Read in 2002

I did enjoy Shadow of the Hegemon more than Ender's Shadow. I intentionally read Ender's Shadow right after re-reading Ender's Game, to help refresh my memory, thinking that it was mostly a retelling of the same events from a different point of view. Ender's Shadow turned out to be much more than that but I think maybe it paled slightly in comparison to Ender's Game and it felt a little too much like Card was trying to shoehorn together the overlapping incidences that both novels had in common. It was an imaginative idea and he almost pulled it off. If I would have read Ender's Shadow with more of a gap between the two books but still retaining a fairly good rememberance of the original I think would have received Ender's Shadow much better.

That being said since Shadow of the Hegemon isn't trying to match up two different plots (as in the first book) it seems much more free and loose. The plotting was sort of cool and you really didn't know what was going to happen next. I just had a more enjoyable time reading it overall. Shadow of the Hegemon is actually the 2nd novel in a new tetralogy and is the first half on an overall story which will be completed in the 3rd book similar to the way in which Xenocide and Children of the Mind from the first tetralogy are related (although I have read Xenocide and haven't read Children of the Mind that's what Card said). You might want to hold off reading Shadow of the Hegemon until the 3rd book is published. Knowing that now I wish would have waited because right now I'm kind of left hanging in this extended season-ending- cliffhanger mode.

Yes! I just can't imagine what it was like for Alfred Bester to be sitting in a room somewhere writing that book when the 50s as I perceive them (through the looking glass of hearsay) was going on.

I think I might have read it before a long time ago because some of the plot points seemed familar to me but I had to mark it as new because I couldn't remember for sure. I know for sure I've read The Stars My Destination though and that was a good as well.

He really wasn't that prolific of a writer compared to some from that time period.

Pretty good actually. Sort of a mind-bender trying to visualize all of the 4th dimensional comings and goings. I don't think I've ever spent so much time reading a paragraph, stopping and trying to visualize what the author was describing, and then going back and re-reading the paragraph again so much in my mature reading life.

None, so far, that I can think of. Although, in all honesty, my predilection towards ratings things in an unemotional or unbiased manner (i.e. non-favorites) as I do with the movies probably doesn't occur as much in my book ratings. The reason I don't have any 9s or 10s with books is because I'm leaving room at the top for stuff I might come across in the future.

Also, the fact that I don't read any (or hardly any) classics or mainstream literature might affect this, too. Not that I would necessarily think they were that great compared to what I normally read. My reading tastes are definitely more lax than my movie going tastes. That probably stems from the fact that there are so many more books put out each year than movies. I'd tend to think I have a legitmate chance of seeing most good movies but as far as reading most good books that would take up way too much time.

Thanks, K. It's not a great book by any means but it's interesting to see what happens to the characters. It was a pretty quick read (for me) as I usually average a book every two weeks and this only took me one.

I'm still curious as to why Card decided to add to the series in this way. Ender's Shadow was interesting enough but the last two books haven't really done much for me.

Jim, it was an incredibly fun read, basically recounting Bruce's life from childhood until a couple of years ago, I'm guessing, when the book was passed to the publisher.

The stories in the book are hilarious and it's cool to read about this group of friends who have all made their way in the film industry and, as an added bonus for me, who all grew up around the same time I did and only a couple of hours away from where I grew up.

Some of the stories Bruce tells about Sam Raimi are just so funny. I think out of all those guys Sam is the serious troublemaker.

Supposedly he's going to be writing another book but I can't imagine what it would be about. Unless it's an op-ed sort of book as he does tend to post little essays on his web site.

If you wonder how regular joes work their butts off and manage to make it, somewhat, in the movie industry, and still retain their humanity than this is a good book to read.