Shadow of the Hegemon

Upon reading the title of this entry, the astute reader may say something caustic along the lines of "Katie Roe, Shadow of the Hegemon is the second book in a series that is itself a 'sequel series' of sorts to the 'Ender's Game' series. Because I worship you and only ever read books you write about, it is irrational for you to expect me to have read the previous books necessary to make any sense of this book. Please remedy the situation immediately".

Well, my dear hypothetical and irritating reader, I have one thing to say to you: go away. If you post on my boards, I will dance a momentary dance of joy because I have a reader, and will promptly proceed to delete your comments. I will perform voodoo on your screenname. I will tear my hair and cast hexes upon you and your logic. Logic has no place here.

With that brief annoyance out of the way, let me proceed to an analyisis of the book.

I have to say, I was disappointed. I wasn't expecting great literature a la Anna Karenina out of Orson Scott Card, but I was hoping for an exciting read with several characters I could relate to and cared about.

Unfortunately, Card has not lived up to the expectations I formed after reading "Ender's Game". The plot wasn't particularly original, as much of it had been alluded to in the Ender quartet, and the "recycled" characters from the Ender series often didn't act consistently considering their personalities and histories set up in "Ender's Game" and so on. The characters qualities and flaws are outlined in the convenient table below:

Characters I Like:
Achilles -- Kind of an interesting villain. He's intelligent, which I like, and predictably psychotic, which I like even better. Best of all, he doesn't appear in the Ender series, so Card can't mess up an established character.

Sister Carlotta -- Who knew nuns could be so cool?

Petra -- Petra is the one character from the Ender series about whom I actually enjoy reading in this book. She was a very minor character in "Ender's Game" and never appeared afterwards, so Card had more liberties with her than he did with larger Ender characters, like Peter and Bean. The traits she exhibited in "Ender's Game" seem to have carried over to "Shadow of the Hegemon", making the second series actually enhance her character, instead of destroying a character Card actually developed in the first series.

Characters I don't Like:
Bean -- Unfortunately, Bean is kind of a big one not to like. I like that Bean is intelligent, occasionally funny, and genetically flawed (I'm a sucker for the genetically manipulated underdog), but I don't like that he's starting to show emotions all of a sudden, basically without emotion. Frankly, I liked Bean better as a robot.

Peter -- Probably the worst character in the whole series. I loved Peter in "Ender's Game". He was so brilliantly amoral and cruel. However, because Bean allies himself with Peter in "Shadow", Peter obviously has to show a few redeeming qualities. These redeeming qualities
ruin the character and make him seem more like a pathetic adolescent than the staggeringly logical sadistic genius who made "Ender's Game" so interesting.

Ender's Parents -- Same sort of idea. They show different traits in "Ender's Game" than here. The original version may not be better, but it still destroys the continuity if they're too different.

In short -- this book is great if you're a science fiction and/or Orson Scott Card fan and are looking for an easy and mildly amusing distraction while you look for some real quality books to read. Otherwise, don't bother.

Rating: 2/8

Tea: You need something to provide the excitement that the book fails to provide. I suggest something like "Lemon Zinger" (Celestial Seasonings) or possibly mint. Mexican hot chocolate is also a good idea if you're not in a tea mood. (Actually, Mexican hot chocolate is always a good idea. Drink some. Now.)