Name: Shadow of the Hegemon
Rating: 3.595238095238095 (63 reviews)
ISBN: 9781574534108

Orson Scott Card

Scott Brick

David Birney

Shadow of the Hegemon

Orson Scott Card finally explores what happened on earth after the war with the Buggers in the sixth book of his Ender series, Shadow of the Hegemon. This novel is the continuation of the story of Bean, which began with Ender's Shadow, a parallel novel to Card's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Ender's Game. While Ender heads off to a faraway planet, Bean and the other brilliant children who helped Ender save the earth from alien invaders have become war heroes and have finally been sent home to live with their parents. While the children try to fit back in with the family and friends they haven't known for nearly a decade, someone's worried about their safety. Peter Wiggins, Ender's brother, has foreseen that the talented children are in danger of being killed or kidnapped. His fears are quickly realized, and only Bean manages to escape. Bean knows he must save the others and protect humanity from a new evil that has arisen, an evil from his past. But just as he played second to Ender during the Bugger war, Bean must again step into the shadow of another, the one who will be Hegemon.In Shadow of the Hegemon, Card can't help but fall back into old patterns. But while the theme is the same as in previous books--brilliant, tragic children with the fate of the human race resting on their shoulders--Shadow of the Hegemon does a wonderful job of continuing Bean's tale against a backdrop of the politics and intrigue of a fragile earth. While the novel is accessible, new readers to the series would be wise to begin with Ender's Game or Ender's Shadow. --Kathie Huddleston

Mostly just scenes of people explaining things to each other 

Andrew Ireland

Luca Masters

Hegemon leaves the confines of Battle School to enter a world of international politics, and as much as I love international politics, I was glad Card didn't abandon the characters and character-level plot. Bean grows, Petra grows, Peter grows (though he's relatively ancillary--he's neither protagonist nor antagonist), Achilles...doesn't really grow. In Ender's Shadow, for a few paragraphs, we actually saw into Achilles' mind. In this book, we see him act and others' evaluations of his behavior, but they add nothing new to his personality--in fact they fail to draw on the peak we got in the previous book.

Over all, this book is similar in style to the previous two and added an aspect I very much enjoy (high-level politics, not just individuals bickering and seeking power), but I didn't enjoy it quite as much. Achilles did not interest me, and the genius of Bean, Peter, etc. occasionally felt unbelievable to me when applied to human behavior rather than strategy. There's a point where Bean insists Achilles would have at least three back-ups--why at least three? I don't care how smart Achilles is or how well Bean knows him. Humans make decisions far too arbitrarily and options are far too varied to be predicted with that degree of specificity. Attempts to display the intelligence of the characters ranged from really good to kind of terrible.

Though not as good as Ender's Game or Ender's Shadow, this is definitely worth reading if you loved the previous two in this thread.

Todd Luallen

A very well written book in the series, but not nearly as exciting as Ender's Game or Ender's Shadow. This book, by Card's own admission, is setting up "the big game" of world domination played by the countries of the world. In the audiobook he has a short postscript at the end of the novel in which he talks about his love for the game "Risk" in his youth, and his sleepless nights of thinking of various countries expanding their borders through conquest and war. His description helps the reader understand why he wrote the book the way he did, but it doesn't make it more exciting. I definitely prefer hearing the personal stories about Bean, Petra, and the other Battle School grads. 

Card does weave the stories of the kids from Battle School into "the big game" but I still was left wanting a bit more. I wanted more mini-conflicts between the Bean and his nemesis. In the end I felt a little let down. Having said that I will say that the book is a page turner and I enjoyed the story, it just wasn't on the same level as the previous two books in the series...not by a long shot.

