A fun ending to my Ender bender.

This is the fourth of the Shadow books, and in it, Card picks up the question of what happens to a lot of young people who have never known anything but war, as Ender's Jeesh and other key Battle School graduates take their places among the heads of state. It's thoughtfully done, if not carried to great personal depths in every case; so much happens in this story that a lot of the political maneuvers simply have to be summed up, and some of the important character development happens in just one or two scenes. Card has quite the knack for doing great things with lone scenes, however.

Of those great lone scenes, I was surprised at which characters' big moments affected me the most. This was Bean's book, and Petra's, and yet I have loved Bean and Petra for five books. I did not expect to love Peter. That astonishing little delight provided for a hefty share of the sweetness in the bittersweet ending, and in some ways, this was his book as well. The narrative hops perspective a lot, giving the reader sight into the various Battle Schoolers' struggles to shape the world and their own lives; it focuses on Bean and Petra, but Peter's genius and his motivations, his hard work and his healing are the central tale.

As for the Battle Schoolers' struggles, Card structures the military movements with outstanding logic, best as I can tell; he appears to have done his research thoroughly on the various countries involved, and everything from motive for action to the playing out of battle upon available terrain seemed thought-through and believable to me. Someone more knowledgeable of strategy than myself may catch mistakes, but the only thing I saw that resembled a flaw was in how briefly big events had to be summarized—probably a consequence both of word count limits and the fact that not every active country had a Battle School graduate to follow around.

But that abbreviating of key events was well made up for by the thoughtfully optimistic perspective on life and humanity that carries Card's work. If Shadow Puppets came off slightly moralistic, Shadow of the Giant reverted to true Orson Scott Card empathy and brilliance. The comprehension of human nature and culture, the compassionate philosophy, and the powerful, ever-hopeful drive toward light and redemption are overwhelmingly beautiful even amid grief.

And there is grief in this book. This is a tale of hope and happiness and suffering together, and it was both the sorrow and the beauty of it—and the truth of it, for that matter—that had me in tears for the last thirty pages this morning. Card shows redemption working in the most unexpected characters, of which Peter is only the most central, and his latter scenes allow for the existence and goodness of a God who has, as in Psalm 18, 'made darkness his hiding place.' It was those things, even more than the sorrow, that put my eyeliner to the test. (Both eyeliner and mascara survived the meltdown. I'm impressed.)

Card sold me on the ending, but I can imagine some readers being a touch less satisfied. A handful of threads are left unresolved for sequels' sake, and the heartache and sweetness are pretty inextricable. I'll recommend the entire Shadow series wholeheartedly to anyone who has read much of the Ender saga and loved it.

For anyone who has not read the Ender saga: if I taught writing, Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead would be required reading for an understanding of how to write humanity; but even for those only looking for some good reading, I recommend those two books almost without reserve. They are some of the best modern fiction I've ever come across.

It seems that as Card writes these series and drags them into four and five books or more, they degrade in quality. I’m not sure what about this novel made it less interesting than the rest, but it certainly was. I liked it, but not nearly as much as some of the others. I know some people steer clear of this or Card’s work entirely based on disagreements they have with his portrayal of homosexuality, but I don’t think it makes sense to judge a book solely based on that. Often I will read things simply because I know I will disagree with them, and I learn from them still. Taking this book as is, without the added layer of personal belief of the author, it still isn’t as great as some of the others.

I am SO done with the series of sermons about biological determinism that these books have become. I will probably just keep going in the hope that’s I eventually like another as much as the first few. Peter is still good in this one, but only really in the last fifth of the book. And that’s the only good thing I can say. Card is of course great at writing political machinations, but that’s not enough for me to ignore everything like the heterosexism and pretty blatant Islamophobia.

Adam C. Zern offers his thoughts . . .

"When I completed Shadow Puppets I was as hesitant as I’ve ever been to continue reading the Shadow series, which is an extension of the Ender series. I felt the book was extremely weak in both story and character. It made me feel as if Orson Scott Card was wandering helplessly in the desert of his own imagination and never finding an oasis of meaningful creativity. Happily, Shadow of the Giant, the 4th book in the Shadow series, is a solid return to the character-driven, emotional core that made Card’s other Ender and Shadow books so good.

