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Shadow Puppets (Shadow Saga #3)

3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 · rating details · 24,059 ratings · 493 reviews

A Sequel to The New York Times Bestselling Enders's Shadow

Bestselling author Orson Scott Card brings to life a new chapter in the saga of Ender's Earth.

Earth and its society has been changed irrevocably in the aftermath of Ender Wiggin's victory over the Formics--the unity enforced upon the warring nations by an alien enemy has shattered. Nations are rising again, seeking

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Paperback, 384 pages

Published June 16th 2003 by Tor Science Fiction (first published August 9th 2002)

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Nov 16, 2011 Alex rated it 1 of 5 stars

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 anythi...more

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May 08, 2011 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, audiobook, award-nominee-locus, 2000-2005, children-behaving-badly, war-sff, warriors, military-fiction, science-fiction, political-fiction

AND LET ME MAKE THIS PERFECTLY CLEAR...

For those of you interested in learning to make hand “shadow puppets” or reading more about the movie starring “James Marsters,” I invite you to check out their entries in Wikipedia for more information. For those interested in the origin and history of the band consisting of Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane of The Rascals...well...you should be ashamed of yourselves and I will not be an enabler for you.

For this review, we will be discuss...more

23 likes · like · see review

Mar 15, 2008 Chris Friend rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Ender or sci-fi fans

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 num...more 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.(less)

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Aug 07, 2011 Synesthesia rated it 1 of 5 stars

Petra- I want to have your babies, Bean, even if you have a fatal genetic disease that might pass down to the kids and kill them painfully at a young age.

Bean-I don't want you to have my babies because I have a fatal genetic disease that might pass down to the kids and kill them painfully at a young age and anyway, I'm not human.

Anton-Even though I'm gay, I'm going to marry a woman and have babies with her because you can't be gay and be part of the Web of Life. You have to marry someone of the...more

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Mar 24, 2010 Jacob rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, card

March 2010
Previously: Shadow of the Hegemon

It’s been, oh, some amount of time since the ~~Buggers~~ Formics were defeated and Ender was exiled from Earth. A lot has happened since. Peter Wiggin is a nearly-powerless Hegemon working in Brazil; the great powers are doing whatever the hell they want; Achilles, the great mastermind behind it all, has been freed from the Chinese and taken to the one place he hasn’t had an opportunity to screw over yet; and Bean is in love. Or so we’re told. What we aren’...more

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Apr 07, 2007 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 ty...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Mandie Mc rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: no one, seriously

Shelves: unfinished, reviewed

I used to be the sort of person who prided herself on not quitting a book. Much as I flit from one project to another, leaving things unfinished, books and movies deserved my full efforts, no matter how abysmal they might seem in the beginning.

Thanks to a run of bad novels, I've changed my mind. Life is too short to finish a book that doesn't grip you. It's definitely too short to finish a book that makes you roll your eyes, chapter after chapter.

I trudged through the first hour or two of this...more

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Sep 13, 2007 Debbie rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: science fiction fans

Shelves: sciencefiction

Peter Wiggin, still the Hegemon, makes a serious mistake when he rescues Achilles from the Chinese. Peter thinks he can control Achilles, but Achilles quickly gains the upper hand and forces Peter to flee for his life. Meanwhile, Petra finally convinces Bean to have children with her, but he insists that any embryos with his altereded genes be destroyed. Of course, the extra embryos are stolen and Bean and Petra try to recover them in a showdown with Achilles.

Though I am quite tired of the propa...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Kat rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

The Post-Bugger war for control of Earth grinds on, but Card's main interest seems to lie in philosophizing at length--mostly about the innate, evolutionary need of humans to reproduce, whether they like it or not, and he uses formerly-interesting characters Bean and Petra as his mouthpieces. The villain, Achilles, becomes even more of a ridiculous bugbear, and less of an actual character.

