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Shadow of the Giant (Ender, Book 8) [Mass Market Paperback]

Orson Scott Card
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 7, 2006 Ender (Book 4)
Bean's past was a battle just to survive. He first appeared on the streets of Rotterdam, a tiny child with a mind leagues beyond anyone else. He knew he could not survive through strength; he used his tactical genius to gain acceptance into a children's gang, and then to help make that gang a template for success for all the others. He civilized them, and lived to grow older. Then he was discovered by the recruiters for the Battle School.

For Earth was at war -- a terrible war with an inscrutable alien enemy. A war that humanity was near to losing. But the long distances of interstellar space has given hope to the defenders of Earth -- they had time to train military geniuses up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high-orbital facility called the Battle School. That story is told in two books, the beloved classic Ender's Game, and its parallel, Ender's Shadow.

Bean was the smallest student at the Battle School, but he became Ender Wiggins' 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 he 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 -- old enemies from the days in Ender's Jeesh, new enemies from the wars on Earth. To find security, Bean and Petra must once again follow in Ender's footsteps. They must leave Earth behind, in the control of the Hegemon, and look to the stars.

Frequently Bought Together

Shadow of the Giant (Ender, Book 8) + Shadow Puppets (Ender) + Shadow of the Hegemon (Ender, Book 6)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Card's latest installment in his Shadow subseries (Ender's Shadow, etc.), which parallels the overarching series that began with Ender's Game (1985), does a superlative job of dramatically portraying the maturing process of child into adult. The imminent death of Bean, a superhuman 20-something Battle School graduate who suffers from uncontrolled growth due to a genetic disorder, leaves little time for Peter the Hegemon, Ender's older brother, to set up a single world government and for Bean and his wife and former classmate, Petra, to reclaim all their stolen children. When Card's focus strays from his characters into pure politics, the story loses power, but it's recharged as soon as he returns to the well-drawn interactions among Bean's Battle School classmates whose decisions will determine Earth's fate. They were trained to fight a (literally) single-minded alien enemy, but that war is over. Now, as young adults in command of human armies pitted against each other in messy conflicts with no clear solutions, Bean's old cohorts must help create a peaceful future for Earth after they're gone. Card makes the important point that there's always more than one side to every issue. Fans will marvel at how subtly he has prepared for the clever resolution.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Considering the dynasty of novels launched by Ender's Game (1984), perhaps Card ought to consider renaming his central protagonist. Though this is putatively the eighth book in the Ender saga, when considering the books as two quartets linked across a 1,000-year gap (a by-product of Ender's light-speed travel to Lusitania), it's the fourth of the sequence that began with Ender's Shadow (1999). Here, Card further develops the premise that the return of Ender's battle team to Earth was tantamount to introducing "two Alexanders, a Joan of Arc here and there, and a couple of Julius Caesars, maybe an Attila, and . . . a Genghis Khan" into the geopolitical fray. The tension between characters' personal fulfillment and collective obligations also comes to the fore, as couple Bean and Petra desperately search for their eight missing embryos stolen by the mad eugenicist of Shadow Puppets (2002), watch Bean's health deteriorate, and attempt to restore order to the world under hegemon Peter Wiggin. The emergence of several additional perspectives makes for a somewhat cumbersome narrative, but it doesn't much matter. Like Card's idolized Battle School alumni, novels in this saga (not to mention Card himself) have acquired an irresistible aura from early associations with boy-hero Ender Wiggin. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Tor Science Fiction; 1st edition (March 7, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0812571398
  • ISBN-13: 978-0812571394
  • Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Orson Scott Card is the bestselling author best known for the classic Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow and other novels in the Ender universe. Most recently, he was awarded the 2008 Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in Young Adult literature, from the American Library Association. Card has written sixty-one books, assorted plays, comics, and essays and newspaper columns. His work has won multiple awards, including back-to-back wins of the Hugo and the Nebula Awards-the only author to have done so in consecutive years. His titles have also landed on 'best of' lists and been adopted by cities, universities and libraries for reading programs. The Ender novels have inspired a Marvel Comics series, a forthcoming video game from Chair Entertainment, and pre-production on a film version. A highly anticipated The Authorized Ender Companion, written by Jake Black, is also forthcoming.Card offers writing workshops from time to time and occasionally teaches writing and literature at universities.Orson Scott Card currently lives with his family in Greensboro, NC.

