Ender or Shadow?
Ender or Shadow?
I've read the books in the Enderverse a fair amount. When I first read them, like in 6th or 7th grade, I liked the Shadow series a whole lot more, but when I read it again, my interest moved away from the Shadow Series to the Ender Series. Has anyone else noticed this phenomena?
I ask the question, which is better based solely on merits.
Shadow is fast-paced and has a lot less thinking involved to understand it. It is about a world with the Battle School grads finally going home and the world going to hell because of it.
Ender is more about Ender dealing with less superficial issues as battles on the battlefield There is more of a philosophical aspect to it and it just seems "smarter".
Now obviously, I am biased and throwing my hat in with Ender but what do you think? Do you like the fast-paced action of Shadow more than Ender or is my interpretation of the two story lines incredibly off?
I ask the question, which is better based solely on merits.
Shadow is fast-paced and has a lot less thinking involved to understand it. It is about a world with the Battle School grads finally going home and the world going to hell because of it.
Ender is more about Ender dealing with less superficial issues as battles on the battlefield There is more of a philosophical aspect to it and it just seems "smarter".
Now obviously, I am biased and throwing my hat in with Ender but what do you think? Do you like the fast-paced action of Shadow more than Ender or is my interpretation of the two story lines incredibly off?
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- elfprince13
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The Shadow Quartet has some pretty awesome geopolitical fun going for it, but I still much prefer the more philosophical nature of the Ender Quartet.
"But the conversation of the mind was truer than any language, and they knew each other better than they ever could have by use of mere sight and touch."
The Ender Quartet is my favorite franchise period. Any medium, any creator, anything. It is simply awe in print. I can only name a handful of things (two books, a movie... that's all off the top of my head) that even compare, and none of them come in series.
I suppose that won't be true anymore once I have kids, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
I suppose that won't be true anymore once I have kids, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
- elfprince13
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Come, lets not be silly here. You've clearly never read The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Children of Hurin (which is really also in the Silmarillion), and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.The Ender Quartet is my favorite franchise period. Any medium, any creator, anything. It is simply awe in print. I can only name a handful of things (two books, a movie... that's all off the top of my head) that even compare, and none of them come in series.
"But the conversation of the mind was truer than any language, and they knew each other better than they ever could have by use of mere sight and touch."
Yes I have. Okay, not the Adventures of Tom Bombadil, but I seriously doubt that would change my mind.Come, lets not be silly here. You've clearly never read The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Children of Hurin (which is really also in the Silmarillion), and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.The Ender Quartet is my favorite franchise period. Any medium, any creator, anything. It is simply awe in print. I can only name a handful of things (two books, a movie... that's all off the top of my head) that even compare, and none of them come in series.
The Hobbit + Lord of the Rings is pretty dang good, I admit. It's a lot like the Ender Quartet in that I like the first one (EG, Hobbit) best by action, but not by brilliance of writing. They are my two most-read books. I didn't care for the Silmarillion, but I might be biased; I'm lousy with names (remembering them), and it's lousy with names (overloaded with them). I had the same problem reading The Phantom of the Opera, so Phantom is a rare case where I like the movie better.
Asimov's Foundation Series, Larry Niven generally, The Giver (did you know it has sequels? They're not that great, though.), the series that started with A Wrinkle in Time, the entire Hitchhikers Guide franchise except the Hollywood movie, and C.S. Lewis' Narnia series were all very good, too. I find them to be about equal with the Shadow series. Bram Stoker's Dracula, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, The Count of Monte Cristo, and To Kill a Mockingbird belong in that list except that they have no sequels. But I find the Ender Quartet to be head and shoulders above everything in that list.
What I've read of OSC's other writings doesn't compare either. That would include what I consider the cream of his crop; Pastwatch, Enchantment, and the Alvin Maker series. They belong in that second tier, along with the movies The Dark Knight, Hildalgo, Freedom Writers, Luther, and The Forgotten, and the TV shows Gilmore Girls, M*A*S*H, Perry Mason (the old black-and-white one, not the crappy 1990s one), and House.
Atlas Shrugged compares (best. dystopia. ever). Sacajewea by Anna Lee Waldo compares (at least so far). The movie The Fountain compares. Those are what I was thinking of in the previous post; I spent some time and thought of a few more. Team of Rivals compares (I cried at the end, and it's non-fiction!). Dune compares, though I haven't read it's sequels and the movie does not. Asimov's "The Last Question" compares.
From all that you should be able to determine something about my style and taste. Via that taste, the Ender Quartet is the best fiction franchise I yet know.
