July 11, 2008 at 12:44 am · Filed under Book Reviews, Favourite Books, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
99. Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card (Science fiction) 367 p.
This is the last book in the Bean quartet, following Ender’s Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, and Shadow Puppets. I’m having trouble putting together a coherent reaction to this book: on one hand, there were some things in it that annoyed me, and others that I would have liked to be different; on the other hand, I loved this book.
There’s no point in writing a detailed summary of this book, since if you haven’t read the previous three, it won’t mean much, and if you have, you don’t need my summary to convince you to read it. Maybe it’s enough to say that this is the story of an attempt to unite Earth under one government, to build a world where everyone can live in peace. It’s also the story of some extraordinarily intelligent people who are involved in that struggle, on both sides of the issue. And of course, it’s the story of Bean, who doesn’t have much time left on Earth.
That, actually, is where I had my first problem. This series is about Bean, but as world events heated up throughout the books, we saw less and less of him. Ender’s Shadow was told almost entirely from Bean’s perspective, and hardly a page went by that we didn’t see what he was thinking or feeling. I really missed that intimate point of view in Shadow of the Giant. I like Bean best when I can see inside his head, and this book didn’t give me that chance.
It isn’t just Bean whose thoughts and emotions I would have liked to read about; even when Card gave us a glimpse inside a character’s head in this book, it was usually all tactical, strictly related to whatever crisis was happening at the time. I really felt the lack of a true understanding of that characters, especially Peter.
It’s kind of an obscure point, but I was a little annoyed by the IF’s policy of creating deliberately monocultural colonies. Actually, more than annoyed; it made me kind of angry. I suppose, having grown up in one of the most multicultural cities on Earth, I’m prejudiced in favour of that model; I think the worst thing for any culture is to be isolated from contact with all others. Sure, the colonists can learn about other cultures, languages, and religions over the ansible, but none of them will live with anyone who believes in those things.
I don’t want to complain too much about Shadow of the Giant, because I really did take pleasure in every moment I spent reading it. I’m so glad I got to see Peter through the eyes of other people, and that he isn’t the monster he was through Ender’s six-year-old eyes. In fact, I wish I could see more of Peter’s story.
Show spoilers
Warning: spoiler ahead!
My roommate laughed yesterday when I asked her whether Petra would marry Bean or Peter (but only because I knew she wouldn’t tell me)–I’d been thinking it would be Bean, but he was kind of young, and then there was Peter–and she kind of laughed and asked what book I was reading, and I said I was halfway through
Shadow of the Hegemon. And now I know why she laughed. And that was another thing I loved about this book, this series.
End spoiler
I was feeling obliged to rate this book 9/10, because there were ways I thought it could have been better, but I still wanted to give it a 10. And isn’t that what these reviews are about? Not some kind of objective measure, weighing faults against virtues, but just a way of sharing how much I loved a book, or didn’t. And I loved this one.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Pages read: 29,479
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, Bean quartet, Cardathon Challenge Redux, Enderverse, Orson Scott Card
July 10, 2008 at 5:12 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Favourite Books, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
98. Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card (Science fiction) 372 p.
With China now controlling much of Asia and the power of the Hegemon severely diminished, Peter Wiggin decides that using an old enemy would be a good idea, as long as he can keep him under control.
One of the biggest disappointments about Orson Scott Card’s writing, for me, is that I rarely find his characters as likable when they grow up as I did when they were children. Both his male and female characters tend to take on very traditional gender roles as they grow, if not in the way they act, in the way they relate to each other and in the way they think. It makes them a little less sympathetic to me, and also less plausible. It didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this book, but it means I’m not surprised that I enjoyed this book a little less than Ender’s Shadow and Shadow of the Giant.
This book picks up pretty much where Shadow of the Giant left off; the two books were originally intended to be one story, but Card divided it in two and expanded it. I’m glad he did, because I enjoyed both books immensely, but I also think it was something of a mistake. Having Achilles as they main villain in one book works well. Having him continue through two books makes the main cast look like idiots. In fact, in order for Achilles to gain enough power to be a threat once again, they have to act like idiots.
Show spoilers
Warning: spoiler ahead!
Peter Wiggin takes the chance of liberating Achilles from the Chinese, even knowing everything he’s done and everything he’s accomplished…but why? He sets him up as an official assistant to the Hegemon…why? It’s never very clear what Peter is hoping to accomplish by giving Achilles power. What is it that he think Achilles can or will do for him that’s worth taking any risk at all? Granted, he believes (erroneously) that he can keep Achilles from causing harm to him, but what exactly is that he expect Achilles to
help him with?
Also, it’s extremely strange that he gives Achilles an official position. Achilles is the man who he himself exposed as a serial killer and escapee from a detention facility for the criminally insane. All the main characters seem to take the position that nothing official can be done to stop Achilles, because they don’t have the law on their side. But they do–Achilles was never released from detention, he was broken out by Russian forces.
