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Read Shadow Of The Hegemon (2001)

Shadow of the Hegemon (2001)

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Rating
3.91 of 5 Votes: 5
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ISBN
0812565959 (ISBN13: 9780812565959)
Language
English
Publisher
tor books

Shadow Of The Hegemon (2001) - Plot & Excerpts

This book moved along at a pretty good clip. It was easy to read and kind of entertaining. I like Bean. So it was OK.Except that it was really pretty terrible. All the Battle School kids are back on earth and they are basically shunted away as being "just" children. That means that all the kids who won the war for mankind's survival now have subordinate roles. And that's just fine.But then there's Achilles. He got into Battle School, and was there for a couple of weeks. He got kicked out and sent to a mental hospital because he has this slight problem that he's a sociopathic serial killer. So naturally, first Russia and then India and then presumably China put him near the top of their power structure and allow him to get them into major wars and to negotiate critical non-aggression treaties. The adults thus all trust the proven sociopathic killer with no track record of competence, while they all seem to mistrust the Battle School vets?Somehow, in his incredibly annoying afterward, Card seems to justify all this by the examples of other great men like Alexander and Napoleon. (I may have Card's position wrong. I couldn't bear to do anything but slightly skim this afterward. It read sort of like the end of War and Peace. Mercifully not as long, but also seemingly devoid of content. For me, all it showed is that perhaps Card is even more arrogant than his main characters.) But Alexander was the son of Philip of Macedon, and the student of Aristotle. There's a reason he was leading armies. Napoleon may be a better example, but he at least proved himself in some engagements. By contrast, Achilles sole claim to fame was that he was thrown out of Battle School and into a mental hospital. Finally, this thing takes place at least 100 years in the future. There's space travel, communication faster than the speed of light, etc... It's supposed to be science fiction. But for all practical purposes, there's no science fiction in it at all. Here, I give Card a pass, because it's pretty clear that he's just not interested. And yet, I still have a problem with it. The Battle School environment in Ender's Game and in Ender's Shadow is pretty cool. But in terms of how things work, it's really hard to square that environment with the state of technology here on Earth, which is pretty much straight from the mid-nineties. And it's also troublesome because they do have instant communication, not restricted by the speed of light. Thus, if Ender could command the fleet in the fight against the Formics, then he and Valentine could also at least have some contact or input into the Earth's events. Instead, its just ignored.Yeah, this book was OK, but I'm no longer excited to continue the series. Maybe someday.

 5.0 stars. Sometimes love is not a strong enough word so I am going to borrow from Woody Allen, "I LURVE THIS BOOK!!! This is my second favorite book in both Ender series (behind only Speaker for the Dead). In fact, like Speaker for the Dead, I thought this book significantly surpassed its predecessor, Ender's Shadow which I loved by the way.  This story takes place in the latter half of the 22nd century (so my poster above is for the 2208 elections), soon after the end of the Formic (aka Bugger) War when all of the gifted children of the Battle School that fought under Ender have returned to Earth. Upon their return, these gifted warriors all become instant national treasures in the eyes of their respective countries who want to use their vast expertise in strategy and tactics to assist them in the global war that they know is coming. It seems once the threat to humanity has been eliminated, people are going back to thinking of their own petty dreams of power...typical. Ender, whose very presence on Earth was seen as too much of a destabilizing force, has agreed to be sent into exile to avoid a global fight over the use of his abilities. Personally, I think he should have shown up with his mates and kicked the idiots in power in their collective, narrow-minded asses, but that's just me. Anyway, soon after their return, the former members of Ender's Army or “jeesh” are kidnapped and an attempt is made upon Bean's life. I won't give away any spoilers, but from this point forward the plot unfolds as a massive, complicated version of the board game "Risk" with moves, countermoves, alliances, betrayals and some absolutely stunning battle maneuvers with the end prize for all of this being global domination. The scope of this book is amazing, but the best part about it is Card's writing and his attention to detail. Especially impressive is the dialogue between the various gifted characters (most notably Bean and Peter Wiggins) and how authentic it sounds. This certainly belongs among the elite installments of the Ender series and I give it my HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!! Nominee: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

What do You think about Shadow Of The Hegemon (2001)?

