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
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Add a CommentThis title is a big shift from both the previous volume. Instead alien combat we have a straight-up political thriller with Bean at its heart. Despite some issues with stilted dialog, I liked this book because I like the characters.
In Card's last book, Ender's Shadow, Bean was born into such abject poverty and then subsequently rose up out of it against all odds to be one of Ender's most trusted companions that you forgave all of his brainy standoffishness. In Shadow of the Hegemon, our sympathies for Bean's have waned so now he just comes across as a condescending know-it-all. I didn't hate Bean. No, nothing that harsh. But he was so adept at seeing all the hidden sides of problems that the story too often annoyed me. Same with the other too-smart-for-their own-good Battle School graduates. It was like playing Trivial Pursuit and your partner reasons out all the answers before you even get the chance to struggle for the solution just a little bit. I'll admit there was the slightest enjoyment at watching Bean's mind work, but having him be right 99.99% of the time, and about EVERYTHING, feels like amateurish storytelling. Overall, the story was still fun despite Bean being a smart-ass and who doesn't miss the thrills of the zero-g battle room. Shadow of the Hegemon is classic Orson Scott Card at its core. I can picture him writing this novel like he was playing in a sandbox—imaginative play of military strategy, politics and the consequences of nations going to war with one another.
Orson Scott Card’s Shadow of Hegemon (2000) - Ender Shadow Series Book 2 - continues Bean’s story. Excellent book! Doctor-at-Bass! Taylor A.
Amazing book! I wish Bean had killed Achilles.
Brilliant allegory for some of our modern political posing with the unlikely resolution of world aggression by a troop of children. This series is a study in the psychology of nations and their leaders. Card is an outstanding sci-fi writer and I highly recommend both the Ender and the Bean series to his fans.
I really liked this book. I like Bean's P.O.V. a bit more than Ender's (though I like his too) because Bean seems a bit more down-to-earth in my opinion (not meant as a pun). I like trying to guess the next move of all the characters and I love understanding the allusions in this book.
In my opinion, the Bean side of the series is much better than the Ender side. I've only gotten as far as Children of the Mind, but the Ender stuff just got so weird so fast. This book, and the rest of the Bean series are really good. It follows the rest of the Battle School grads and is well-paced. I especially like the email snippets at the head of each chapter to give you a context of what's happening. It gives you a lot more without taking up more pages.
Bean series, book 2, good