Customer Reviews

If you have read the previous books in this series (and if not, why not!) J. B. Gorman  |  20 reviewers made a similar statement
Very interesting an well thought out. Alan  |  24 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
77 of 78 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Perhaps it's because Card knew exactly where he needed to be at the end of this book, but it just worked for me better than the last two. There's less outright war, and more political manuveuring than the last two books. The political machinations are more complex, yet somehow more believable this time around.

That plausibility might be a result of seeing the Battle School characters as human and therefore potentially flawed. In previous "Shadow" series books, the Battle School kids were all good guys, except for the cardboard cutout villian of Achilles. It fell to the other characters, mostly politicians, to display human fallibility.

This time, the Battle School grads have serious character flaws of their own, and these flaws lead them into big mistakes. They also get into more and better conflicts with each other, which enriches the dynamic of the book.

Characters are nicely done - a particular strength throughout Card's books. The tragic Bean, the acerbic Petra, the enigmatic Alai, the dashing Han Tzu - all are crisply drawn. I never, ever get characters confused with one another in Card's books, and certainly not in this one.

The character development of Peter Wiggin is especially well handled. We already know from the very first Ender book (Ender's Game) that Peter becomes a beloved leader, and that Ender writes Peter's "obituary" as the second part of the his book The Hive Queen and the Hegemon. Now we get to see the other side of that story, including what Peter did to arrive at that point and how he was induced to get Ender (of all people!) to write his unvarnished life story.

Not everything is tied up into a neat little package. The matter of Bean and Petra's children is handled well, but I wouldn't call the end result "neat".

The open-ended matter of Bean's children leaves enough room for a sequel, I suppose, if Card decides to go that way. But I'd be happy to just leave the story here. The adventure of the Battle School grads is pretty much resolved, and we are caught up to events mentioned at the end of Ender's Game.

If you've read the other three "Shadow" books, then you absolutely owe it to yourself to get the full end of the story by reading this one. If you liked "Ender's Shadow", but got bogged down in the other two sequels, I'd recommend giving the series another go just to finish off with this very satisfying completion.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Satisfying Finale December 30, 2005
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Unlike the Ender trilogy, which finished with more of a whimper than a bang, the Bean trilogy ends on a high note. Card wisely returns his main focus to the characters the reader has come to know and love, letting the individuals set the pace of the story instead abandoning character development for geopolitics. Even though the ultimate outcome (spoiler: a Hegemon-controlled Earth) is known to anyone who's read the Ender trilogy, Shadow of the Giant is still surprisingly suspenseful. The fates of characters such as Bean, Alai, and Virlomi are not resolved until near the end of the book, and Card keeps the reader guessing as to who will live and who will die. This is a smart strategy, as Card is at his best when he focuses his attention on the engaging characters he has created: the brilliant, passionate, and yet somehow quite innocent young adults formerly of Battle School. I can't help but think that the Ender trilogy would have been much more satisfying if Card had kept the focus on Ender instead of neglecting him for talk of aiua, alternate universes, and "children of the mind."

Shadow of the Giant closes the door on one chapter of the Ender saga and opens the door to another. For what is most interesting about this book is the ending: Card has left the options for further books in the series wide open. Will Bean be cured? Will Ender return to the series? What will happen with the children? For the first time since Ender's Shadow I find myself truly looking forward to the next edition in the Ender saga.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars A Long Ways from the Short Story June 16, 2005
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Shadow of the Giant" is the latest Card novel in the "Ender" universe. Not all readers know that "Ender's Game," the first novel, started from a short story. That short story still remains arguably Card's best single piece of writing. But after four novels in the "Ender" arc, and now another four novels in the "Shadow" arc, as well as a few short stories along the way, Card and the Ender universe are starting to run out of gas.

