Way too much battle and strategy talk and not enough action. There were whole chapters taken up by one long conversation. It's been a really long time since I read the previous books, but I think there was enough backstory to help me remember what happened. I just can't bring myself to care about any of these characters. They were just there, teenagers leading armies, having babies, and running the world. It's easy to forget how young all these characters are, when you've distanced yourself a bit from Ender's Game (and Ender's Shadow). I think that's one aspect of the books you have to just not think too hard about.

We get it, Orson, you hate Muslims

I'm no fan of religion. I think all of them are a plague on humanity, but Orson Scott Card really wants you to know he's terrified of Islam. The theme he comes back to again and again is "Islam is evil". It's a shame Card's open bigotry plays such a big role role in the book. There are parts I really liked, particularly involving Peter's storyline.

Once again I forgot what happened half the time and just remembered the vibes, only one more boom then I’m FINALY DONE with this series

What if we were Christians… in the future… and we were pro-life together…

I loved this book written by Orson Scott Card. Bean was the smallest student at Battle School, but he became Ender Wiggin’s right hand. Since then he has grown to be a power on Earth. He served the Hegemon as strategist and general in the terrible wars that followed Ender’s defeat of the alien empire attacking Earth. Now Bean and his wife, Petra, yearn for a safe place to build a family – something he has never known – but there is nowhere on Earth that does not harbor his enemies.

The ending is sad. It is amazing how we can feel an emotional connection to fictional characters. Card wrote a sequel called "Shadows in Flight" to resolve any issues left open.

8/10 en 2010

Bah, no escribo nada en esta review porque es el cuarto de la saga y ya está todo dicho de ella.

Solo por la nota ya véis que merece la pena más incluso que la saga de Ender.

Shadow of the Giant concludes the long-drawn global conflict for leadership of, basically, planet Earth whilst the International Fleet expands the human race into the stars. Bean and Petra are the focus of the story, now searching for their missing children and assisting Hegemon Peter Wiggin in uniting every country under the Free People of Earth (FPE), as they struggle with the gigantism syndrome. Opposing them are Virlomi, whose reality is blurring with her power-hungry persona as the Indian goddess; Alai, struggling Caliph surrounded by pressurising advisors; and Han 'Hot Soup' Zhu, making up for China's past shortcomings with a Mandate from Heaven. All of this is supervised by Graff and Rackham, who also offer all battle school graduates light-speed leadership of offworld colonies. The ending felt suprisingly emotional, with Card doing characters justice after spending so long with them, and overall the world politics whilst feeling slightly recycled did engage me throughout.

I just re-read a bunch of this to remind myself of what went on before reading Shadows in Flight and it really wowed me. I forgot how much the political maneuvering in this and the previous books intrigued and spooked me, and without battle school grads of our own I'm afraid of how our real world situations are going to deteriorate. But even more, I forgot how heartbreaking the book is. I think this one may have gotten to me more than any of them other than Ender's Game on an emotional level.

February 2012

I didn't dislike this as much as the rest of the series. Odd, since I thought the only good thing about the the previous two books was Achilles. It felt sort of rushed though. Like he was breezing through the story, very unlike Card.

I mostly read the rest of the Shadow books for completion, and I don't know that I'd recommend these to anyone except die hard OSC fans, I just don't think that I could've lived the rest of my life out not knowing what happened to the battle school kids.

I also want to read Ender in Exile and knew some of the stuff from these books was referenced there. I'm also really excited for Shadows in Flight, though i'm incredibly worried about the quality of that book given what I've just finished reading. The Shadow series(excluding Ender's Shadow) was disappointing, but if Shadows in Flight is at this level I might be devastated.

Not bad, but not terribly good, either. Card is certainly a good writer, and I love his writing and characterization. I think this book was just an example of how dragging out a good idea too long ruins it. It just felt like a repeat of the previous too books. I do like how he ended the series, but I must say I'm glad it's done b/c it was just going on for too long.

Full review will be up on my blog in a couple weeks: www.elanorlawrence.blogspot.com

The Shadow series is getting a little tired for my tastes. I have enjoyed the characters, but the plots are becoming a little too similar to previous stories. The Enderverse seems to have peaked with Speaker for the Dead. I will probably give one more a try, but that might be it for me.

Wow. Card is the master at spinning a tale of political intrigue, inter-personal relations and conquering the world. He beautifully wrapped up the combined story of Bean, Petra, Peter, Suri, Alai, etc. and sent them each to their own destinies.

That being said, however, I still want to know what happened with the stories that he sent out into the great unknown. Oh yes indeed!

Overall, I enjoyed the Shadow series more than the Ender series. Probably because they continued the stories of characters that I already knew (loved, hated, etc - I *knew* them). The weaving together of cultures, personalities and politics is truly unmatched in any other author that I have read. Card does this so superbly, that I don't want him to ever stop writing these stories. Ever.

And even more cool? Seeing my BFF's name in the acknowledgments. :) Yeah, that pretty much rocked.