Shadow of the Giant

Can't say enough good things about the author and flowing story .. except more please. Smile .. what in the world will I do when I read out the story line, he (Orson Scott Card) makes you part of the bigger picture ..

While the Ender quartet goes off the rails toward the end, I felt that the first four books of the Shadow Series really kept it together throughout. I recently re-read/re-scanned through the Shadow series and, in many ways, Shadow of the Giant is more interesting than Shadow of the Hegemon or Shadow Puppets. Either way, a fun read.

Again Mr. Card, again. Your books leave me breathless and pining for more. It so disappoints me that this is the last book in the series, and that if I'd like to read more about this fantastic cast I'll have to re-read the series. Which I assure you I will.

This is a fitting conclusion to the Ender/Shadow series thus far, although there is clearly an opening for more if Card chooses to continue. It's great to get *some* closure to the story we've been reading about through 8 or so books.

Shadow of the giant continues the Ender Saga in a most satisfying way. As a parallel to the original, it casts an intriguing new light on the main figures and creates new angels of view. And it is damned well-written!

In his continuation of the "Shadow" series (the parallel books

to the Ender series), Orson Scott Card (OSC) follows Bean, Petra, and

the rest of the gang through another set of adventures. Bean's

job is to get things ready for Peter Wiggin to have a real

presence as Hegemon before time runs out.

This book is not as strong as OSC's earlier work. Specifically,

the plot and chapters are choppy, with much less compelling story

holding it together. Also, OSC allows his personal religious and

political agendas to play too heavy a role in the story.

Although he has always been a religious guy, the author had until

now managed to tell a good story without trying to insert his

limited worldview at every juncture. This time, he failed.

The book also suffers from under-editing. Ironically, it reads

like some of OSC's earlier drafts of _Ender's Game_ that he

publicized to help budding science-fiction writers learn to

polish their work.

The email exchanges that open some chapters are difficult to

interpret, and most did not contribute meaningfully to the

overall book. OSC did not even do a good job of justifying his

title - Bean had been the "shadow" in the previous books, but it

seems that it is *his* shadow referred to in this one. I don't

think it worked, literarily.

OSC does not do a good job of enriching the story with his

subplot, i.e. Randi and her fetus (stop here if you don't want to

read a 'spoiler'). It seems that Randi is the only one in the

whole book who even remembers Achilles, which makes it

ineffective (and not terribly scary) that

she idolizes him. It is unclear what her relationship was with

Achilles or even Volescu, and very unclear what her role is in

the story. If OSC is trying to set up for another sequel, then

I suppose I understand why her fetus is important, but honestly,

it could have worked just as well to leave the ninth fetus having

unknown existence/whereabouts.

OSC does not disappoint in his character descriptions, which are

for the most part consistent and interesting. This may be,

though, because I was already familiar with the basic

personalities from reading all of the previous books.

Aside from the issues with plot and editing, OSC has finally

gone off the deep end in terms of injecting his Mormon version of

morality into his science fiction books. From the narrator's

ridiculous objections to two adult doctors making out on the

roof, to the descriptions of Virlomi as "immodest" and

"idolatrous," OSC reveals that he really can't handle modern

ideas of consensual adult sexual [or religious!] behavior.

This is even more problematic because OSC also allows his sexist

ideas of womanhood to surface. Petra, Mrs. Delphiki, Mrs.

Arkanian, and Mrs. Wiggin, all openly Christian women (and "good

guys") in the story, repeatedly make statements about how a

woman's primary purpose is to marry and procreate. They keep

repeating that other goals and professions must fall by the

wayside, and that nothing else really matters.

These women are shown in stark contrast to Virlomi, whose

Hinduism inexplicably leads her to immoral sexual choices (?) and

megalomania. Irritatingly, Petra, Randi, and even Virlomi all

seem to dote on whose baby might or might not be growing inside

them instead of other things going on in the story. I understand

that the plot is supposed to be about IVF fetuses and their fate,

but there was a little bit too much woman-as-vessel and

life-from-conception in here for my comfort.

For the record, though, I was pleased with the positive attention

to breast-feeding and baby-wearing, as well as positive

discipline for healthy children.