The best part of Shadow of the Giant is that one of the main conflicts and with it the main antagonist—Achilles—is gone. Bean’s personal war with Achilles was overwrought and its subsequent resolution was surprisingly weak. Now that it’s over it feels as if Card doesn’t have to slavishly return to the conflict as he repeatedly did in the last book. The meat of this book is the confrontations between a variety of characters and countries, which allows for more diverse and interesting scenarios. In other words, Shadow of the Giant is a whole lot more entertaining than Card’s last entry in the series.

Anyone familiar with any of the books in the Ender or Shadow series knows that they’re based on psychology as well as science fiction. Card sometimes meanders into too much psychoanalysis of his characters, which he accomplishes through stilted dialogue, but the characters remain fascinating. As I have said before, I am invested in these characters and will continue reading what Card has to offer in this universe even after the Ender and Shadow series are over.

By reading in their entirety the Ender and Shadow series in the Ender’s Game universe, I can honestly and confidently say that there are two books which are must-reads—Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow. The other books in the two sagas or worthwhile but only after deciding if the characters deserve your time."

http://thethousanderclub.blogspot.com/

n  n

4.0 stars. And so we arrive at the finale to the wonderful Shadow series on the heals of the tumultuous events of the previous three books, Ender's Shadow,Shadow of the Hegemon andShadow Puppets. For those that have not read the previous installments, there will be some spoilers below as the plot summary alludes to events that have occurred in the previous books. However, I will avoid spoilers for this book and will try and be as general as possible in the synopsis.

This book concludes shortly after the conclusion of Shadow Puppets with the fall out from the momentous events of that story being felt around the world. Peter Wiggin, Hegemon of Earth, is trying to strengthen his fledgling “Free People of Earth (FPE)” and turn his figurehead title into a reality. Like the previous two novels, the central plot plays out like an enormous version of the boardgame “Risk” with Peter’s FBE competing and maneuvering against China, India, a revived Russia and a newly organized Moslem Empire. Each of these powers is being ruled or controlled by a former member of Ender’s Battles School “jeesh” and it makes for some fascinating move/countermove scenarios.

In addition to the main story, a significant subplot is Bean trying to find a cure for his condition, known as Anton’s Key, which continues to make him smarter and larger to the point where his size will soon kill him. In addition, Bean is frantically searching for his missing “children,” the fertilized embryos previously stolen.

While I did not like this as much as the previous books in the series, I still thought it was very good. The geo-political landscape of the future Earth of this series is such a fascinating place full of subtle intrigue and shifting alliances that it makes a great backdrop for the stories. I think Card did terrific job setting up this credible alternative future.

Through all 8 novels in the Ender/Bean series, Card, in my opinion, has not written one below “very good” and this installment is no exception. The writing is excellent, the tactical/strategic plot elements are very well done and the dialogue between the "gifted" characters is terrific. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

One final comment I thought would share. I find it interesting that both the Ender series and the Shadow (or Bean) series have followed the EXACT same pattern as far as my level of enjoyment. I loved the first books (Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow). I loved the second books substantially MORE (Speaker for the Dead and Shadow of the Hegemon). I then loved the third books of both series more than the first but not as much as the second (Xenocide and Shadow Puppets). Finally, I really liked but didn’t love the fourth (Children of the Mind and this book). If nothing else, OSC is consistent.

Nominee: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Going to have to reiterate my wish that these four books had been combined, heavily pruned, and polished a little, I'm afraid... I concur with this review on most points... the endless geopolitical stuff got very tired early on in this book, and while it was good to see a little more on Alai and Virlomi (I really liked her story), the whole point of this set of things is Peter's rise, and the constant bogging-down of what could have been a really interesting, succinct examination of the powerplays in the ongoing Bean'n'Petra soapie story is just plain annoying at this point.

