Product Description

The War is over, won by Ender Wiggin and his team of brilliant child-warriors. The enemy is destroyed, the human race is saved. Ender himself refuses to return to the planet, but his crew has gone home to their families, scattered across the globe. The battle school is no more.

But with the external threat gone, the Earth has become a battlefield once more. The children of the Battle School are more than heros; they are potential weapons that can bring power to the countries that control them. One by one, all of Ender's Dragon Army are kidnapped. Only Bean escapes; and he turns for help to Ender's brother Peter.

Peter Wiggin, Ender's older brother, has already been manipulating the politics of Earth from behind the scenes. With Bean's help, he will eventually rule the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22976 in Books
• Published on: 2001-12-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 451 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780812565959
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

The Next Great Political SF Novel?
Orson Scott Card says in the afterword to "Shadow of the Hegemon" that this book is as different from "Ender's Shadow" as "Speaker for the Dead" was from "Ender's Game". He's right. Where "Speaker for the Dead" turned and looked at the universe 3000 years hence and examined, in great detail, religion and life, "Shadow of the Hegemon" turns and looks at political interplay and fear in this world 150 years from now.

What made "Shadow of the Hegemon" stand out for me was the political aspect of the novel. Orson Scott Card has done a better job of painting national politics and intrigue across a worldwide scale better than any science fiction or fantasy writer I've seen since George R.R. Martin's "A Game of Thrones". The scope that he uses is very impressive as he takes the political action of the novel across most of the Asian continent and shows situations that are, on the whole, relatively plausible.

Card's work in blending national policy with personal motivation is very impressive. However, there are a few small areas I quibble with. I think that the world community he paints one hundred and fifty years hence is a little tainted by personal bitterness, both to the US and China. Whether he meant it to or not, it does, to me, detract a bit from both the plausibilty of the book and the overall quality of the writing. Likewise, while I am not a student of South and Southeast Asia, I question his wisdom in using just once source apiece - as he states in the afterword - when creating his India and Thailand circa 2150. This fact appears rather obvious when reading characters' discussions of these two countries. Card trys very hard to make the countries he creates plausible extrapolations of today's countries, and they suffer for these two reasons.

Nonetheless, the novel is still a wonderful read. Card takes a couple of classic premises for novels and blends them into a story that, if it occaisonally lacks for original plot twists, one that shows how well he grasps both individual struggle and national interplay.

On the individual side of the novel, Bean, Peter and Petra all take on additional depth in this novel and all three become characters that I am eager to read more about in the remaining two novels in Card's "Shadow" series. As adolescents and teenagers, they are as believable as they were as children in "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow". As people, they develop more depth to their character - especially Peter - and move in directions that are, if predictable, certainly arrived at unpredictably.

In retrospect, what definitely stands out for me in this book, are the political machinations. I'm sure that will be what primarily stands out one, five, or ten years from now. Anyone with an interest in political struggle should read this book, as well as any Orson Scott Card fan who wants to see him successfully tackle new areas of writing. While I do have minor reservations about the world as he creates it, I have none about the way his characters move it and move through it.

Almost preachy, but an excellent read
Shadow of the Hegemon is a fascinating book that held my interest the entire way through. I read it in one day because I couldn't put it down.

The pace was good and I fell in love with the characters all over again. Only one thing seemed strange to me. The flow of story was interrupted a few times by long conversations and reflections that seemed like the author was slipping in his religious views. The passages didn't fit with the characters at all and for a few pages, I thought I had accidentally picked up a book from the "Left Behind" series. I hadn't noticed this before in the other Ender books. Maybe it was because Card was simultaneously writing "Sarah: Women of Genesis".

Those pages were definitely bearable because the strategies and power struggles were totally engrossing. Judging from Card's skill as a writer, the reflections probably serve as development for future books. I didn't necessarily disagree with the content, and he has earned the right to do whatever he wants in his writing.

If you liked Ender's game and Ender's shadow, don't hesitate in buying this book.

Card does it again!
When I picked this book up, frankly, I was worried. Several months ago, I read Ender's Game, and loved it. Not long after that, I devoured Ender's Shadow with gusto, becoming ridiculously enamored of the main character, Bean. But... how could this book, Shadow of the Hegemon, possibly live up to the high standard of the earlier novels?

Well...it did! Card weaves a thick, suspensful plot about the political intrigue on Earth after the Formic Wars. We learn more about each character, their personalies, their secrets, their motives. Sort of an insight of why they do what they do. Petra and Peter in particular become far more in focus than in Card's other books. The storyline was surprisingly good, and not at all predictable.

Do I recommend this book? Of course. But first, read Ender's Shadow, which is equally good (if not slightly better). Card's a great writer for people who don't like SF books, and those that know they do. Don't worry. You won't be disapointed.