When Petra has her babies and then throws herself into her job

(part of saving the world!) for a year, the only thing that

happens is that her friends and family give her a major guilt

trip and she cries rivers of grief for the time that she "lost"

with her children. (It seems to me that Petra may have been

using her time at work as a sort of escape from PPD, but this

isn't really addressed in the plot, so it remains conjecture.)

Petra ends up having ten (!) children to raise, not even counting

the 'defective' ones with Bean. This has strong implications to

me wrt birth control or career choices advocated by OSC.

Other reviewers have done a more thorough job of revealing OSC's

anti-Moslem and anti-"heathen" attitudes in this story, so I will

say on this point only that I saw these attitudes and they

detracted annoyingly from the content of the book.

There are some good aspects to the story, such as some closing of

plots with Dink and other bit players from Ender's jeesh. I also

like how Mazer Rackham and Hyrum Graff are believable and

significant characters in this book. I also like Peter's

evolving relationship with his parents, and some of the newer

insights into his childhood.

I think that OSC could have developed the quality bits of this

story in to a book worthy of the series, but I think that he did

not succeed fully in what he produced.

I'm struggling through Shadow of the Giant. Normally when I read a book, I read the entire thing in as close to one sitting as possible. Giant is taking me a while - a chapter at a time, and I'm only halfway through after several months, and have no particular motivation to pick it up at any given point in time.

It reads like a plot outline, not a novel. Nearly every scene is "tell" and not "show." The characters are plot devices instead of real people. It just doesn't pull me in the way Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Ender's Shadow did. It's like reading through a textbook. "This happened, and this person did this, and that person did that, and here's why." With occasional bits of dialogue thrown in here and there that didn't necessarily show off the most important parts of the scene.

I don't think this should have been published as-is. It's a draft, not a finished novel. And considering just how long the draft was, when almost all of the scenes - written out properly - could've been 3-5 times their present lengths, this could've either been the outline for multiple books, or it needed a lot of pruning.

When I finished the Ender Quartet, I asked around to see if the Shadow Series was worth a read, and a few friends insisted that it was even better than the original quartet. I would now like to punch those friends in the face.

This fourth entry serves up much of the same tired tripe as its predecessors. Characters who you once liked but are now so insufferable that you can't stand them trade snappy, quickfire retorts with each other for the first 300 pages, before the author realizes he has a global war to wrap up and so rushes its conclusion via a deus ex machina. In this case it's a character who holds most of the cards before suddenly going crazy and blowing it all, for barely more of a reason than that previous books dictated that Peter must now become the ruler of the world. After Ender's Shadow, Card had three entire books to gradually build to that predetermined endpoint, but the pacing in this series has been awful. Just awful.

Bean, the nominal protagonist, is anything but likable. He's been a passive rather than an active player in the events of the past two volumes, and I can't imagine that any reader would still care enough to root for him at this point unless they were fully on-board with the ham-fisted pro-life message that underpins his arc. I also have issues with the revisionist history regarding Peter's character and his rise to power --- sure, it makes sense for him to be more of a morally complex character than Ender ever gave him credit for, but it would be an understatement to merely claim that this book gives shades of grey to the black-and-white picture that was painted in the final chapter of Ender's Game. Instead, it basically turns Peter into a saint.

His intentions are completely honorable and suddenly they always have been, and Ender was totally wrong about him and everyone loves him and wants to have babies with him. In writing the Shadow series, it seems as if Card has fallen in love with its characters and believes that they can do no wrong, previously established character traits be damned. Forget the ruthless, ambitious, and power-hungry Peter you knew from Ender's Game --- now he's an awesome guy who didn't even really have the drive to unite the world; Graff and Mazer Rackham were actually pulling all the strings and manipulating him into rising up to be Hegemon. Not unlike with the last book, you can't help but feel like you're reading bad fan-fiction.

Also, Islam is evil. Did you know that? Just in case you missed it in Book Three, this one is here to bore the message into your skull with a power drill.

