littlemissattitude
Super Moderator
Probably the first question that has to be asked when considering Orson Scott Card’s “Shadow of the Giant” is, does the world really need another entry in the Ender/Bean saga? After all, the previous volume, “The Shadow Puppets”, while advancing the story, had seemed a bit mechanical. It was as if it had been written more because a contract required it than for the sheer love of the story. So I approached “Shadow of the Giant” with more than a bit of trepidation. I had actually finished “Shadow Puppets” mostly because I had gone out and bought it in hardback. Not willing to make the same mistake again, I checked “Shadow of the Giant” out of the library.
To my delight and relief, “Shadow of the Giant” is a much better book than “The Shadow Puppets”. There is perhaps a little too much military strategy there for my own personal taste, but there is also a very human story of love and inevitable loss, of family (and not just the traditional nuclear kind), as well as some interesting meditations on belief and how it must be freely given and not coerced. Above all, it is a very timely look at the difficulties of putting together a world of peace when the default position seems to be a world of division and hate and strife and war.
For those unfamiliar with the Ender/Bean saga, there have been several wars against an alien civilization that brought the Earth together to beat a universal enemy, very much reminiscent of something Ronald Reagan said when he was U.S. President. But after an army of children, led by Andrew “Ender” Wiggin and shadowed by Julian Delphiki, known as Bean for his small stature just in case something were to happen to Ender, that unity disintegrates. Wars rage, alliances change, and Ender’s crew find themselves used by their various nations to try to get and keep the upper hand against their enemies.
As “Shadow of the Giant” opens, Islam (led by one of Ender’s comrades) has conquered China and India and Peter Wiggin, Ender’s older brother, who has taken the largely powerless office of Hegemon is trying to end war and oppression and bring peace to Earth. Bean has become Peter’s lead strategist. Ender has been sent by faster than light ship to help found a new colony and is not a factor in the action. Well, not directly. But, after having married and created a number of frozen fertilized eggs with his wife, which were stolen by the man whose genetic experiments had resulted in Bean, Bean is dying. It turns out that a side effect of the genetic tinkering is initial small stature followed by an increasing growth rate leading inevitably to giantism and death. Chances are that at least some of the babies will have also inherited their father’s condition.
“Shadow of the Giant” chronicles the progress of Peter, in his role as Hegemon, in uniting the peoples of Earth in peace and the efforts of Bean and his wife Petra to regain their babies, which have been implanted in other women, and to find a cure for Bean’s affliction. Which is where “family” comes into the story. At one point the idea is introduced that a family is a self-contained unit and that everything external to the family is ultimately inconsequential to the family. This idea causes some conflict when Bean and Petra must go off, sometimes in separate directions, to help Peter in his quest for peace. This conflict is enhanced by the limited time they will actually have together as a family. But the story also, I think, raises the question of the human family and that perhaps in that context the sacrifices that Bean and Petra must make in terms of their nuclear family are actually in the service of the larger human family. Obviously, I don’t know if that is what Card intended when he wrote “Shadow of the Giant”, but I certainly saw those implications in the story.
Perhaps the biggest flaw in “Shadow of the Giant” is that unless the reader knows the previous volumes in the series, there is a certain amount of the story that is not self-evident. So, I am not sure how much someone who hasn’t read the series will be able to enjoy this installment. But I suppose that is one of the risks a writer assumes when he or she writes a series like this. Still, I would say that giving “Shadow of the Giant” a try is a must for fans of the series. For those who have not read any of the books beginning with “Ender’s Game”, there are still rewards here. They just might be a little more difficult to get to.
To my delight and relief, “Shadow of the Giant” is a much better book than “The Shadow Puppets”. There is perhaps a little too much military strategy there for my own personal taste, but there is also a very human story of love and inevitable loss, of family (and not just the traditional nuclear kind), as well as some interesting meditations on belief and how it must be freely given and not coerced. Above all, it is a very timely look at the difficulties of putting together a world of peace when the default position seems to be a world of division and hate and strife and war.
For those unfamiliar with the Ender/Bean saga, there have been several wars against an alien civilization that brought the Earth together to beat a universal enemy, very much reminiscent of something Ronald Reagan said when he was U.S. President. But after an army of children, led by Andrew “Ender” Wiggin and shadowed by Julian Delphiki, known as Bean for his small stature just in case something were to happen to Ender, that unity disintegrates. Wars rage, alliances change, and Ender’s crew find themselves used by their various nations to try to get and keep the upper hand against their enemies.
As “Shadow of the Giant” opens, Islam (led by one of Ender’s comrades) has conquered China and India and Peter Wiggin, Ender’s older brother, who has taken the largely powerless office of Hegemon is trying to end war and oppression and bring peace to Earth. Bean has become Peter’s lead strategist. Ender has been sent by faster than light ship to help found a new colony and is not a factor in the action. Well, not directly. But, after having married and created a number of frozen fertilized eggs with his wife, which were stolen by the man whose genetic experiments had resulted in Bean, Bean is dying. It turns out that a side effect of the genetic tinkering is initial small stature followed by an increasing growth rate leading inevitably to giantism and death. Chances are that at least some of the babies will have also inherited their father’s condition.
“Shadow of the Giant” chronicles the progress of Peter, in his role as Hegemon, in uniting the peoples of Earth in peace and the efforts of Bean and his wife Petra to regain their babies, which have been implanted in other women, and to find a cure for Bean’s affliction. Which is where “family” comes into the story. At one point the idea is introduced that a family is a self-contained unit and that everything external to the family is ultimately inconsequential to the family. This idea causes some conflict when Bean and Petra must go off, sometimes in separate directions, to help Peter in his quest for peace. This conflict is enhanced by the limited time they will actually have together as a family. But the story also, I think, raises the question of the human family and that perhaps in that context the sacrifices that Bean and Petra must make in terms of their nuclear family are actually in the service of the larger human family. Obviously, I don’t know if that is what Card intended when he wrote “Shadow of the Giant”, but I certainly saw those implications in the story.
Perhaps the biggest flaw in “Shadow of the Giant” is that unless the reader knows the previous volumes in the series, there is a certain amount of the story that is not self-evident. So, I am not sure how much someone who hasn’t read the series will be able to enjoy this installment. But I suppose that is one of the risks a writer assumes when he or she writes a series like this. Still, I would say that giving “Shadow of the Giant” a try is a must for fans of the series. For those who have not read any of the books beginning with “Ender’s Game”, there are still rewards here. They just might be a little more difficult to get to.
