Shadow Puppets (Shadow Saga) (Paperback)

Here we find Bean growing beyond the norm, symptomatic of his genetic flaw that will eventually kill him while still a young man. And growing in other ways, as his relationship with Petra finally flowers under her tenacious insistence. This is probably the best part of this novel, as we see sides of the two that have not been in great evidence in the prior works. And we get some small looks into the thoughts and characters of some of the other Battle School graduates, mainly Virlomi, Han Tzu and Alai, each of whom contribute some major items towards Peter and Bean winning their current battle with Achilles. The Wiggin parents emerge from obscurity and are revealed to be (unsurprisingly) very intelligent and (surprisingly) quite forceful. All good things...

So where does this book fail? The main failure is Peter Wiggin himself. For a man who could sway world opinion with his exacting, careful logic as Locke and browbeat everyone into emotional frenzy as Demosthenes, Peter is depicted here as a remarkably stupid, arrogant, and emotional teenager. Achilles, the demon, remains almost totally offstage, providing little room for dramatic confrontations, and what ones there are come off as almost anti-climatic. And finally, the circumstance that draws Bean back into the struggle between Peter and Achilles was totally preventable, a very sad and uncharacteristic lack of foresight by both Bean and Petra. These items do much to kill any major excitement in this work, even though the major (world) battle could have formed a taught political and military thriller.

Is this book readable? Certainly. Card is still an excellent writer. His prose, descriptions, and dialogue (especially the back-and-forth between Bean and Petra) are all well formed and his moral insights flow from the premise of the story. But this one just doesn't have the edge-of-the-seat tension, the incredible insight into human character that have been the hallmarks of his best work.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

Peter Wiggin (a.k.a. the Hegemon, among other alias names), Julian Delphiki (a.k.a. "Bean"), and Petra Arkanian must deal with Achilles de Flandres. Achilles, if you recall from the previous books, was a genius. Mentally, however, he was very unstable. He wanted nothing more than the deaths of Peter, Bean, and Petra. Second on Achilles's list of things-to-do was to conquer all, starting with the Hegemony!

Suriyawong, Virlomi, Hyrum Graff, and Volescu appear as secondary characters. They were not just for show or used as "fillers" though. Each had vital roles in the book and possibly in the next. (My hope springs eternal.)

***** If you have not read the previous books, I highly recommend that you begin at the beginning, with ENDER'S GAME. Not only because all in this series is fantastic, but also because you when previous characters or events are mentioned, you would totally understand the reference and feel more a part of Card's vast universe. This author does not insult the intelligence of his readers; therefore, he will not go into deep detail on past events. He just mentions a person or event and carries on with the current story. I love that in an author!

Orson Scott Card made a fan of me with ENDER'S GAME. Of course, since I enjoyed it so much, I handed it over to my husband and the "Ender's Bug" (as I call it) bit him too. Card quickly made his way from my list of "Good Authors", to my list of "Favorite Authors", and currently resides on my "Elite List" which contains only four names (and one of them are deceased). I tell you that so you may understand that I do NOT consider myself to be overly dramatic when I say, "If you love Sci-Fi, you MUST read this series!"

Orson Scott Card rules the Sci-Fi universe! *****