The bottom line is: This series didn't need to be four books. Had he dialed down the constant sarcastic conversations between characters and kept a tighter focus and better pace throughout (three wars in the Eastern world! Three. Why not just one?), Card could have easily made this a very readable trilogy. As it stands, Book Four begins with the primary antagonist already out of the picture and then meanders for far too long as it tries to justify its own existence. The author built up enough good faith with the fantastic Ender quartet that I stuck through to the end, but --- wait, what? It's not the end? The Shadow Series STILL isn't over? There's another one about a four-meter-tall Bean hanging out in a spaceship's cargo bay? Well... dammit.

Shadow of the Giant (2006) is the fourth novel in the Shadow subseries of the Ender-verse. It follows Shadow Puppets. The initial work in this subseries is Ender's Shadow.

In the previous volume, Bean was still growing. Peter got an email describing the transfer of Achilles to another prison. Suriyawong led the raid to capture him.

Bean and Petra realized that Peter would be bringing Achilles back to headquarters. They tried to talk Peter out of the plan and then left his service. Suri warned Virlomi as the group was flying back to the compound.

Graff offered to take Theresa and John Paul off Earth, but they refused to go. Theresa decided to kill Achilles. She tried to steal a key to his room, but was caught in the act. Peter became confused after John Paul told him what Theresa was trying to do.

In this novel, Julian Delphiki is a giant. Bean has a genetic defect that makes his body continue to grows. His brain also grows new cells, so he is exceedingly intelligent. He had been a very smart child and developed into a supergenius.

Petra Arkanian was a member of Ender's jeesh. After the Bugger War, she married Bean and had several eggs fertilized with his sperm. The embryos were stolen by a Volescu.

Peter Wiggin is the Hegemon. He has developed his position into a potential leader of a world government. He owes a lot to Bean for leading his small forces and taking out Achilles Flandres.

Suriyawong was a member of Ender's jeesh. Now Suri is the head of a small armed force under the Hegemon.

Han Tzu was a member of Ender's jeesh. Now Hot Soup is a suspended member of the Chinese government.

Alai is the Caliph of Islam. He too was a member of Ender's jeesh. Now he is the titular ruler of the Muslim nations.

Virlomi is a Battle School graduate, but not a member of Ender's jeesh. She has become a goddess to the Indian people by stopping the Chinese invasion of India. But now the Muslims occupy her country.

Hyram Graff is the former head of Battle School. Now he is Minister of Colonization.

Mazer Rackham had fought the Bugger through three wars. Now he is officially retired, but helps Graff with recruiting for extraterrestrial colonies.

Constantine Volescu is a mad genius specializing in human genetics. He had modified Bean and later stole embryos from Bean and Petra. He then implanted the embryos into eight surrogate mothers.

This story, Han Tzu had a meeting with Rackham and was given a small four shot blowgun. He visited the War Ministry and has an interview with Snow Tiger. Han Tzu lectured the man on his mistakes and Snow Tiger order his guards to shoot him. Instead, one of the guards shot Snow Tiger.

Peter takes Petra with him to meet Alai. Peter tries to talk Alai into correcting the problems in India, but Alai was not convinced. Then Petra provoked Alai into becoming a ruler instead of a figurehead.

Rackham finds Volescu in Rwanda. Bean and Petra go on a raid to catch the scientist. Suri leads the actual intrusion, but Bean questions Volescu. The limited results convinces Bean to leave any further interrogation to the International Fleet.

Bean receives discouraging news from scientists studying his condition. Then he has a meeting with Rackham, who offers him a new type of starship that can nullify the effects of acceleration. With this ship, Bean could travel at near lightspeed until a cure is found.

When Petra gives birth to Andrew, Bean has an epiphany and reorganizes the search for his stolen children. Now they look for premature births with underweight, but a fully developed infants. Later, he talks Graff into using the Mind Game software to search the data.

Bean also has an idea for handling Ender's pension. Peter has been using the money to finance the baby search, but Bean convinces Graff to use a modified Mind Game to handle the pension investments. Peter is very upset with Bean and cancels the baby search, but the new software is already finding possible matches.

Petra visits a couple to retrieve her stolen child. The surrogate mother is very distraught, but recognizes Petra's right to the child. Later, Petra tells Bean that she is glad that she went alone since he would probably have return the child to the couple.