I could see Peter being blinded enough by a particular ambition that he ignores the advice of every single person whose intelligence he respects–of, in fact, every single ally he has–in order to gain something from Achilles, but since he doesn’t seem to have any particular plan in mind, his behaviour is just too arrogant to be believable.
End spoiler
The best parts of Shadow Puppets are those which are only loosely connected to Achilles, like the war, and especially the parts from Virlomi’s perspective, in India, and the sections about the fighting itself. Even the Achilles thread, although not as tightly-plotted as I would expect from Card, results in some well-written character developement for Peter and Bean.
I think I would have found the Bean and Petra thread much more suspenseful and moving if I believed that human life begins at conception, but I don’t. I was still interested, but probably not to the degree another reader might have been.
Still, even though I didn’t like it as much as its prequels, Shadow Puppets is still an excellent read.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Pages read: 29,112
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, Bean quartet, Cardathon Challenge Redux, Enderverse, Orson Scott Card
July 9, 2008 at 11:34 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Favourite Books, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
97. Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card (Science fiction) 442 p.
This is yet another winner from Orson Scott Card. I found it less plausible than some of his other novels, but the story was so good and so well-written that I didn’t care.
In this sequel to Ender’s Shadow, the war with the Formics is over, and the nations of Earth are ready to go back to fighting each other. The students from Battle School become a valuable resource ripe for exploitation by any nation or power able to control them, so it’s no surprise when ten of the eleven children who were Ender’s lieutenants are kidnapped by an unknown power. Bean does what he can to secure the release of the others, but he needs help from Peter Wiggin, who wants something from him in return–help with his plan to take over the world.
Shadow of the Hegemon is a fun book, without a dull moment in it. Watching all the Battle School kids plot and manipulate world affairs was great. One of the things I’ve always liked about Card’s writing is that his characters come from many different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, from many different countries, and that’s especially true in the Enderverse. It’s very refreshing to read a science fiction writer who doesn’t seem to make everyone a white American by default, throwing in a token minority when the plot demands it.
The plot of this book also gives Card a chance to show off his knowledge of global politics, history, and geography. I can’t comment on the accuracy or plausibility of most of it, but some of the things he says in his afterword make it clear that he’s researched the topic, and given it a great deal of thought.
So far, I’m enjoying this series as much, or even more, than than the Ender series. I hope the last two books are as good as the first two!
Rating: 10 out of 10
Pages read: 28,740
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, Bean quartet, Cardathon Challenge Redux, Enderverse, Orson Scott Card
July 9, 2008 at 7:23 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Favourite Books, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
96. Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card (Science fiction) 467 p.
Ender’s Shadow can be read as a standalone novel, but it’s intended as a companion to Ender’s Game and as the first in the Bean sequence of Enderverse novels. Bean was the greatest of all Ender’s lieutenants, but we saw relatively little of him in Ender’s Game, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from this novel, which is partly a retelling of the events of that book, but from Bean’s point of view.
Growing up an orphan on the streets of Rotterdam, never even given a name until he is four years old, Bean wants nothing more than to survive, and maybe to have enough food to eat and a safe place to sleep. Even his formidable intelligence can’t make up for his youth and small size, so when he gets the chance to go to Battle School, he takes it.
At first, some of Bean’s history seemed implausible, but it quickly became apparent that there would be an explanation, which turns out to be one of the more interesting ideas in the book. (And Card’s science fiction ideas, even when they’re impractical or implausible in the real world, are always fascinating to think about and explore.)
Seeing Ender and the Battle School through Bean’s eyes was a revelation, because Bean has a far more analytical mind than Ender does, and far less trust in institutions. Where Ender might occasionally rebels against a system, when he feels his trust has been violated, Bean will never fully buy into that system in the first place, which gives him a unique perspective, combining both an insider’s and an outsider’s point of view.
I also just plain liked Bean. Some of his interactions with the Battle School staff, namely Dimak and Graff, were hilarious (as is pretty much every conversations Graff has with anyone. I love Graff, and I hope to see more of him later in the series.) His background is so tragic that the story could easily have been maudlin or sentimental, but Bean has no self-pity in him, and his personality defies it in others.
As I said at the beginning, this book can be read alone, but you’ll get much more out of it if you read Ender’s Game first. (Also, this book contains a number of spoilers for Ender’s Game, less in terms of plot (though there are some) than in terms of character development.)
I’m so glad I tried Orson Scott Card’s books, because missing out on them would have been a huge loss, even though I would never have known it. Ender’s Shadow is about as close to a perfect science fiction novel as any I’ve ever read!
Rating: 10 out of 10
Pages read: 28,298
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, Bean quartet, Cardathon Challenge Redux, Chunkster Challenge 2008, Enderverse, Orson Scott Card
