Science Fiction

The Last Shadow

The Last Shadow

  • Downloads：2600
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-09-27 08:51:18
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Orson Scott Card
  • ISBN：0765304953
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

From OSC's website:

For years now OSC has been planning to wrap up the Shadow and Speaker series with a book called Shadows in Flight。 Recently， in working on a short novel that follows Bean and his children into space， it became clear that Shadows in Flight was the perfect title for that book， while the big wrap-up novel that brings Bean's children together with Peter and Valentine from Children of the Mind will now be entitled Shadows Alive。

So when you see Shadows in Flight announced as "coming soon，" you should be aware that this is a completely different book， a short novel in which Bean and his children encounter an ancient Formic "ark" in space。 It's definitely in the main line of the Shadow series， but it is not the end！

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Reviews

Anna Fox ，

This was a nice addition to the Ender series。 There was a lot going on in the book but was never confusing。 It did take me a bit to remember what was going on as it has been so long since the last book。 I liked most of the characters （some of the others we aren't meant to like I'm sure）。 Thank you to the author， publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review。 This was a nice addition to the Ender series。 There was a lot going on in the book but was never confusing。 It did take me a bit to remember what was going on as it has been so long since the last book。 I liked most of the characters （some of the others we aren't meant to like I'm sure）。 Thank you to the author， publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more

Metaphorosis ，

3。5 stars， Metaphorosis ReviewsSummary Bean's grandchildren are super-intelligent， but their flawed parents have twisted their development。 When they're brought to Lusitania to meet Jane the ex-AI and a reconstructed Peter Wiggin， they quickly dive into research to determine the source of the deadly descolada virus， and find more than they expected。 ReviewI grew up with Andrew Wiggin。 Allowing for time dilation， he and I are about the same age。 Of course， he's fictional， dead， and only semi-resu 3。5 stars， Metaphorosis ReviewsSummary Bean's grandchildren are super-intelligent， but their flawed parents have twisted their development。 When they're brought to Lusitania to meet Jane the ex-AI and a reconstructed Peter Wiggin， they quickly dive into research to determine the source of the deadly descolada virus， and find more than they expected。 ReviewI grew up with Andrew Wiggin。 Allowing for time dilation， he and I are about the same age。 Of course， he's fictional， dead， and only semi-resurrected， but I have my bad days too。 "Ender's Game" was one of the stories to draw me into SFF when I read it in Analog in the late 70s。 It was a story that really brought home to me the possibilities of SFF and the power of a talented writer。Some years later， I started to discover Card's other work， and was equally enthralled with Songmaster， A Planet Called Treason， Hot Sleep， and other books。 I think Card is （or can be） a phenomenal writer， matched only by George R。R。 Martin in short stories （but better at novels）。 Still， I was dubious when he turned Ender into a novel。 I bought it anyway， and it was fine - a very good story written by an expert， but， for all its length， not better than the short story。 I was brought around， though， by the sequels， Speaker for the Dead and （somewhat less so） Xenocide。 Here， Card was doing something genuinely new with the story。I like Card's writing so much that I bought into the whole Shadow series， which says something - a writer so good I was willing to read the same story again from a different perspective。 I was less interested by the Shadow sequels， to the extent that I missed one， Shadows in Flight （the prequel to Last Shadow） entirely。 I was confused， in part， by the proliferation of spinoffs， only part written by Card， that I didn't bother with at all。Still， it's fair to say that I've delved moderately far into the Enderverse （as Card calls it）， and that the first story was very important to me。 So I was interested， if no longer really keen， to read this final chapter。 And it was 。。。 fine。I think I could boil this book - and some of its predecessors; maybe the entire series - down to: super-intelligent people experiencing regular emotions。 Just because you're a genius doesn't mean you can't be nervous， shy， jealous， angry， etc。 Only Ender and his brother Peter （the original， not the copy this book is about） really come across as unknowable geniuses， beyond mortal comprehension。Is that a failure？ I suspect Card might say so - much of the series has been about getting to know Ender， after all - but I don't think so。 I feel we got to know Ender's shell and his intent pretty well， but his powers just leave him beyond true comprehension。 Peter never really got much of a look in - more plot mechanism than true character， and the same， to a lesser extent， with sister Valentine。In any case， this book continues an exploration of the emotional lives of hyper-intelligent people。 It's readable and relatable， and mildly interesting。 It wraps up - loosely - the lives of the principal characters of the whole series: Ender， Jane， Valentine， Bean's children， the Hive Queen， the pequeninos， the descolada virus， etc。 It just doesn't do it in a very interesting way。 This is an endpoint， not a culmination。 It's， frankly， an overextended series petering out。 It's not terrible， but a story that started so strong and had such memorable characters deserved better。There's a lot of the Enderverse that I haven't read and don't expect to。 Maybe those books wrap things up even more。 Maybe not。 I'm satisfied to let it end this way。 Not what I hoped for， but acceptable。 In part that's because of length and time - somewhat akin to my feeling about The Song of Ice and Fire， should it ever end， but with better characters。 In part， it's because Card seems to have lost quite a bit of the flame that burned so bright in the early days。 He's had a lot more misses these days， and a lot more [shrug]。 It's all still written well， but it lacks magic。 If you're a devoted Enderite， read this; tie things off。 If you're new to the whole series， I think you'll get a lot more mileage for your time from just reading the 1977 short story。I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more

