When is shadows in flight coming out

Not so in this book. I would definitely recommend going for the Enhanced edition, the extra dialogue I think makes a difference. Jan 16, Alex Tamayo rated it it was ok. This book had to be written, I get that. And I had to read it, not denying it, but it is so short, and really just such a I love the Shadow series. They are a very interesting departure from regular science fiction and feature one of the greatest science fiction characters I have ever read, but this book does the series an injustice.

This may seem contradictory, but this ending was written solely to end the series. Sequels sho This book had to be written, I get that. Sequels should only be written if they achieve the same quality as the original, or surpass it.

Plot should not be the only driving point for a series, but Shadows in Flight was absolutely written to wrap up dangling plot threads. What happened to Bean in space? What about his children? These questions are answered, but to no new meaning. And I stress meaning, because old themes were rehashed here, not shed in a new light, put with a new spin, or turned on their head.

No, the significance of genetic engineering, a short life span, and disease were already established long before this. There's only one strong reason this was written: to shed light on the state of Ender's side of the series. But, unfortunately, I haven't read those books, as should be assumed, so I don't care. Dec 07, Denise Eggleston rated it really liked it Shelves: first-reads.

I won this book through Goodreads First Reads. I've entered more of the giveaways than I care to admit, and this was my first win. My only problem; this is Book 5 of a six part series. I have never read the first books or even the Ender's Game books also by Orson Scott Card that preceded this series. So, I read synopses of each book on Wikipedia, which gave me enough background to understand what I was reading. Despite my ignorance of Card's arguably most famous books, I still enjoyed reading it.

The story opens on a spaceship driving away from Earth near the speed of light. Its inhabitants are Bean and his three children. Each of the four have been genetically engineered to have beyond genius intelligence. Unfortunately, the altered gene, Anton's Key, causes giantism.

By now, Bean is too big to fit in the living spaces of the ship and lives in a cargo hold. Bean believes his time is limited and knows he must get his children to somewhere they can work on reversing the giantism. As I said, I enjoyed reading it. In fact, it was a very fast read. I recommend it, but you'll get more out of it, if you read the first blasted books.

View all 12 comments. Jan 17, Patrick rated it liked it Shelves: science-fiction. Lots of spoilers here, though I leave out some specifics.

Fair warning. I have to admit to very mixed feelings on this one. I love Bean. I wanted more Bean. I can see why Card had to mostly move on to the lives of the children.

So it's bittersweet to get the bits of Bean perspective we do. This was definitely not what I expected--a character study of immature geniuses trapped on a small ship.

I hadn't expected Bean to be so big and trapped in the cargo hold to stay alive. I just hadn't expec Lots of spoilers here, though I leave out some specifics. I just hadn't expected the typical Card aggressive, arrogant, and wise-cracking characters to appear in his isolated 6-yr-olds. It's fascinating, probably realistic in the meta-sense of prolonged time in an enclosed space facing your own mortality and not receiving typical love and nurturing will probably cause some weird quirks to personalities, but extreme in my view as to the specific flaws, hurts, and plans of the characters.

But I'm likely naive when it comes to psychoses, so who knows? I liked that we had one strong sense of the kid named Ender right away and through his viewpoint Carlotta and Soldier, but those views were challenged and proven shallow very naturally through the plot movement.

I don't know if I like any of the kids The stark isolation and focus on four characters growing up there was unexpected, fascinating, and vaguely disappointing--probably just because of expectations. It's a great first half of the book. Leading to I loved the new information about past knowledge from the larger world we had taken for granted.

I can see that Card's hands are tied in creating further contact between Bean or his children because of the already existing Ender series. Ender or Jane would have thought about Bean if they had any inkling of what was going on with him. Speculation featuring spoilers: But maybe they could have contact with new, weird Ender-soul Peter? I was convinced this plot line would lead to an explanation of how Star Congress developed the geniuses with OCD condition central to the plot of some of the other books, but now I'm not sure.

Maybe the mentioned side research lines back on Earth led to that rather than something a Bean kid directly did? And I'm still mostly convinced that Volescu somehow got away from the colonists and started the Descoladores, but I can see it accidentally or roguely coming from Bean descendents after the end of the book.

It's short and I think Card meant to tick people off with the abrupt ending. One final note: There are some sexual comments on the 2nd or 3rd page. Later discussions reveal some of the concerns as relevant, but it's jarring coming from 6-yr-olds. Like many of Card's characters, these kids regard sexuality as supposedly witty banter material just like everything else.

Mar 12, Christina rated it it was ok Shelves: fiction , sci-fi , young-adult. The kids are, of course, as brilliant at 6 as Bean was at their age. But they're growing bored with being trapped in a space ship. There is quite a bit of disconnect between this book and the previous one. The third-person narrator talks quite a bit about how Bean had promised Petra h "Shadows in Flight" was probably the book I enjoyed least in the Shadow series. The third-person narrator talks quite a bit about how Bean had promised Petra he'd do this or that with the children.