'The characterizations are first class, and the fast-paced action features one hair-raising episode after another....Shadow of the Hegemon is so nicely integrated into the rest of the Ender canon that readers will be completely enthralled.' - Booklist 'Shadow of the Hegemon is an ideal book with which to start your science fiction year.' - Rocky Mountain News Orson Scott Card's award-winning Ender series is a genuine classic of science fiction. With ENDER'S SHADOW, the first book in the Shadow Saga, he took the series into fascinating new territory. For Ender Wiggin was not the only young recruit to be trained at Battle School. Ender Wiggin and his fellow pupils at Battle School have defeated the alien forces in an extraordinary military operation. Ender's destiny among the stars awaits him, but for his young army it is time to return to earth. One by one, however, they are disappearing. Earth faces a new danger, only this time the enemy is much closer to home. The second book in the new Ender series by bestselling author Orson Scott Card. Books by Orson Scott Card: Alvin Maker novels Seventh Son Red Prophet Prentice Alvin Alvin Journeyman Heartfire The Crystal City Ender Wiggin Saga Ender's Game Speaker for the Dead Xenocide Children of the Mind Ender in Exile Homecoming The Memory of the Earth The Call of the Earth The Ships of the Earth Earthfall Earthborn First Formic War (with Aaron Johnston) Earth Unaware Earth Afire Earth Awakens

Book 2 of The Shadow Saga

Shadow Of The Hegemon

Lucia 

Great way to continue with the Shadow Series, beautiful ending which invites the reader to continue with it. A little dense through the book but enough to be satisfied with it in the end. 

Ben Nathan

Very good. Enjoyed Greatly. Looking forward to more in this part of the series. It got a little "religion makes people great" preachy in the middle chapters, but otherwise was just good.

Kireth Sandhu

Shadow of the Hegemon was undoubtedly entertaining, but I felt there was something missing from the book when it stands alone. Key events for the overall story occur, such as Petra's kidnapping, Achilles' accension to power and the first interactions between Peter Wiggin and Bean. But everything seems to move so slowly, and is long foreshadowed/signalled/repeated thus reducing its impact. 

Alternatively, the new setting of futuristic Earth after multiple Ender books and this novel's predecessor set in space is refreshing, and credit to Card for the international conflicts which occur in a logical and well-researched manner. Hopefully the sequel propels the story forward.

Erik Horton

Shadow of the Hegemon (Ender's Shadow)

Ruby Long

Jem Sugnet

Sofia Kim

Sherry

Hannah DCamp

Cody Degen

Hobbes

Max L

Asher Black

The War is over, won by Ender Wiggin and his team of brilliant child-warriors. The enemy is destroyed, the human race is saved. Ender himself refuses to return to the planet, but his crew has gone home to their families, scattered across the globe. The battle school is no more. But with the external threat gone, the Earth has become a battlefield once more. The children of the Battle School are more than heroes; they are potential weapons that can bring power to the countries that control them. One by one, all of Ender's Dragon Army are kidnapped. Only Bean escapes; and he turns for help to Ender's brother Peter. Peter Wiggin, Ender's older brother, has already been manipulating the politics of Earth from behind the scenes. With Bean's help, he will eventually rule the world. Shadow of the Hegemon is the second novel in Orson Scott Card's Shadow Series. THE ENDER UNIVERSE Ender series Ender’s Game / Ender in Exile / Speaker for the Dead / Xenocide / Children of the Mind Ender’s Shadow series Ender’s Shadow / Shadow of the Hegemon / Shadow Puppets / Shadow of the Giant / Shadows in Flight Children of the Fleet The First Formic War (with Aaron Johnston) Earth Unaware / Earth Afire / Earth Awakens The Second Formic War (with Aaron Johnston) The Swarm /The Hive Ender novellas A War of Gifts /First Meetings At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Rabid Geek

Scott Robertson

Tobias Løfgren

Kira

Bean and other members of Ender's Dragon Army return to Earth after their victory in the Formic War. All but Bean are soon mysteriously kidnapped; Bean turns to Ender's brother Peter for help.

Shadow of the Hegemon

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