Kristjan ，

Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of the Enderverse， with Ender's Game sitting on my top 10 shelf。 The Enderverse is basically divided into two parts: Ender’s Saga which of course follows Ender’s life … and the Shadow Series which follows the lives of his supporting cast。 However， the style of the books after Ender’s Game was markedly different， taking a more thought provoking or philosophical approach that I found interesting， but not all that exciting。 Generally the Shadow Series was a return t Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of the Enderverse， with Ender's Game sitting on my top 10 shelf。 The Enderverse is basically divided into two parts: Ender’s Saga which of course follows Ender’s life … and the Shadow Series which follows the lives of his supporting cast。 However， the style of the books after Ender’s Game was markedly different， taking a more thought provoking or philosophical approach that I found interesting， but not all that exciting。 Generally the Shadow Series was a return the the original style of that first book， retelling the same story from a different perspective and I really enjoyed them。 The Last Shadow is much more like Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide … and I highly recommend that you read through at least that far before reading this book， which actually picks up sometime after Children of the Mind and tones down the weirdness a little。Ender is Dead … Long Live Ender。Basic Premise … you got an apocalyptic virus with a team trying to save humanity… you got crazy genius kids （vaguely connected to Ender） straight from the Big Bang Theory that can help figure out who dunnit… you got space travel with time dilation （so 1000s of years in the future） with super secret blink tech to give you a “first contact” situation without the centuries of waiting。… despite all the bickering， all the kool kids are way civilized and rarely challenged much … it was amusing in a Calvin and Hobbes sort of way。Even with all of that silliness … I really enjoyed the book … reading it in just under two days， so it does pull you along nicely。 Parts can come across as a tad preachy， but not too bad or over the top … and it does get you thinking about “things。”t I would say it is not his best work， but it was better than Children of the Mind， so in that respect I am rounding up to four （4） stars。I was given this free advance reader copy （ARC） ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review。#TheLastShadow #NetGalley 。。。more

bookme4life ，

ARC completed。 Review to come。

Cris ，

I'm looking forward to reading this。 This link says it's to be released on October 19th， 2021。https://enderverse。fandom。com/wiki/Th。。。There's also some info on it here:https://en。wikipedia。org/wiki/The_Las。。。 show a book cover I'm looking forward to reading this。 This link says it's to be released on October 19th， 2021。https://enderverse。fandom。com/wiki/Th。。。There's also some info on it here:https://en。wikipedia。org/wiki/The_Las。。。 show a book cover 。。。more

Di Maitland ，

Eeeeeeek SO excited。

J。 ¯\_（ツ）_/¯ ，

In April 2020， Card announced that he had begun writing the first pages of the novel while quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic

Jason ，

Really liked this book。 It was very short but also very informative。 I even got a little misty eyed at the end。 I’m very interested to see how Card unites the beanie babies and Enders kids together in the final book。 This is a must read for any Enders game enthusiast

Bill Robinson ，

Most everything about Card's books are entertaining。 Truthfully， I read this a while ago and don't remember specifics！ Most everything about Card's books are entertaining。 Truthfully， I read this a while ago and don't remember specifics！ 。。。more

JT Perrotta ，

I am really hoping that Card chooses to finish this book before he starts working on the other announced books in this series。 I know that The Swarm is coming out later this year， and if the Second Formic War trilogy follows the same pattern as the trilogy for the First Formic War， then we will probably see The Hive in 2017 and The Queens in 2018。 Would they publish 2 books for the Enderverse in the same year？ If not that means we probably won't see this book released until 2019 at the earliest。 I am really hoping that Card chooses to finish this book before he starts working on the other announced books in this series。 I know that The Swarm is coming out later this year， and if the Second Formic War trilogy follows the same pattern as the trilogy for the First Formic War， then we will probably see The Hive in 2017 and The Queens in 2018。 Would they publish 2 books for the Enderverse in the same year？ If not that means we probably won't see this book released until 2019 at the earliest。 And that is only if they choose to put off the Fleet School books。 。。。more

Theresa ，

Just finished the Shadows In Flight and am more psyched to read Shadows Alive。 Anyone know of the release date？！

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Last Shadow

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Last Shadow&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Last Shadow&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0