But he made no such promises in "Shadow of the Giant. That was it. Maybe they had some conversations over the ansible after the ship was in space, but the epilogue of "Shadow Puppets" where we learn what happens to Petra makes no reference to that. The children, though brilliant, don't understand parenting and why Bean raises them the way he does. One of the boys, Cincinnatus or "Sergeant" is so bored he begins to plan to murder Bean.

Then they come across a strange space ship near a potentially habitable world. Sergeant gets the military adventure he's looking for and Bean finds what he hopes will be a home for his children. And that's where I begin to say "WTF?!

And that Hive Queen lied to Ender? And there might be other Formic ships out there? And now Bean's kids are going to help the Formics survive? What the hell? Did Orson Scott Card lose his mind? Sep 25, Caroline rated it it was ok Shelves: recent-books , sci-fi.

Very disappointed. It wasn't. Mainly - where's the rest of it? Given how long we waited for this book, I expected it to be more tome-like. It felt like OSC had written a short story which, by the way, tend to be excellent insights into the Enderverse and I love , his publishers had told him to write a book so he pulled this out and added pages of trailing through the For Very disappointed.

It felt like OSC had written a short story which, by the way, tend to be excellent insights into the Enderverse and I love , his publishers had told him to write a book so he pulled this out and added pages of trailing through the Formic ship.

I read it in definitely under three hours - even though the page count isn't crazily low, the font size and formatting eats into a lot of space. Nothing really happened, there were far too many detailed descriptions of the ships and technology which then went nowhere unless there's going to be another book?

They didn't even resolve, really, the main point of the book - to cure the children - they administered the "cure" and, granted, they're geniuses so it probably works, but we have no firm answer. Instead, they raised a whole raft of new questions about Formics and whether the Hive Queen lied to Ender, and ended with them about to launch a colonisation and breeding programme, of which we obviously know nothing.

The whole book felt very much like OSC had pressure on him to write something to satisfy his publishers, fans, to pay his wife's credit card? Who knows. I'm so glad I didn't. It would have been a total waste of money. Mar 29, Benjamin Thomas rated it really liked it Shelves: sci-fi , audio-books. This is a short novel; only about half of a standard OSC novel so was a pretty quick read.

It centers around Bean and his three children, all of whom share the same genetic defect that he has, an inability to stop growing in size, thus rendering the body too large for the organs to support and thus dooming them to early deaths. I found the first 3rd of the book very hard to get through as it focuses on the children who are whiny geniuses. I feel it's probably very accurate in the way 6 year old This is a short novel; only about half of a standard OSC novel so was a pretty quick read.

I feel it's probably very accurate in the way 6 year old geniuses would behave Then the plot picks up and the story ends in a touching, yet satisfying way. I found the author's afterword very interesting, noting that OSC wrote this story after his own stroke in early January last year.

So lots of reflecting here on what's really important in life. So for me, what started out as a whiny rating of 2 ends up with a great ending and message Rating 5 , giving it an overall 4.

Definitely for Enderverse completists but perhaps not for everybody. Jun 17, Peter rated it really liked it. There probably isn't a book in the Ender's Game series that I won't read and enjoy. This one is no exception. That being said, this book exemplifies some of my frustrations with the "Shadow" branch of the Ender series. OSC uses the Shadow branch as a means of changing the story in the Ender series and this book includes some of the most radical changes yet.

Perhaps it's because I feel closer to Ender, who seems more real, more human, and more sympathetic than Bean, that I am protective of the En There probably isn't a book in the Ender's Game series that I won't read and enjoy. Perhaps it's because I feel closer to Ender, who seems more real, more human, and more sympathetic than Bean, that I am protective of the Ender series and of Ender himself, as a character.

It was written by Orson Scott Card. At the end of Shadow of the Giant , Bean flees to the stars with three of his children--the three who share the engineered genes that gave him both hyper-intelligence and a short, cruel physical life. The time dilation granted by the speed of their travel gives Earth's scientists generations to seek a cure, to no avail.

In time, they are forgotten--a fading ansible signal speaking of events lost to Earth's history. But the Delphikis are about to make a discovery that will let them save themselves, and perhaps all of humanity in days to come.

For there in space before them lies a derelict Formic colony ship. Aboard it, they will find both death and wonders--the life support that is failing on their own ship, room to grow, and labs in which to explore their own genetic anomaly and the mysterious disease that killed the ship's colony. The starship Herodotus left Earth. This genetic alteration, which Bean passed on to his children, granted them all extremely high intelligence, but caused their bodies to grow uncontrollably, which was likely to kill them by the age of Subjectively, they had been flying near light-speed for five years , but relativistic effects mean that years have passed on Earth.

When the family left, scientists were actively trying to find a cure for their gigantism which would not diminish their intelligence.

