Shadows in Flight

Shadows in Flight
By: Orson Scott Card
Copyright: 2012
Tom Doherty Associates

4 Bookmarks out of 5

This is probably the most recent book I have ever reviewed on my blog so far - and will probably ever review on my blog. I borrowed this book from the library for reasons that I will get to discuss later in this post. I am a huge fan of the Ender Saga ever since I downloaded it to my nook about a year ago. I loved the universe and characters that Orson Scott Card creates in this saga and Shadows in Flight certainly did not disappoint those of us whom have been anxiously awaiting the release of this book.

For one thing, fans of the Ender universe will love how it continues in this book. The Shadow of the Giant really left us wondering what would happen to Bean and his children with the giant gene turned on. Card managed to create a book where the characters were isolated enough to believe that they were traveling through time at a slower rate than humanity, but gave us enough interaction to make us turn the page and continue reading. Shadows in Flight is not a very hard book to read - indeed, I love how Card manages to make his books about children but have those children deal with very real and very adult themes.

That being said, I was also glad to see a continuation and conclusion for Bean's saga. I'll be the first to admit that I was slow to like the character of Bean. It really irked me that he was so sure of himself and how smart he was. But Bean eventually grew on me through the Shadow companions to the Ender Universe. I loved how he commanded forces and was a great person to have in a fight. In this book, though, you get to see the sentimental side of Bean. And, to be honest, I was kind of disappointed. I didn't want to see Bean so incapacitated that he was just a voice in his childrens' ears. I wanted to see him in action - kicking ass, really, just like he did against Achilles. But I guess parenthood changes everyone, including Bean.

Other than Bean, I felt like the characterization of Bean's children is really well done. Whenever a series introduces new characters, it's a hit or a miss on whether or not a reader will buy into those characters enough to accept them as the new direction of the plot. Card did this mainly by giving each character a niche that he or she was best at. The only characterization I couldn't get my mind around was that of Cinninatus - he went from wanting to kill Bean to being one of the team. Although Card got around this by explaining the emotional dilemma inside Cinninatus, I still felt like it was a little forced.

Another few things that didn't sit well with me was the incestuous undertones of starting a new civilization based on Andrew, Carlotta, and Cinninatus. Card brushes this off by saying neither sex is important in creating a civilization - that each person has the ability to create their own offspring but the thought of Bean's grandchildren starting another civilization as half-siblings really creeped me out. Card also had more than a few anti-feminist undertones throughout the novel - one quote being "I wish your mother hadn't given you that special message about feminism. It's made you prickly about nothing" (page 40). Really, Card? You've been good about leaving your personal beliefs out of your novels up until now, why did you have to add this one in so blatantly?

I'd really recommend this book to those who have ever picked up a book dealing with Ender Wiggin and the universe he helped create. One of the things that irked me about this book was the fact that it wasn't released in nook book format - I saved a lot of gift cards from the holidays so that way I could download it when it came out. It turns out that Shadows in Flight is only available in hardback or kindle version. I feel like this is cheating out a lot of people from buying the book. But, luckily the local library had a copy and I was able to enjoy it free of charge. Always trust your local public library to save the day!