Virlomi is producing videos of the atrocities committed by Muslims in India. She frees the anger of the Indian people and Muslim soldiers are overwhelmed by mobs. Atrocities decline in number as the Muslims begin to fear for their lives.

Meanwhile, Peter is adding countries to his Free People of Earth. As the FPE grows stronger, he fights limited wars to liberate minorities from their oppressors. However, his forces are too small to win wars against the major powers.

This tale teaches Peter learns more about himself and he starts to develop some empathy. Virlomi finally faces her own hubris. The other Battle School graduates finally learn what makes Bean aggressive.

Bean stays with Peter until the FPE is well established. The next installment in this subseries in Shadows in Flight.

Highly recommended for Card fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of empire building, armed conflict, and family relationships. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

Although Shadow of the Giant continues many of the lackluster storylines inherited from Shadow Puppets—the hunt for Bean and Petra's "babies" being the worst offender—it also manages to not eff things up any worse than they are. Surprisingly, as the end nears, the story pivots towards a relatively strong finish. This may have saved this otherwise uneven series from oblivion.

Overall, I'm glad I read all four books. That's saying something given my impulsive habit of cutting my losses at the first sign of story trouble. Ender's Shadow kicked things off so well, and while Shadow of the Hegemon was fine, I didn't pick up Shadow Puppets right away. And that book was so underwhelming that I didn't care to find out what happened next in Shadow of the Giant for another ten years. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me.

Bean, real name Julian Delphiki, survived on the streets of Rotterdam (not at all a nice, safe city in Card's Enderverse) starting at the age of one. As that would indicate, Bean isn't a normal human. He and his brother clones, created with genetic material stolen from their one normal brother's embryo, were sentenced to execution when the scientist who wanted them for study found his laboratory discovered. Bean escaped. He survived on the streets, and then Sister Carlotta found him and got him into Battle School. There he met Petra Arkanian, and there he became one of the fabled Ender's jeesh. Now, with the Bugger War over, Ender Wiggin has been sent off to the stars - partly for his own safety, and partly so his older brother Peter can consolidate his role as Earth's Hegemon. The boys and girl who made up Ender's jeesh, as well as other extraordinary adolescents from the now disbanded Battle School, are sought after by Earth's governments for use of their combination of brilliance and tactical training. Some have homelands - but some, like Bean, have no loyalties except to their own families and to each other. With Bean it's different, and not only in that way. For Bean, thanks to the genetic tampering that created him, combines an incredible intellect with uncontrollable physical growth. One day soon his body will grow too large for his heart to support it, and then he will die.

Bean's love, Petra, chooses to marry him knowing that she faces early widowhood. She chooses to create children with him, nine IVF embryos, knowing that she will have to raise them alone. She carries one of the children herself, while the remaining embryos disappear. Stolen by the same scientist who created Bean, because now he wants to know if Bean's alteration will breed true. If it does, about half of the babies will be like Bean. Incredibly intelligent, and doomed to death from gigantism. As they search for their missing children (and thanks to their religious beliefs, to this young couple embryos definitely are that - children), Bean and Petra learn that all eight have been implanted and that the women carrying them have been hidden. So now the challenge is to find those women, and reclaim the babies. And, after that, to figure out how to keep those who are like Bean genetically from dying early - if a cure is even possible.

That's the aspect of this book that I found appealing and enjoyable, and it is very well written indeed. Other readers may well enjoy the rest, which consists of intricate political maneuverings as the Enderverse for Card's work set later in the timeline takes shape. The book's bittersweet conclusion leaves Bean and Petra's story open for further development, but it also provides a satisfactory resolution if further development never comes.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 science fiction EPPIE winner "Regs"

Title: Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card

Pages: 367.

Time spent on the "to read" shelf: 0 Days.

Days spent reading it: 3 days.

Why I read it: Shadow of the Giant is the fourth book in the Ender's Shadow series by Orson Scott Card, I figured I would finish up this series before I left to go to Thailand. I'm glad I did.