Haven't said this before but I'm going to have to, at this point: the enjoyment I *did* get out of the book is undermined considerably by the constant harping on about family and babies and marriage and babies and the point of life for women (and men, but mostly women) being babies... jfc. Can't fault the "active, intelligent and independent" female characters, but to have them all (pretty much) decide that family life was their one-true-calling and everything else is subsidiary, and that somehow Petra is the bad guy for following her intelligence rather than her womb until the Very Last Minute is just... ugh. And puhleeze - all that "Redeem the battle children with family life" stuff... pretty much everything in this quartet loses a star for that. But this book in particular. Alienating, distasteful, and an unpleasant surprise after the robust females elsewhere in the Ender saga.

Here I am, yet again, drinking up page after page of vague, over-generalized international conflict talk like it is the sweetest ambrosia.

Card writes this series specifically for me, honestly. There is a part where Peter Wiggin and Graff talk about "if Russia does this, then China will do that" "if India does that, I will do this" in massively nonspecific and omniscient terms for a whole entire chapter. I love it. Talk to me about ten all-powerful genius kids playing war games with the whole world forever, please. A too-steady diet of this stuff is why fluffy, unrealistic fantasy world politics was all I could write about as a teenager.

This meat of this book is focused on the process of Peter conquering the world through diplomacy. The last few chapters jump and take us up to the coda of Ender's Game, where Ender talks to elder statesman Peter by ansible and writes his biography. The whole thing is chock full of little moments I gleefully enjoy: Petra and Dink finally talking, Virlomi throwing the former Prime Minister of India out on his ear, the email exchange between Carn Carby and Dumper, the jeesh reunion meeting, etc.

Unfortunately, it was also full of trash.

Xenocide Law Rating: Low-moderate. Most of the breeding kink stuff is over.

Treatment of Women Rating: TERRIBLE.

This book explains away Petra as having redirected all her ambition and hunger for power toward being a mother. That's why she isn't busy dividing up the world. That's why she doesn't come to the jeesh reunion meeting. That's why she's the only jeesh member safe enough to allow to remain on Earth. That's why she spent all of the last book begging and pleading and coercing Bean into giving her his babies. She finally gets to run a mini-war at the end, but even the narrative admits the campaign is "just cosmetic," and it's not enough to rehabilitate the last MANY books painting her with a massively different brush than was used for literally any other jeesh member.

Petra, though, is shafted only minorly compared to how Virlomi is treated. Virlomi is the only other really prominent female we have. She is the only one actually playing the game of world affairs with the boys. She is the only non-jeesh member allowed to take a starring role. She spent the last two books being wise and compassionate and singlehandedly liberating India. In this book, because all of the Battle School kids can't be omnipotent and omniscient, because ONE of them has to lose in order to resolve the pan-Asian conflict and it can't be one of Ender's jeesh, Virlomi takes the fall.

This still would have been bad, because we have only two centrally located female game pieces and that would have made BOTH of them the ONLY ones we have seen to genuinely fail. The way Virlomi fails, though, makes it even worse. She somehow loses her entire mind and abandons all strategy, reason, and tactics -- the very things that have allowed her to succeed thus far -- and ends up marching straight towards the enemy convinced that she is God. This, after throwing herself at Peter and then throwing herself (naked) at Alai.

What the hell? Couldn't she have kept some dignity? Couldn't she have tried something smart, and still failed? They go on and on in this book about how, if two equally brilliant minds are pitted against each other, the contest comes down to resources and circumstances. Couldn't Virlomi have lost because of this, without going straight up hysterically nuts? Without taking up Petra's line and demanding that Alai put a baby in her? But no. Apparently it is only male Battle Schoolers who are all-powerful and perfect, obsessed with changing the world. Female battle schoolers obsess over carrying children, and when they reach a certain point they "break."

Things this books taught me:

Even if you save a planet by fighting an intergalactic war before you hit puberty, your life will be meaningless unless you have biological children. Also, the Islamic region exists only to take over the entire world and is more evil than the other people who want to take over the entire world, even though everyone else is also killing and fighting people because they think their way is better.

Things I wanted to learn in this book:

How Peter Wiggins was able to take over the world through clever manipulation and political tactics with the help of Ender's old war friends.

I've enjoyed Bean's story, even more than Ender's, but there are a couple of things that have been nagging me throughout this entire series. Bean is supposed to be the most intelligent human being alive. I can't help but feel that Card can't even come close to properly portraying the smartest man alive.