Card's first problem is that we know exactly how it is going to come out. Let's call this the Lucas Problem. Anyone who carefully read the first book knows what is going to happen. Card has to make the process interesting enough to hold our attention. He nearly succeeds, but is hampered by some other issues.

Card's second problem is that he knocked off the arch-villain Achilles at the end of the previous book. Since E. E. "Doc" Smith's "Skylark" series, thoughtful science fiction writers have known it's always a mistake to kill the bad guy early. "Giant" misses Achilles.

Card's third problem is that the series' most compelling character, Ender - Andrew Wiggins, the protagonist of the first four books - has long since left the scene. The primary protagonist of the "Shadow" series, Julian "Bean" Delphiki - a minor character in "Ender's Game" - is still dying of the same disease we have known about from the start.

So all that is left for readers is the problem described at the end of "Ender's Game" - a half a dozen or so teenage military geniuses loose on a deeply divided earth. As we watch them succumb, variously, to gene-meddling, megalomania, naivete and ennui, it turns out that the adults, the teachers, those same folks that trained Ender and the other children, had the solution all along. If I were a teenager reading "Giant," I'd be seriously annoyed.

Card is a good writer. He has also shown some terrific creativity in earlier books in the series, especially in "Speaker for the Dead." But in this book he sometimes substitutes political opinion for creativity - let's call this the Heinlein Problem, or, if you like, the Goodkind Problem - and it doesn't work.

The cumulative effect is that the book drags a bit, limps along a lot, and leaves you unsatisfied at the end. The Lucas Problem is there on every page. The Heinlein Problem annoys. Card can and has done much better. First time readers in Ender's universe will be completely bewildered and should not start here.

The plot has a few loose ends; I'd guess Card has left himself narrative threads to pick up in the future. That's fine. Ender's Universe is an interesting place. But he needs to let the creative juices revive for a while first.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!
One of the best books in the series. The author keeps the characters and storyline alive and compelling for the reader. A must read for anyone who loved Ender's Game.
Published 1 day ago by Beverly
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Fun to read, Gets deeper into many of the characters. I enjoyed all the 'Bean' books and this one was no exception.
Published 17 days ago by JimB-Richmond
5.0 out of 5 stars Love Shadow series!
Amazing book - like the rest of the Shadow books. Deep and honest and humane!
I strongly recommend all the series.
Published 29 days ago by Guy Arad
4.0 out of 5 stars Decent part of the series
I enjoyed the book and will continue to read Ender world series based on my experience with this book. Not the best nor the worst of the books in the series so far.
Published 1 month ago by Ivailo V. Ivanov
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent ending for an excellent series
Finally! A book that truly shows the vulnerability of the invincible Enders Jeesh. Showing that even these minds are human, which truly helps to merge the reader with the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Brett Hadfield
5.0 out of 5 stars More great storytelling!
Orson Scott Card sure hooked me with the first Ender's Game book, and now I am into the Shadow series, because he just keeps adding more into the gaps and spaces that existed in... Read more
Published 1 month ago by AreThree
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
Another great novel in the series. Love seeing where all the characters lead to. Card's other series are just as good, too.
Published 1 month ago by randi melton
5.0 out of 5 stars I cried with it
Amazing!
Given what happens in previous books, this one is less tense, but it is still intense.
Card is one of my favorites writers.
Published 1 month ago by Pampi
5.0 out of 5 stars Great novel
I've found the Ender-verse an addictive set of novels. Being able to follow the characters of Enders Game through the near and long term story lines is very interesting.
Published 1 month ago by Lee Reynolds
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of the series.
I've been a little ambivalent of the Shadow series after I finished "Ender's Shadow". This book was great though, unlike the other books that are a lot more like strategic... Read more
Published 2 months ago by RealboyLanny
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Shadow puppets - OSC Be the first to reply
Welcome to the Shadow of the Giant forum
I just reread Shadow of the Giant, and liked it just as well the second time through. The only difference is that this time I got the feeling we'll be seeing Bean again, whereas last time I felt that things were so well wrapped up that we probably wouldn't.

I think perhaps that Card just likes... Read more
Jan 13, 2006 by Billy Hollis |  See all 2 posts
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