I have a great deal of respect for Card as an author, but the "Shadow" series, after such a magnificent star...more

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Mar 13, 2011 Peter added it · review of another edition

Human interest dimension trumps geopolitics: This novel continues the story of Bean and Petra's struggle against the evil genius Achilles, last seen in Chinese custody. When Achille usurps the office of Hegemon, Bean, Petra, and Peter Wiggin must all go into hiding, where Peter experiences a taste of humility and a renewed relationship with his parents and Bean and Petra fall in love and decide to start a family. These human aspects of the plot are its strongest elements and raise this story abo...more

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Feb 09, 2009 Summer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I continue to be thoroughly disgusted with the Wiggin parents. They pull off this super-dumb charade all of their childrens' lives and then one morning they kick Peter out of bed and say, okay, we've been smart all along, now you're supposed to listen to us. Sure, Peter deserved it, but he needed it more than ten years ago when he was still terrorizing his little brother. And the really weird part is, this belated smackdown somehow makes them into a better family. Whatever.

The real bass-ackwardn...more I continue to be thoroughly disgusted with the Wiggin parents. They pull off this super-dumb charade all of their childrens' lives and then one morning they kick Peter out of bed and say, okay, we've been smart all along, now you're supposed to listen to us. Sure, Peter deserved it, but he needed it more than ten years ago when he was still terrorizing his little brother. And the really weird part is, this belated smackdown somehow makes them into a better family. Whatever.

The real bass-ackwardness of the premise of this book is that it touts the sacredness of babymaking in a world where kids are sent to war, or left to scrounge among themselves on the streets of Rotterdam. The Wiggins never once stand up to the system. Even when Teresa Wiggin snubs Graf, I get the idea that it's her personal pain, not the fate of her children, that matters most to her. Nor do they take their parenting duties on a more personal level very seriously. Teresa professes that the child she's left with is the one she 'likes least.' Her attempt to assassinate Achilles is laughable, especially for a person of her alleged intellegence. When she suggests to her husband, "Let's have more," I really wanted to punt the MP3 player through a window. It's not even funny at that point.

Petra is a far more sympathetic advocate for parenthood - in love with a man she believes will die young. Even then, she lays it on pretty thick. Echoing another reader's comment, it's a wee bit disturbing for someone as young as she is to be so obsessed. It also gets in the way of things that she's already keeping secrets from Bean - once he's dead, it'll be none of his business if she implants the embryos that have Anton's key turned. She comes across as a little more catty than wounded in that line. I worry that she may become as dense a parent as the Wiggins. I also wonder if she's going to figure out that any of her babies that have Anton's key turned will die within her lifetime, and whether she's emotionally prepared to bury them along with her husband. I'm suddenly appreciating just how rare Ender's emotional intellegence is among child geniouses.

Bean's change of heart is stretching it quite a bit, too. For being as gung-ho as he's been about not passing his condition on to his children, he sure changes his mind fast. Sure, he's got a short time to live, but to go straight to the fertility clinic after a single conversation with Anton? But of course without that, the story couldn't happen. The whole plot was just way too contrived. I think maybe if it was a little more ironic, if Bean was a little more open about suspecting what was about to happen, but wanted to have children anyway, I could have bought it. That he didn't see it coming? Please.

Anton was just the cherry on top for me. Marrying him to a woman so he could have kids? Gag. I might have taken this book a little more seriously if he'd decided to have or adopt children with a same-sex life partner, but at that point I decided it was a right-wing spew and started tuning out.

Credit where it's due, though, it's a real talent that can put so much to hate in a book, but so want to make you keep reading. If it's true, as Bean so poetically put it in Shadow of the Hegemon, that you don't need to eat the whole turd to find out it's not a crabcake, I guess the joke's on me.(less)

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Jun 07, 2013 David Bonesteel rated it 4 of 5 stars

This novel continues the story of Bean and Petra's struggle against the evil genius Achilles, last seen in Chinese custody. When Achille usurps the office of Hegemon, Bean, Petra, and Peter Wiggin must all go into hiding, where Peter experiences a taste of humility and a renewed relationship with his parents and Bean and Petra fall in love and decide to start a family. These human aspects of the plot are its strongest elements and raise this story above the level of its predeccessor.

The weakest...more

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Jun 02, 2013 Christophe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

L'Hégémon Peter Wiggin a pris la décision de faire évader le redoutable Achille, psychopathe avéré, des geôles chinoises. Il croit pouvoir se servi de lui. Mais n'est-ce pas une grave erreur ? Ne risque-t-il pas de remettre en selle l'homme le plus dangereux de la planète?