This is the second book I've read in the series in the same universe as the Ender Quartet. I read it basically in 24 hours, which speaks to its fast pace and readability. I'm starting to like this series possibly even more than the quartet. There are a lot of really interesting characters - the complex Bean, the ambiguous Peter, etc. Plus I really like the theme of genius kids who aren't cutely precocious, etc. This book deals a lot with military strategy, which doesn't tend to be my thing, but I was never bored with it - it actually puts you inside the mindset of military thinkers in a way that you understand and admire how they puzzle things out. Card continues to be one of my favorite writers period and possibly my favorite sci-fi writer. I'm looking forward to moving onto the next book.
—Missy Frederick

I enjoyed Shadow of the Hegemon but not nearly as much as Ender's Shadow, the first in the Shadow series.I don't know, and I had this same problem after finishing Speaker for the Dead (Book 2 in the main Ender series), but I just feel like this series is getting beat to death. I'm not the only one right? As good as these sequels are, I still think Ender's Game (with possible addition of Ender's Shadow) should have been left that way, on its own, no sequels. I know, now I'm beating a dead horse.I still have to admit this is a good book. It's well done as always, and Bean is a great character. In Shadow of the Hegemon, we learn more about Petra Arkanian and Peter Wiggin and guess who's back, Achilles (pronounced in the French way - Asheel).I know Achilles has only been the "bad guy" for two books, but I was already getting tired of him to be honest. His motivations for his evil are explained, but I'm tired of it and ready to move on to another threat.Now that the alien threat is over, earth once again turns to its old ways - countries are back at each other and the best military minds in the world, the battleschool kids, are the prime currency.Other than great plotting and highly believable characters, Hegemon delves into some deep topics from time to time that I found quite interesting to ponder; notions such as, What is living without children? and, What does it really mean to live? Card makes some good arguments about our duty to the future.One last thing regarding the audiobook - it's extremely well done, if you're into that sort of thing. The typical voice actors come back (like Stefan Rudnicki and Scott Brick) for another Ender installment and they're superb as always.Why Read the Enders Shadow Series?So far it's been a great series, on the same level as the original series (at least as much as I've read - to Speaker). The characters are extremely well drawn and easy to care about especially since they're so intelligent - you just feel smarter yourself. I'm looking forward to Shadow Puppets.4 out of 5 Stars
—seak

March 2010Previously: Ender's ShadowWith the Bugger Formic War over and humanity triumphant, the children of Battle School are no longer needed. Everyone gets sent home to their families in their respective countries which, due to the absense of any external enemy, maintain an uneasy truce. But hey, at least everyone’s united, right? The world is at peace, right? Everyone is going to live happily ever after and nothing will possibly go wrong......right?Wrong! Remember the end of Ender’s Game, where we learn that several decades have passed since the end of the war, and Ender’s older brother Peter is now the Hegemon of a united Earth? Summed up things pretty well, didn’t it? Nice little quasi-epilogue, a little last glimpse of Peter, wraps up things back on Earth, no need to go back and find out how it all happened ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME ORSON SCOTT CARD?Guess not.So, here is the story of Peter Wiggin and how he became the Hegemon on Earth. Except it’s not really about Peter. It’s still about Bean. Specifically, it’s about Bean watching and helping Peter Wiggin as he becomes Hegemon of Earth, because he has to be someone’s shadow. But this time, unlike with Ender, Bean really has no reasons to help someone else unite the world. Unless...unless...an old enemy...from his past...suddenly appears...to take...revenge!It works for daytime television, doesn’t it? If only Passions and As the World Turns involved a crippled psychopath kidnapping young military geniuses, playing various countries against each other, and manipulating the outcome of an entire war to his advantage before getting one-upped by a tiny brainiac. Or do they? Am I missing the good shows?The problem with Hegemon (and the rest the series) is that Card thought Bean’s story was worth telling for four whole books. It really wasn’t. Not as Ender’s shadow, not as Peter’s shadow, not as Achilles’ foil, and certainly not as a smart kid who watches other people--the important ones, the influentual ones, and the interesting ones--as they work out the story Card should have, but didn’t, tell. Peter had potential. Achilles had potential. Bean? He’s really not worth our time.And yet I kept reading. Some people never learn.Next: Shadow Puppets
—Jacob

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