Brief review: Shadow of the Giant is the final (as of right now, and probably ever) installment of the Ender's Shadow series. I have enjoyed this particular series quite a bit. It recounts the events on Earth after the events in Ender's Game. We follow Bean and Petra, but the real star of this show (and perhaps the real "Shadow" of Ender) is Peter Wiggin. We follow as Peter continues in his quest to become the Hegemon (the world leader) and to have actual authority over the whole world. The political and military maneuvers and manipulation that make this a reality for Peter are fun to watch unfold.

This series has been easy to read, but still full of great ideas by Card. Shadow of the Giant makes us think about contemporary events, even though it discusses them in playful science fiction. Card brings up issues about Muslim, Chinese, and United States politics from current headlines and stretches them to their logical conclusion. What if the Muslim world united under one head? Or if the massive Chinese population began an offensive against an almost equally massive Indian nation? In this book Card examines these possible political situations, but he does so within a very entertaining novel.

Shadow of the Giant is clever and thought provoking. If you have not read any of the rest of the series, this would not be a good place to start. But I would highly recommend picking up Ender's Game and then Ender's Shadow, because these books (and especially Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow) have been worth it.

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

Stars: 4 out of 5.

Final Word: Huge.

Shadow of the Giant stands along with Ender's Game and Speaker of the Dead as Orson Scott Card's best work in Enderverse, complete with interesting characters and an engaging plot. Like the previous books in the `Shadow' series, Shadow of the Giant continues to follow the life of Bean, the now giant, not quite human, who served as Ender's second in Battle School, at least as retold in Ender's Shadow. Readers who have followed Bean through to this fourth and perhaps final book will not be disappointed.

Several factors work in `Giant's favor. Card deemphasizes his juvenile and often torturous read of international relations in general and military strategy in particular. Readers who in the last book found themselves hitting their heads wondering why any nation's military would behave as irrationally as they did, particularly regarding the strange archaic idea of national status strictly as a function of number of square miles controlled, will find some relief. Card here returns to what made Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead excellent reads, namely focusing on characters and their internal lives. Particularly noteworthy as he looms large over all of the books in both series is Card's exploration of the motivation and conflict for Ender's brother Peter, who here at last ceases to be a two-dimensional Genghis Khan and instead becomes someone readers can relate to and with whom we can sympathize.

Some readers may take offense at the writer's political diatribes rather inelegantly folded into this work, particular his rants against Islam. Again, I took it about as seriously as the other political and military thoughts peppered throughout the series, most of which either lack sense or lack nuance. Card writes well and thus readers do well to focus on plot and character that he develops instead of spending much time attacking his thoughts in other areas.

While Card leaves open a glimmer of potential for continuing this story, he also gives the reader something that has eluded all his work since Ender's Game, a satisfying ending that does not require another novel. For this alone, fans of Card's are sure to enjoy this work.

I had mixed feelings before picking Shadow of the Giant up. The previous two installations were OK - Good. Don't get me wrong, they were good reads, but they didn't pack the same punch as Ender's Game or Ender's Shadow.

But Shadow of the Giant was great. The characters actually have flaws, granted, they are still amazing at politics and war, but they make mistakes. They're human, and that is really what makes this story. No longer are these 'Battle School brats' on high pedestals. But really, its the implied closure that Card finally gives us pertaining to Bean and Petra.

Without giving anything away, the ending of Shadow of the Giant is worth the buy. Ends are tied up in believable ways and this long journey with Bean finally comes to a close. A few tears actually came out, thinking about how this could very well be the end. There might not be anymore writings on Bean, Petra, Peter, anyone we've come in contact through Beans Saga. But at the same time, it was sad to see the end of such a good book. Last pages were the hardest to turn. i couldn't wait to read more, but with each turn of a page, the story was that much closer to being done.

Bittersweet. That best describes Shadow of the Giant. Card delivered, no doubt about that. He started off great, Ender's Shadow was amazing, to think that retelling a story could be so interesting. Yet it was, and we saw a very different perspective on life. Then came Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow Puppets. Good reading, but nothing amazing. But Shadow of the Giant was the ending this saga needed and deserved...