Bien sûr, il y a le génial Bean, ultime recours. Mais Bean a d'autres problèmes, d'autres angoisses à affronter. Enfant miracle d'une manipulation génétique, il sait que sa mort est proche. Et Pétra, son amie de toujours, sa

...more

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May 31, 2013 The Thousander Club rated it 2 of 5 stars

Adam C. Zern opines on Orson Scott Card's 7th book in the Ender series . . .

"Seven books into a series, what can an author do to keep the stories and characters interesting? How does the author keep the drama, humor, and the other various elements of a story from becoming stultified? Having read Shadow Puppets I have to conclude that Orson Scott Card may be losing his stride. Granted, Shadow Puppets is really the third book in the Bean (Shadow) trilogy, which began with Ender's Shadow, but that...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Jenna St Hilaire rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of Card's strengths as a writer is the ability to portray people with consistent philosophies that take in both thought and emotion. I've never spotted anyone better at this; he does a spectacular job, even when the characters' philosophies don't necessarily line up with his own.

Perhaps especially then. In Speaker for the Dead, the humanist Ender and the Catholics of Lusitania come to some beautiful understandings—not understandings that contradict the LDS faith, but that support a mostly sy...more One of Card's strengths as a writer is the ability to portray people with consistent philosophies that take in both thought and emotion. I've never spotted anyone better at this; he does a spectacular job, even when the characters' philosophies don't necessarily line up with his own.

Perhaps especially then. In Speaker for the Dead, the humanist Ender and the Catholics of Lusitania come to some beautiful understandings—not understandings that contradict the LDS faith, but that support a mostly symbolic expression of it. In Shadow Puppets, the ideals of marriage and family emphatically put forward by Theresa Wiggin in Shadow of the Hegemon reappear, this time championed by the gay scientist Anton. And while Card is too deft at character thought process for me to be sure that the professor's thoughts are a direct echo of the author's, Theresa Wiggin's Mormonism suggests some parity. Either way, the end result comes off a shade more heavy-handed than I'm used to reading from Card.

If Anton's panegyric on marriage and the making of children contributes to the general conviction that Card is a homophobe, however, then the general conviction could stand to take a great big deep breath. Which needs to happen anyway. Card, by all accounts, is an honorable man, not to mention a superior artist whose work would be worth reading regardless, and he certainly does not hate or fear homosexuals. The force of Anton's argument is simply that even the homosexual person does not escape the hardwired-in longing "to be an inextricable part of the human race"—a profoundly humanizing theme.

Ideals formed the basis for some of the major internal struggles in this novel, and, obviousness aside, were responsible for some truly beautiful moments. I part company with Anton on the concept of marriage and children as the meaning of life—I see the human family as ultimately symbolic of higher unions and integrations, and therefore his ideal seems oddly earthbound to me—but his words about the aforementioned human longing, despite our differences in definition, struck me as solid truth. And Bean had moments of realized emotion toward the idea of his own children that were just lovely.

The external struggles of the novel focused on Peter Wiggin's attempt to achieve hegemony, Achilles' plotting, and the movements of future China, India, and the Muslim world in battle. Peter, described in Ender's Game as having "the soul of a jackal", is softened but still recognizable through his arrogance, genius, and depression; there's also something very moving about watching John Paul and Theresa throw themselves into the work and protection of their one remaining child. As for Achilles, the cracks in the icy-blooded villain begin to show through in this novel. And while we're talking characters, Virlomi, Alai, Suriyawong, and to some extent Hot Soup all have intriguing and fitting roles to play in the story.

With its sometimes ordinary phrasing, emphatic ideals, and what struck me as a possibly cliched image of Chinese expansionist communism—maybe just because I'm so tired of politics—Shadow Puppets lacks some of the breathtaking subtlety and strength of Card's best novels. It certainly can't match the first two Ender books or Ender's Shadow. But a second-tier Card novel is still good work. I'm glad to have the sequel, Shadow of the Giant, at hand.

Fangirl postscript: Bean and Petra forever. That is all.(less)

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Jan 17, 2013 Long Le rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read the entire book series over the course of a month, so I find it kind of hard to remember where one book ends and which one begins. I've always been eager to hear the end of the story. What lies ahead for our beloved characters? I needed to know, and so partly because I had nothing else to do, and partly because I was eager for true closure I read on.

