I've got to speak some truth to power: This is a lousy book. Ender's Game was pretty cool. The other three books in the Enderverse were progressively less good, but still all right. The first two books in the Beanverse (or whatever we want to call them)... not so great, but kind of fun, I guess? But this one. Oh my.Why did I finish this? I admit that I read half of it six months ago, was so bored with it that I put it down again, and then just recently finished it up because I didn't have anything else I was willing to commit myself to.What makes this book awful, even amongst the relative standards of Orson Scott Card (who is not exactly a spry writer), is the writing. The entire book consists of one unrealistic, idiotic, poorly-written dialogue after another, where two "geniuses" decide to hash over strategy again and again and again. There's about 10 minutes of action in the entire book, and absolutely zero new, interesting ideas. (And heaps, heaps, and heaps of crazy-ass neo-conservatism.) The strategy is dull ("We'll attack them, then these other guys will roll in, and then those guys will switch sides!"), much of it is entirely predictable, and, my God, the endless hashing over the joy of babies... WTF? Ender Scott Card has officially made me hate the word "baby." Baby, baby, baby. The characters just can't shut up about babies for the last quarter of the book. It's a curious thing for all of the world's super-geniuses to spend their time hashing over. Yes, yes, it serves the slow-as-mollasses plot, technically, but jeez. Enough already! The worst is when Card tries to write pillow-talk and love-talk. Did he grow up on the set of a Lifetime movie? The dialogue reeks. And goes on and on and on.If I had been the editor, I'd have named it Sock Puppets, because that's about as much individual personality as any character has in this stinker, and you could, without any difficulty, re-enact the entire contents of this book as a series of dull conversations between socks-on-hands.So this book is where I draw the line. Goodbye, Enderverse! I should have quit while you were ahead. Probably shouldn't have started the Beanverse. But definitely should have stopped before Shadow Puppets, which is one of the few complete one-stars I've given a book. Totally boring and totally stupid.Also I was really surprised that he cites Guns, Germs, and Steel as some kind of "inspiration" for the strategic discussions in this book. Don't let Mr. Card's endorsement keep you from reading GGS — it has absolutely nothing to do with anything that is said in this piece of crap.
This was quite a relief.I'll admit that I'm growing a bit tired of the "Enderverse" as it's so often called. The cast of characters Card created are great, but I'm growing a bit tired of having so many books covering the same people. The Shadow series was a nice change of pace, but the previous book had been a bit slow in the action, feeling like the author was treading water.Card got a fire lit under his butt. This book makes up for lost time and moves through events quite well. There are a number of crucial moments in the plot that excited me simply because I had no idea how they would turn out, and each time they did so perfectly logically, as though there was no other possible outcome.Card is great at explaining situations and revealing plot points at just the right moment, providing readers with the right information at the right time, to ensure that the suspense and pacing are moderated exceptionally well. This story is a fantastic example of his abilities. Enough characters are involved, enough plotting is being discussed, and enough ploys are put into motion that it's all quite interesting and even nail-biting-worthy. The characters have senses of humor that had me laugh out loud on several occasions, and the end of the book is quite rewarding, making the book simply *feel* like it was worth reading.This was certainly my favorite book of Card's since Ender's Shadow, and I think this one pulls more adeptly at the emotions. While I didn't cry here (like I did for Ender's Shadow), I certainly cared what happened to each of the characters. I had respect for them, I was sad for them, and I laughed with them, all in turn. An awful lot is revealed about a number of the characters who have been in the stories for quite some time, and the revelations alone are enough to drive the story on. The fact that there are so many twists and turns involved make it that much better.For Card to take such a large cast of characters, such a broad playing field, and such a variety of situations and work them together so smoothly into a series that is already so full of scenarios and surprises is impressive, admirable, commendable, and entirely worth experiencing.
What do You think about Shadow Puppets (2003)?
As the Ender series progresses each book gets significantly sadder. I thought Ender's Shadow was brilliant, I love the parallel novel and I love Bean. This book had some fatal flaws however. What happened to Petra? When did she become a character whose only desire is to pop out a couple of kids and take the minivan to soccer practice? Was she not the best sharpshooter in the whole Battle School? It's as if Card redefines her entire life by the fact that she was the one who cracked up there on Eros so many years ago. She cracked because Ender pushed her hardest (besides Bean who we know is a genetically altered super human who could take it). So she breaks down, so Bean has to take care of her and all of a sudden she's reliant on him to support her in all things, she's degraded to role of wife and mother and nothing else. All she snivels about is her babies, not the fate of the world. In fact, the theme of women stopping work or contributions to the world and just having babies is mentioned to EVERY female character including the brave Virlomi and Mama Wiggin. But I digress...The worst of it was the painfully obvious speech by ::gasp:: gay character Anton who basically says "it doesn't matter if I'm gay, I'm going to marry this woman and make some babies (ew, icky, lady parts!) because that's the only way to be a part of society that matters. Okay, so we have aliens, space travel, and a gay couple can't get a surrogate and have as many babies as they want? I guess that technology disappeared. Final verdict: if you are a completist like me and just want to read the whole series then you have to do it. If you can let go, do it. This shames the previous books. I could seriously write a book about how he destroyed Petra. I need a drink....
—Bailey Kleinberg
Third in the Shadow series, this book follows Bean and other characters from Ender's Game / Ender's Shadow, including Ender's brother Peter, and looks at events that occured on Earth after Ender went off into space.The importance of Ender is repeatedly stressed, and gets more and more awkward throughout the Shadow series because Ender is, well, gone. This and the other Shadow books are more geopolitical, and therefore boring (to me - personal preference). I've just never been a current events type of gal. But if you like that kind of thing, and you want some more great Card writing, along with sweet political machinations and intrigue, then you'll enjoy this.
—Katie
....and here Orson Scott Card goes off the deep end, and uses his characters to push the agenda of marriage being sacrosanct and between one man and one woman only.I had heard he was opposed to same-sex marriage, but as the issue wasn't addressed in the books, I had thought he kept his writing separate from his political views. But dialogue in this book degenerated into a multi-page rant about a man marrying a woman is the meaning of life. Procreation is the meaning of the union, although he 'generously' allows that "even old people beyond mating" and people unable to have children can be "woven into the fabric". Apparently we all have "...a deep hunger to find a person from that strange, terrifyingly other sex and make a life together."Ugh.
—Anna Dalvi