There are a few openings left. Once you read it (and i hope you do), you will see. This leaves hope for a possible sequel. The gap in the end of the book covers many years, enough that Card could easily write another book, full of information and details. But if he doesn't, i completely understand. Shadow of the Giant is a nearly perfect ending. Any book that can make you emotional over the characters deserves to be read, this book, Shadow of the Giant, is one of those books.

"Shadow of the Giant," the fourth (and final?) installment of the Shadow series of novels parallel to the Ender series, is a good book and an acceptable conclusion of the epic tale of humanity's struggles against an alien invasion and its own self-destructive forces, but it lacks the thrilling universality and sheer power of many of the other seven books.

The novel continues where its predecessors left off, with the story of an Earth fragemented by religion and nationalism, clinging to the young heroes of Battle School. Peter, the older brother of the hero Ender Wiggin, is struggling to unite all the peoples of Earth under a peaceful, humanitarian world government. Hyrum Graff and Mazer Rackham, ostensibly concerned only with colonization and space travel, support this goal, and Bean - the brilliant but doomed young man who was once Ender's sidekick and is now Earth's most revered warrior - and his wife Petra assist in the struggle. The book follows these characters as well as several Battle School graduates who have become world leaders.

"Shadow of the Giant" has much to recommend it. It is an absorbing read, and in its power and scope it is much longer than its 370 pages. It explores the viewpoints of many of its major characters, showing - as Card often does - how differently the same events may be perceived. Although its message of peace and tolerance is rather belabored, the plot is strong enough to carry the point.

However, the book suffers from comparison to Card's other work. It is a more exterior novel than many of the books in the series, and more political, and thus less compelling. Many of the characters, particularly the women, are flat, and others - particularly Peter - have undergone seismic and unexplained personality shifts. But there is nothing really wrong with "Shadow of the Giant," and were it not part of this amazing series its lacking would be less noticeable. Reading this book, one automatically compares it to the books in the Ender series: "Speaker for the Dead", "Xenophobia", "Children of the Mind," and the inimitable "Ender's Game". Those books were, every one of them, amazing and earth-shattering and life-altering, and anyone who has not read them is missing one of the greatest contributions to science fiction - to literature - of the twentieth century. "Shadow of the Giant" merits none of that high praise. It is just good.

This latest installment in the "Enderverse" set by Orson Scott Card is a pleasure to read, and is more meaty then any of its predecessors in the "Shadow" subseries. Certainly, fans of the Ender books will find lots to enjoy with Card's typical fast pacing and interweaving of characters. The difference with this book is that Card seems to make a more genuine effort to interrelate several stories and to put real historical precedent behind his plotlines. In addition, he uses religion as a source of conflict while paying attention to both the religions themselves and how they are perceived by outsiders. Religion is a subject that most sci fi writers avoid, but Card successfully weaves it into the fabric of his universe.

The plot (which will make little sense to those that aren't regular readers of the series): Han Tzu, Alai, and Virlomi have risen to become the heads of state of China, the unified Muslim world, and India, respectively. These three battle school grads are brilliant soldiers, but still young and inexperienced in everything except fighting. India is occupied by the Muslims, China is still partly occupied by the same group, and both are chafing for revenge. Throw in the mechanations of Peter Wiggin, the Hegemon, and your have the makings of a major World War. Instead, Peter tries to steer the course towards peace. He uses his influence as the Hegemon (a position with little real power) to try to bring peace, while Caliph Alai tries to bring his Islamist fanatics under control to prevent any more bloodshed in India. Peter's secret weapon is, of course, Bean the Giant, Ender's closest lieutenant in the Bugger War, whose genes have been altered to produce a new race of super-humans.

Card's gift is to present and see many sides of an argument. While the more fanatical Muslims are rampaging through India, for example, Caliph Alai is trying to preach peace and brotherhood to his battle-hardened troops. The parallels with today's society are obvious, and it adds relevance and interest to the book.

Of course, this analysis I've just written is quite dry, and the book is anything but dry. The pacing and action are well written, and the plot has more twists and schemes than his earlier books. One of my objections to earlier Shadow books was the implausiility of the plots. In this present book, everything that happens rings true. While Speaker for the Dead remains the high-water mark for the Ender series overall, this book is certainly a worthy successor and is the best of the Shadow subseries (so far!).