Peter seems so much more human than the books before led him on to be. He doesn't seem like any type of monster at all to be quite honest. Th...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Serina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: high-school

*4.6
Bean's brilliance amazed me, (view spoiler) I was glad to see that characters from the previous books were given more important roles in this one. I gained respect for Suriyawong, Virlomi, Alai, Ambul, and even, Peter. The book also had more humorous moments than previous ones (e.g. Peter's parents). The only thing I did not like as much was the mixture of (perhaps Card's own) political and ethical belie...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Eric Herboso rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: soft-science-fiction

Although it goes without saying that I strongly disagree with certain philosophical underpinnings of this book, I nevertheless consider this a good novel in the Ender Series. The characters are written well and act in ways that I enjoyed reading, even if I disapprove of them.

If you have not read the novel before, please stop reading.

The major problem with this book is the continuing homophobia that the author inserts into the main characters' philosophies. While the character who most resembles...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Adam rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Look, the plotting is expertly paced. Things make sense. You are presented with a simplified world and the only way it can be expanded is how Card chooses to. It's a good ride. The problem is all the duct tape around the plot, the belief systems that force this world into what it is.

Card is very very anti gay, anti abortion. This is fine. This is less fine when it suddenly drives the point of the book, down to the morals and character moments we are being handed. Bean desperately wants a family...more Look, the plotting is expertly paced. Things make sense. You are presented with a simplified world and the only way it can be expanded is how Card chooses to. It's a good ride. The problem is all the duct tape around the plot, the belief systems that force this world into what it is.

Card is very very anti gay, anti abortion. This is fine. This is less fine when it suddenly drives the point of the book, down to the morals and character moments we are being handed. Bean desperately wants a family because, well, it's in his genes. The boyman has a wonderfully interesting universe inside him, where selfishness hits altruism in all kinds of grays. The previous books did great jobs of exploring this, and the first half of this one does as well. But once a certain choice is made, Bean is done. His final act is meant to jar, and it does, not just because we are so used to the worldwide conflict around and not just because Achilles has become the kind of character that sucks himself through your teeth every time he does anything, but because it's centered around Card's own philosophy. Petra started as a lone rebel in a group of misfits and became a smart but proper housewife, yearning for a baby, because..her genes? There is a truly moving scenario to come from her previous something-like-half-a-year trapped with a madman, and this is skipped almost utterly. She is dependent, she wants a baby, and the problem is not about her but about whether the offspring will be human. Add to this that neither of these main character's parents seem to exist in any way, and the whole facade fell out from my eyes.

I felt like I was watching a very crafty liar go through a series of backpedals. Achilles is smart, but he goes down quickly; Peter is Narcissus incarnate, but he changes his mind in a snap decision that apparently redeems him and changes his character enough to allow him to become the leader the world deserves. Alai is all but a deus ex machina to fix the problems that introducing Great Men to the worldwide strategy zone have created for Card. He simply can't keep up with his own plot anymore. So the streamlining, centered around a family formed from a philosophy that came from the author's mouth more than the character's past lives, made for a very emotionally fragmented bit of preparation for what I can only hope is a somewhat satisfying finale. Nevermind the numbingly prim writing, random literary references, and smart-via-cynicism that still holds onto so many of these characters. Some remarks were great, most were shy attempts at character.

I don't like it when books have to jump between their reality and ours to maintain a pretend consistency. This books borrows from too many places, and forgets to thank its debtors. I simply can't follow along with these people any longer. Compare this to Grapes of Wrath, or Flowers for Algernon even. Those are characters who you watch grow, you feel their pain. The puppet show was too thin in this one. I could see the hands behind it.(less)

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Mar 24, 2011 Nicholas Karpuk rated it 1 of 5 stars

I gave up on this book about halfway through. I seem to recall saying I'd give up on the Shadow books after the last one, but this was loaned to me, so I have that comfort at least.

This book is uncomfortably fixated on breeding. The opinions espoused on passing on genetics in this book rival the weird rantings from Xenocide when it comes to sheer needless ranting. Unfortunately, this book lacks the solid plot buried beneath the blather.

