Enders Game / Enders Shadow (5.5)

I don't have reactions to a lot of the books that I read. I read them, I enjoy them, and then I put them down. I first read Ender's Game in it's original form - a short story. I was in the library at BYU and studying before I headed home for the night. I had to read it for a class, but I found myself so wrapped up in it that the time passed quickly and before I knew it, they were closing the library for the night. I finished the story just before last call, and was so surprised that I went back 10 pages and read the ending again. I walked out to the car with my head spinning. I was absolutely blown away. I remember looking at the sidewalk wet from the rain, so many thought racing. It only took me a few days to pick up the full-length novel from the bookstore and read it through. Different from the short story, but still amazing. I sampled some of the other books in the series, but didn't really have the same reaction to any of them until I read Ender's Shadow.

Ender's Shadow - This is the first book that I have ever heard referred to as a "parallel novel." Same story as Ender's Game, but told from the perspective of a different character. I thought since I already knew what happened, it really couldn't be that different from the first one. Wrong. When I got to the climax of the book, I actually found myself crying. It put such a different spin on things, that it made it totally worth reading. Highly recommend both. Even if you aren't really the sci-fi type.