Several generations passed, and they were forgotten, their mother and "normal" siblings having died centuries ago. The three children had only been alive for six subjective years. Bean's life had been extended by the low gravity on board the Herodotus , which allowed his heart to keep beating despite his increasingly gigantic size.

Name Pronunciation Orson Scott Card: or-sun named after his grandfather, Card says that Orson is a relatively popular name among Mormons and derives from the Indo-European word for bear. A powerful novel of two unconventional American sisters who volunteer at the front during World War I. The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

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About this book Summary. Book Summary. More about membership! Reviews Media Reviews Reader Reviews. Media Reviews "Bean's endless lectures make him appear a mouthpiece for the author; his children's snarky resentment of being talked down to will similarly ring true for readers. Orson Scott Card tells a tale long awaited by millions of fans: the story of how Bean turned away from his first friend, Ender, and became the tactical genius who won the Earth for Ender's brother, Peter, who became the Hegemon.

Andrew Wiggin is told that he can no longer live on Earth, and he realizes that this is the truth. He has become far more than just a boy who won a game: he is the Savior of Earth, a hero, a military genius whose allegiance is sought by every nation of the newly shattered Earth Hegemony.

He is offered the choice of living in isolation on Eros, at one of the Hegemony's training facilities, but instead the year-old chooses to leave his home world and begin the long relativistic journey out to the colonies. At Battle School, there is only one purpose, only one curriculum: the strategy and tactics of war. The children are drawn from all nations, all races, all religions. There is no room for cultural differences, no room for religious observances, and certainly no room for Santa Claus.

The planet Lusitania is home to three sentient species: a large colony of humans; the Pequeninos; and the Hive Queen, who was brought there by Ender Wiggin. Once again, the enemy the Starways Congress has gathered a fleet and is threatening to destroy Lusitania. Ender's oldest friend, Jane, an evolved computer intelligence, is trying to save the three sentient species of Lusitania, but the Starways Congress is destroying the computer world she lives in. First Meetings is a collection of three novellas plus the original "Ender's Game" that journey into the origins and the destiny of one Ender Wiggin.

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In this book, Card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean, the one who became Ender's right hand, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers. Bean's past was a battle just to survive. His success brought him to the attention of the Battle School's recruiters. The first invasion of Earth was beaten back by a coalition of corporate and international military forces and the Chinese army.

China has been devastated by the Formic's initial efforts to eradicate Earth life forms and prepare the ground for their own settlement.

The Scouring of China struck fear into the other nations of the planet; that fear blossomed into drastic action when scientists determined that the single ship that wreaked such damage was merely a scout ship.

There is a mothership out beyond the solar system's Kuiper Belt, and it's heading into the system. By: Orson Scott Card , and others. Xenocide is the third installment of the Ender series. On Lusitania, Ender found a world where humans and pequeninos and the Hive Queen could all live together; where three very different intelligent species could find common ground at last. Or so he thought. But Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus which kills all humans it infects, but which the pequeninos require in order to transform into adults.

A thin web of ships in both asteroid belts; a few stations; a corporate settlement on Luna. No one had seen any sign of other space-faring races; everyone expected that First Contact, if it came, would happen in the future, in the empty reaches between the stars.

Then a young navigator on a distant mining ship saw something moving too fast, heading directly for our sun. By: Aaron Johnston , and others. One hundred years before Ender's Game, the aliens arrived on Earth with fire and death. Victor Delgado beat the alien ship to Earth, but just barely. Not soon enough to convince skeptical governments that there was a threat. And when that happened, only Mazer Rackham and the Mobile Operations Police could move fast enough to meet the threat.

In the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender Wiggin disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: the Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story of the Bugger War. Now, long years later, a second alien race has been discovered by Portuguese colonists on the planet Lusitania. But again the aliens' ways are strange and frightening And it is only the Speaker for the Dead, who is also Ender Wiggin the Xenocide, who has the courage to confront the mystery By: Orson Scott Card - editor.

How do you systematically destroy a child with love? It's not something that any parent aspires to do, yet a surprising number come perilously close to achieving it.

Other mining ships, and the families that live on them, are few and far between this far out. El Cavador has other problems. Their systems are old and failing. The family is getting too big for the ship. There are claim-jumping corporate ships bringing Asteroid Belt tactics to the Kuiper Belt. One planet.

Three sapient species living peacefully together. And one deadly virus that could wipe out every world in the Starways Congress, killing billions.

Is the only answer another great Xenocide? At the end of Shadow of the Giant , Bean flees to the stars with three of his children - the three who share the engineered genes that gave him both hyper-intelligence and a short, cruel physical life.

But the Delphikis are about to make a discovery that will let them save themselves, and perhaps all of humanity in days to come. For there in space before them lies a derelict Formic colony ship. I have loved all the Ender and Shadow series book so far. I'm reading listening to them in chronological order and I have thoroughly enjoying them.

When I came up to this story, I was very excited to see what happened to Bean and his three children after they entered the spaceship. I think that this story allowed us to see exactly that.