Card is still playing a game of Risk with world powers, and...more

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Sep 11, 2010 Chad Warner rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of Ender's Game

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction

I really liked Shadow of the Hegemon, so I couldn't wait to continue the story of Bean and Petra in this book. This book doesn't contain as much action, and the story wasn't as compelling, but it does advance the story and fills in more blanks.

You can tell that Card is a political and military history buff, and he spends too much time explaining the war between China, India, Thailand, and other nations. At points, this seems to distract from the characters' stories.

In the first 2 books of this...more

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Sep 29, 2009 Annette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

Shadow of the Hegemon

The "Shadow" series (Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, and Shadow of the Giant) follows Bean, one of Ender's lieutenants in the famous "game." Where "Ender's Shadow' is an actual parallel novel to "Game," the rest of the Shadow series takes place immediately after the defeat of the Buggers. (Readers of Ender's own series will recall that he and his sister leave earth and spend the next several hundred years popping around at near light speed.)
I've read...more Shadow of the Hegemon

The "Shadow" series (Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, and Shadow of the Giant) follows Bean, one of Ender's lieutenants in the famous "game." Where "Ender's Shadow' is an actual parallel novel to "Game," the rest of the Shadow series takes place immediately after the defeat of the Buggers. (Readers of Ender's own series will recall that he and his sister leave earth and spend the next several hundred years popping around at near light speed.)
I've read all four books in the last month or so, and frankly they've all run together and I cannot write an individual review. The plot ostensibly follows Peter Wiggin's attempt to become Earth's "Hegemon" in fact as well as title, but in fact he is always a relatively minor character (and refreshingly rather less of a monster than he was in "Game") compared to Bean and a few other members of Ender's "jeesh," including Petra, Alai, and Han Tzu, plus a few other Battle Schoolers. These characters, now in their late teens or early twenties (a few years younger for Bean) find themselves - some intentionally, some unintentionally - up to their elbows in world politics. "Hegemon" and "Puppets" also star Achilles (that's "uh-SHEEL," not "a-KILL-ees"), Bean's nemesis from the streets of Rotterdam. Bean himself mostly wants to find a way to not die - either by asassination from Achilles or his genetic disorder - but finds he has to take a far more active roll in world events than he desires. He also falls in love, but I'll reveal no more. :)
As in nearly all of Card's sci-fi and fantasy, the world is full of obscenely, impossibly, and even (in one case) inhumanly smart children. Even so, it tugs at the bounds of believability that even given the setup from "Game" that these children (between 12 and 16 years old after the war) are given so much power. It tugs even more that Achilles, convicted murder and *not* a graduate of Battle School (he spent only days there), could himself become so trusted by three major world powers. (It also strains the bounds of believability that he could be as smart as he is, given that he spent even more years than Bean starving on the streets.) These facts however are central to the plot and so we must accept them. Once we have, the series - which is as always far more about psychology and character relationships than gritty, believable action or politics - is quite enjoyable. Bean, who shares few characteristics w/ Ender aside from impossible genius, is nevertheless a compelling and likable character who develops believably and satisfyingly throughout the series.
While none of the Ender or Shadow series ever recaptured the lightning in a bottle that was Ender's Game, they're still all worth reading.
(less)

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Mar 24, 2012 Jonathan Cate rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Shadow Puppets is the continuation of the three part story arch that began with Shadow pf the Hegemon. All the writing style is the same. Character interactions/conversations drive the story. The plot is straight forward and there really aren't any twists to speak. The story build systematically to it's inevitable confrontation at the end of the book and sets the stage for the third and final book in the trilogy.

Again, as in the previous book, the political and military strategy is interesting...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars

#12/26 on "Authors who should have quit while they were ahead."

Ender's Game, 350k reads
Xenocide, (Ender's Game #2) 70k reads
Ender's Shadow (series reboot), 50k reads

... and then...

down to 21k reads.

the material is getting pretty thin on the ground here. it's not absolutely unreadable, just a matter of one pat of margarine being scraped over lots and lots of bread. we're just continuing "Great Power Risk" as played out in ~~Mitt Romney's~~ Orson Scott Card's head, circa 2020.

can be parodied simply a...more

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May 30, 2012 Jenny GB rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 22, 2012 Zach rated it 1 of 5 stars

Fundamentally, I don't think I can understand Orson Scott Card. Even if Bean is able to get into Achille's head, I don't get why Card is writing such awful novels. He should have ended it all after Children of the Mind (which should have been annexed into Xenocide). Ender's Shadow may lie as the only exception.

