Ender's Shadow is pretty good- so far- I have read the first 400 pages on my LONG plane flight back to hawaii. However, despite the author's claims, the book does NOT stand on it's own... You HAVE to have read 'Ender's Game' first to appreciate 'Ender's Shadow'...

I found it interesting that Card thought 'Ender's Shadow' could stand on its own (As he claimed in the introduction)... It really can't- you really NEED the context of 'Ender's Game' to understand the book. I fell in love with 'Ender's game' when I was a kid- There are only a few (As in 3-4) books I have read more than once- "Ender's game" is one of them... Hogan's Giants trilogy is my all time favorite (The fourth book in the series is NOT worth reading)-that is a story worth re-reading.

Personally, I think Card is a lunatic jerk with serious personal issues- but he seems able to still turn out books worth reading...