ender’s shadow by orson scott card did not disappoint me at all, much to my relief. it’s a parallel novel to the original ender’s game, telling it from the point of view of bean, a minor character from the first novel, and filling in his back-story.

i’m really in awe of how card has managed to build out the framework of ideas in his earlier books, and make the world of these novels more complex but still cohesive with each additional one. this is a stark contrast with star wars, for example, where george lucas has largely failed to create a cohesive larger work. (yes, i’ll never forgive him for greedo shooting first and midi-chlorians.)