Shadow of the Giant - OSC
Jun. 24th, 2006 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jebbypalI don't normally do reviews of books I read, but here goes. I'm out of practice and have become really bad at making myself understood lately (or so says my boss), so I hope it's readable
Overally, I don't recommend this book if you have read the original trilogy of Ender's Game, Speaker of the Dead, and Children of the Mind. I really don't recommend it unless you've read Ender's Shadow.
Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card
This is probably the weakest book I've ever read by Card. Don't take me wrong, I love his writing. Between him, Heinlein, and Piers Anthony, I neglected many other good writers while I gulped down almost everything they ever wrote. What I always loved about Card's writing was the characters as well as the way he confronted philosophy in his work. It made Pastwatch amazing (the one can't miss book besides Ender's Game that you must go and buy now if you haven't read it). And the characters in Shadow of the Giant aren't developed. If you haven't read Ender's Game and Ender's shadow, these people won't resonate. hell, having read both of those and almost every other Ender series book, they don't resonate with me until the last fifty pages. And that's a crying shame.
Now then, if you like and love political and military strategy, then you won't be skipping over huge chunks of the book. I bought it because I love the character of Bean, but you barely get to know him in this book if you didn't read Ender's Shadow. Worse, you see nothing new of him. Emotionally, this is more Petra's book. With a lot of Peter thrown in. It's one big battle book and not much characterization.
He's written much better stuff and this is simply a rehash of what he did in Shadow of the Hegemon. Worse, we don't see the events that really change Peter so it's rather like seeing a new character. There are a couple of shining moments, but it's the first time I've regretted buy a Card book and the first time I wished I'd stopped reading because there would really be more enjoyable things to do.
Overally, I don't recommend this book if you have read the original trilogy of Ender's Game, Speaker of the Dead, and Children of the Mind. I really don't recommend it unless you've read Ender's Shadow.
Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card
This is probably the weakest book I've ever read by Card. Don't take me wrong, I love his writing. Between him, Heinlein, and Piers Anthony, I neglected many other good writers while I gulped down almost everything they ever wrote. What I always loved about Card's writing was the characters as well as the way he confronted philosophy in his work. It made Pastwatch amazing (the one can't miss book besides Ender's Game that you must go and buy now if you haven't read it). And the characters in Shadow of the Giant aren't developed. If you haven't read Ender's Game and Ender's shadow, these people won't resonate. hell, having read both of those and almost every other Ender series book, they don't resonate with me until the last fifty pages. And that's a crying shame.
Now then, if you like and love political and military strategy, then you won't be skipping over huge chunks of the book. I bought it because I love the character of Bean, but you barely get to know him in this book if you didn't read Ender's Shadow. Worse, you see nothing new of him. Emotionally, this is more Petra's book. With a lot of Peter thrown in. It's one big battle book and not much characterization.
He's written much better stuff and this is simply a rehash of what he did in Shadow of the Hegemon. Worse, we don't see the events that really change Peter so it's rather like seeing a new character. There are a couple of shining moments, but it's the first time I've regretted buy a Card book and the first time I wished I'd stopped reading because there would really be more enjoyable things to do.