The book is shallow, shamelessly upholds and proselytizes Christian values but you don't think about it because Card is using an atheist character to do it. While Speaker and Xenocide dea...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Marta rated it 3 of 5 stars

Okey, so I have a bit of a problem with Shadow Puppets. I've somehow lost time-line, thus having no idea whatsoever about the age of both protagonists.

At numerous points through-out the story it is hinted that Bean is below age of 20. In fact, most of the character crew is about the same age. Then again, it is implied that some time has passed since Peter took over the Hegemony. And where did Beans title as Strategos go?

So, there are some inconsistencies in the story, that kind of get annoying....more

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Dec 11, 2012 Liz rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: ender's game fans

Recommended to Liz by: bobby fanelle

Shelves: fiction, fiction-series, sci-fi, young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 27, 2011 Carolyn Lu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: loved

Wow. I seriously didn't think Orson Scott Card could write about...almost everything in the book. Many people criticize his political writing, but personally, I find it likable and interesting. Besides how well he pulled off describing a relatively realistic situation in future-world politics, he also surprised me with just how much emotion he could put in Bean.

I became used to having Bean as the cold genius, and Card describing Bean in love, panicking, and god forbid CRYING, was absolutely amaz...more Wow. I seriously didn't think Orson Scott Card could write about...almost everything in the book. Many people criticize his political writing, but personally, I find it likable and interesting. Besides how well he pulled off describing a relatively realistic situation in future-world politics, he also surprised me with just how much emotion he could put in Bean.

I became used to having Bean as the cold genius, and Card describing Bean in love, panicking, and god forbid CRYING, was absolutely amazing. Bean's transition into civilian status also seemed completely believable. When I realized I'd stopped associating Bean with military operations, and only thought of him in terms of his struggles and life with Petra, I was thoroughly shocked.

It's interesting how Orson Scott Card has included "love" in every book in the Enderverse (at least the 5 I've read), but I've never believed he could write romance in the more mundane sense. I'll admit I found all the battle school students' sudden desire to "make babies" (this wording was...awkward and a bit repetitive) pretty surprising. And Bean was also a bit young (some age below 16) for certain aspects of his relationship with Petra. But Orson Scott Card wrote it tastefully, and not without reason.

I loved the dialogue throughout the book, as always. The mix of slang and witty banter, along with the many thought-jumps made by the more intelligent battle school students, has always entertained me.

Along with Bean's obvious development, Peter's character development was also excellent. Peter's never been described as the most intelligent of the genii, but having him admit that TRULY, and finally see his parents' worth, was great. The only small criticism I have was that I didn't really feel the turning point. It was literally one day, Peter's confident as ever, and the next morning, he's completely reasonable with his parents' warnings and eventually becomes depressed about his failings.

As for the overall plot, I found it exciting, but not all together meaningful. But that isn't necessary, when there are so many strong characters. Even if I didn't really see the point of what they were doing (opposing Chinese expansionism?) though, I was definitely invested enough in the characters and their wellbeing that I cared about their success.

I look forward to reading the next book in the Shadow Series.(less)

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Mar 25, 2013 Tony rated it 3 of 5 stars

After a few days of trudging through this book I have to say that it was...not too bad at least.

OSC pays a lot of attention to detail and, to me at least, knows exactly how he wants his readers to feel about a certain situation whether it be between characters, discussing tactics, or hashing through politics. However, he gets a little too bogged down with the details and some of the war tactics seem a bit too easy.

One thing that I do love that OSC does is his insight into what humans tick and ho...more

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About Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools.
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th...more

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“It will hurt." said Petra. "But let's make the most of what we have, and not let future pain ruin present happiness.” — 48 people liked it

“So you love me," said Petra softly when the kiss ended.

I'm a raging mass of hormones thet I'm too young to understand," said Bean. "You're a female of a closely related species. According to all the best primatologists, I really have no choice."

That's nice," she said...” — 16 people liked it

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Shadow Puppets (Shadow Saga #3)

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