First of all, it's ridiculous that Bean should spend any brainpower at all thinking about religion and God. Countless studies show a clear inclination towards atheism in people with high IQs. This is purely an artifact of the religious beliefs of the author, and I suppose I can understand why he would like to believe that a super-intelligent person would end up clearly admitting belief in some sort of God. I mean, if the smartest of us is willing to have faith, shouldn't the rest of us take a hint? Unfortunately, Card missed the memo: the smartest of us have already had their say, and the overwhelming majority of smart people have come to the conclusion that religious belief/purposeful ignorance is foolish and a waste of time. And I really don't care that he was raised by a nun. He's too intelligent for that and the sappy ending that his "hidden faith" allows for just makes him seem weak and pathetic.

Secondly, the reason Bean is the biggest brainiac of all is actually because his brain is supposedly still growing, still forming new neural pathways. Why is it, then, that he's only really good at military strategy? Why is it that he has so much trouble empathizing with and understanding the people around him? Empathy and intra-personal skills are just pathways in the brain as well, and he is able to practice nearly every waking moment! Bean should have grown into a genius in every right, not just in one area like a kid with Asperger's. You can tell when Card is having trouble writing about someone smarter than him; most of the time, Bean's "genius" only shows in some random intuitive leap or other. At least he was actually devising new, never-before-thought-of techniques back in the Battle Room. Now he's just an overgrown bag of hormones and awkwardness and grey matter. Literally.

For what it's worth, after all that, the rest of the book was entertaining. The semi-normal Battle School Brats kept things moving. And I would definitely like to see how Bean's last child gets resolved if any more books are written in the Ender Universe.

"Life is full of grief, to exactly the degree we allow ourselves to love other people."

While Ender is off to a colony world at relativistic speeds, the world and friends he's left behind must fend for themselves.

Here we have a whole book on the aftermath of a psychopath's grand scheme... and the geopolitical power struggle between several of the more prominent countries, who are in some way being led and advised by former Battle School children. And then there's Peter Wiggin, attempting to redeem and give purpose to himself by somehow ending the wars and uniting the planet. His only chance to do so comes down to the cooperation of Bean and Petra--who have minimal reason to trust Ender's elder brother.

I admit, I haven't exactly been reading these in order. So it was a bit of a surprise when I found out Bean and Petra got married...
And then with the urgency of Bean's fatal genetic condition bearing down, they decide to have children--while there's still a chance of Bean knowing any of them before he dies. This circumstantial family planning pressure is then increased massively after 8 of their fertilized embryos are kidnapped and implanted into surrogates (some unwitting, and some not so much), causing a race to locate their lost children, and forcing them to have to rear all of the found ones all at once. And then, just to up the ante further... several of their children will undoubtedly have the same genetic disorder that's causing Bean's giantism and severely shortened lifespan--for which there is still no cure.

I didn't care much for the political machinations and intrigue. (That's truly never my cup o' tea.) And I was certainly missing some of the context that any of the books between this one and Ender's Shadow would have brought. But Card does a decent job of filling in and summarizing the missing bits.

My favorite part, as ever, was Petra. I know some reviewers seem to think her desperate rush into motherhood diminished her range or value in some way. But I'd argue that it rounded her motives and characterization out in ways most people never attain in a full lifetime--let alone at age 17--genius prodigy or not. I understood her completely, and can't say I would have chosen differently in her position. There even comes a point nearer the end where one of the Battle School masterminds (Colonel Graff?) mentions that Petra is/was the very best of all the original children--the most balanced and compassionate of all those whom Ender selected as his co-leaders. And that rang oddly true to this reader.

I also appreciated the hints of the deep understanding, and perhaps what could be considered a trauma bond, between Petra and Bean. It ALMOST makes me want to get ahold of the previous book to see how their relationship advanced to this point. (Even though that would mean sifting through the unsettlingly psychotic mind of Achilles once again.)

I didn't fully buy into Peter's whole redemption arc. While Card might have made me tentatively forgive him, he didn't quite make me like or trust him. And the story's resolution was less satisfying than I would have preferred. But that could just be a result of me hoping for something... happier.

Fantastic just fantastic. I miss the characters already ;((( but still I feel they will be forever in my heart.