I Agree
I've moved away from the writing style of the Shadow series, although I still like the story better (the multi-thousand year leap is too much for this guy to handle). Also, the somewhat abstract themes of the latter two of the Ender Quartet don't appeal to me either. So I suppose that it would not be entirely inaccurate to say that I'm at a point in my life where I don't like any of the Ender/Shadow books all that much. I would imagine that that's blasphemy, and the Spanish Catholic church would like to see me on charges of heresy. Oh well.
As an aside, I really don't like to read from Bean's point of view post-Eros. His thought process (hell, Bean in general) is very cynical, and his conversations, in an attempt to sound educated and philosophical, come across as very long-winded and stilted. A sign of maturity, I guess, is the recognition of the stilted nature of said conversations, which led to my moving away from that series. Unfortunately, I've noticed the same kind of wooden dialog in many recent OSC works.
As an aside, I really don't like to read from Bean's point of view post-Eros. His thought process (hell, Bean in general) is very cynical, and his conversations, in an attempt to sound educated and philosophical, come across as very long-winded and stilted. A sign of maturity, I guess, is the recognition of the stilted nature of said conversations, which led to my moving away from that series. Unfortunately, I've noticed the same kind of wooden dialog in many recent OSC works.
voted ender
because the quartet is a universe which was amazing
the shadow series was more of just a story.
each ender book recreated the universe and world that the characters lived in. It was really cool reading and imagining it.
especially speaker
the shadow series was more of just a story.
each ender book recreated the universe and world that the characters lived in. It was really cool reading and imagining it.
especially speaker
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- Launchie
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ender or shadow
i think that the ender series is better overall. However, i think that Xenocide was not as good as any of the shadow series. Also, the entire shadow series (except for Ender's Shadow) was pretty much the same plot the whole time. Kill Achilles and rescue Petra. The only variety was when saving Petra was replaced by saving the embryos. In the Ender series new characters were introduced into every book, and there was a different plot in every book. These plots being; discovering the secrets of the piggies in speaker, faster than light travel and working with the descolada in xenocide, and stopping the fleet of xenocide and saving Jane in children of the Mind
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- Launchie
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EiE
EIE is in the Ender series.
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Upon first reading Enderverse as a whole, the shadow series has more of an appeal, i think, to a younger generation because these books are fast moving and action packed. although Bean's strategies and Peter's plans for world conquest take some thought, the Ender series is more intellectual when it comes to the realms of science, extraterrestrial life, and reality. Other than the many technologies and the fact that it takes place in the future, i believe that the Shadow series barely qualifies as a science fiction. The wars that take place in those books could very well happen very similarly to how they do in the book, and there isn't much science backing up the story (other than, of course, Bean's genetic disfunction and giantism). The Shadow series could survive, and still make a great story, without science. On the other hand, the Ender series is a bona-fide science fiction. The science in these books entirely backs up the story, and the story would mean nothing if it werent for the science behind it. For example, the discovery of the gland that explained the Piggies connection with the trees, and the descolada that explained the symbiosis between all the native life forms on Lusitania. Without these scientific discoveries made by the xenobiologists, the plot lines in the Ender series would literally not exist.
On the whole, both series are very good and extremely well written. It is a choice of preference. Whether by age. (if you are older i suggest the Ender series; younger-the Shadow series) Or by genre. (a true sci fi geek would enjoy the scientific principles of the Ender series)
On the whole, both series are very good and extremely well written. It is a choice of preference. Whether by age. (if you are older i suggest the Ender series; younger-the Shadow series) Or by genre. (a true sci fi geek would enjoy the scientific principles of the Ender series)
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- neo-dragon
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It's sort of a bridge between the two by the end, but seeing as how Ender is the protagonist I'd say it's the Ender series.Almost finished with EiE which series do we say this belongs to?
"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic."
- Frank Herbert's 'Dune'
- Frank Herbert's 'Dune'
As of now, my vote is the Ender series as far and away much better, but when I first read the Shadow Series, I quite liked it. However, re-reading it half a decade later....not so much.
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- neo-dragon
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- Launchie
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In the Ender Quartet, OSC bridged the gap from sci-fi and turned it into a fantasy, as the stuff were so ridiculous. I enjoyed reading the Ender Quartet, sure, but I don't want to reread it. Speaker for the Dead was okay, but near the end, after the truth with the piggies is revealed and how they turn into trees...
The Shadow Series, however, was more interesting and believable.
The Shadow Series, however, was more interesting and believable.
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In the Ender Quartet, OSC bridged the gap from sci-fi and turned it into a fantasy, as the stuff were so ridiculous. I enjoyed reading the Ender Quartet, sure, but I don't want to reread it. Speaker for the Dead was okay, but near the end, after the truth with the piggies is revealed and how they turn into trees...
The Shadow Series, however, was more interesting and believable.
Awww man. I was just about to post in one of the other threads about how cool you seemed and how excited I was that the board had you as a new member.
Fail. But welcome, anyhow. :)
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