I just finished reading “Shadow of the Giant” by Orson Scott Card. This is the fourth book in the “Ender’s Shadow” line, which have been following Bean and the other battle school graduates who stayed behind on Earth.
I had hoped that it would be the final book, but it does not seem to have ended just yet. In the previous book, we ended with the abduction of 8 embryos belonging to Bean and Petra. I had expected this book to center around their recovery, but instead the book spent most of its time jumping from character to character, place to place, and even made several jumps forward in time that were difficult to follow.
Mostly, though, I would have loved to have spent more time with each of the pertinent characters, learning more about their motivations and their fates. In particular, I wanted more from Peter. At the end, the story may not have been over but it was over for most of the characters I had grown to know and care for. That, more than anything else, left me with a deep sense of sadness. They were over but nothing was resolved.
Now that I’ve gotten all that out of my system, I still have to stay that Orson Scott Card remains one of my favorite authors and that this story, written in his usual style, contains many of the qualities I have come to know and love. He has created endearing characters, compelling conflict, and insightful futuristic views. He’s already sold me on the sequel, even if I ha hoped there would not be one.