics go bonkers (in a good way). Unfortunately, that sort of style does not always sit well with me and it made this book dry.
Another one of my issues with this book is the lack of flow, which is especially apparent in the first few chapters. Douglass kind of just randomly puts his thoughts down, which gives it a lack of soul reserved for your average documentary. One chapter he's talking about slave songs, the next one is about random slaves getting treated poorly. It's less an autobiography and more a first hand account of slavery.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
March Blog #8: Brisingr, Christopher Paolini, published 2008
Thank everything the book is over.
Honestly, Brisingr is simply not good. At all. It is a boring, repetitive, predictable story. Take Star Wars, throw some Lord of the Rings on top, and you've basically got the books story. Some of the characters are interesting, but then again Paolini also has a habit of introducing random characters and dropping them immediately.
The conclusion to the book is one of the most disappointing aspects of it. It ends with a stereotypical humongous battle, but that's not even the worst of it. A certain character from the previous book is rushed in within the final 50 pages, then he is dropped, and introduced again for some of the final pages, only to die over the course of about a paragraph. Mixed with Paolini's incredibly over descriptive style, this doesn't make for an appealing story.
Honestly, Brisingr is simply not good. At all. It is a boring, repetitive, predictable story. Take Star Wars, throw some Lord of the Rings on top, and you've basically got the books story. Some of the characters are interesting, but then again Paolini also has a habit of introducing random characters and dropping them immediately.
The conclusion to the book is one of the most disappointing aspects of it. It ends with a stereotypical humongous battle, but that's not even the worst of it. A certain character from the previous book is rushed in within the final 50 pages, then he is dropped, and introduced again for some of the final pages, only to die over the course of about a paragraph. Mixed with Paolini's incredibly over descriptive style, this doesn't make for an appealing story.
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