Shadow Puppets (The Shadow Series) Mass Market Paperback – June 16, 2003

You know that effect when you see a movie or a read a book and then they follow up with like 20 more and it just turns into crap? Well it's hard to find media where it DOESN'T do that. Card writes GREAT stuff and I was not disappointed with this book after reading all of the previous Ender/Bean books. The story has become in depth and the adventure has evolved from in-space Battle School to Earth side war front. I didn't like Shadow of the Hegemon as much, I'm not sure why, maybe the politics through me off and bored me, but this one is a bit more mild on the politics. I like it that way ;) Good read, I'm continuing with Shadow of the Giant and the waiting for Ender in Exile =)

Orson Scott Card is a master of writing in a world of the future while still keeping the issues and characters believable. He's a rarity in the genre in that his characters are the story, not the technology. And no one is writing characters much better than Card these days.This one gets a four, but only because it doesn't pack the same punch, either in character developement or in deftness of plot, as Ender's Game or Speaker for the Dead. This doesn't mean you shouldn't read it, and taken as a whole, the Shadow series is shaping up to be a little more mature and is strongly on course. Ender's series tended to ramble towards the end, but this series seems to stay strong.The moral issues are deftly addressed, but we're left to make our own conclusions. The peoples and cultures are well done and accurate, and they make the book very appealing to me as a person who loves to travel and to *feel* new places.The plot is interesting and involving, and the book is very easy to read. The pacing is never ponderous, and I had it finished in 2 days, in spite of my work schedule.All in all, Card's books are strongly recommended, especially in the light of all the terrible SciFi that you see on shelves today.

Yet another great book in the Ender's series (shadow series). If you are reading this series, you won't be disappointed.

A time less series. Great characters, drama, emotion and intrigue. I will always reread this book, although I will leave less reviews for Amazon.

The genesis of the Bean/Achilles interaction was clear. Two telegenic, winning characters (to the other characters, not necessarily to the readers). One with a tragic physical flaw that is likely to kill him, the other with a tragic moral flaw, ditto.The problem is that the writing, especially in this book, doesn't rise to the level that Card seeks.Unless you enjoy endless conversations about minor issues, or five-page musings by minor characters, you are likely to find this book very slow moving indeed. This book resoves the Eastern crisis that Card set up in the last book. But it does it in almost a storybook fashion. After a drop by drop setup (Chinese water torture, maybe?), we are told of tremendous military manoevers that I really don't find convincing. Sure, maybe the Muslims can do all the things that Card has them do. But the denouement relies on all the things being UNDETECTED, it is never explained how that is possible. What happened to radar, satellite imagery, intelligence (in more ways than one)?The whole military plot relies on the Chinese being slightly stupider than a comic book villian and little weapons advancement beyond 1949. Very strange. The Bean/Achilles conflict reaches its resolution in this book as well, I will not say how. But by the time we finally get to it, it is difficult to care. In my opinion, this is due to Card's failure to make us feel anything except irritation when it comes to Achilles, however much we may like Bean. Shadow of the Hegemon gave Card the opportunity to make Achilles interesting, rather than just an almost hypnotically alluring (to the other characters) villian. It didn't work.We get to see more of Peter Wiggin in this book. But he comes across more as a sullen teenager, who (no fewer than twice!) has to be forcibly woken up by his parents than the titular ruler of the world. If you're hoping to see how Peter transforms himself and his job into what we see at the end of Ender's Game, well, don't hold your breath, but if this is what you care about, hold on to your bucks until the next book. For there will be one.A great present for the insatiable Card or Ender fan.

I've been reading these books since I was a child, and recently started rereading them. The books are very good, and the only bad thing I would have to say is that the description of the wars can be ... Long winded to say the least. I literally had to pull up a map of the world on my phone to be able to comprehend what Card was saying. I love these books, and I give this book 4 stars because I think it could be better. I'd say more like 4.5, because it was not excellent, and I think the first two were better, more like this was an in-between filler book between books 2 and 4, like Card was promised to create 4 books in the series like in the Ender's series and had to put in enough information here to lead to the last book, even if all of the information wasn't completely permanent.All in all, a good read. I would recommend it to anyone who likes intellectual books that aren't terribly hard to read, and someone who accepts other cultures and religions. I believe, however, that this book is not aimed at teenagers very easily because of the sheer amount of history and previous knowledge that is almost required to be able to comprehend half of the references.I hope my review has helped.

Card continues the story of Bean, growing each character while walking the reader through an epic display of international relations. Peace is sought by all, from the global scale to the individual.Ultimately, he leaves the decision up to the reader on whether the characters found true peace or not

This series has everything, from war tactics, kids achieving their potential, parent relations, mystery. This book specifically, wasn't my favourite in the series but it showed another side of many of the characters not seen before. There's love, family and the rekindling of old friendships that brings new emotion to the series. It's a great read but definitely not a stand-alone. Read the rest of the series first, enders shadow and shadow of the hegemon.

As I've said before. Really enjoying this series. Has been brilliant throughout.

This book is brilliant. It makes me feel intelligent while proving I know so little about strategy. I can't wait to read the next one

I have found Orson Scott card an excellent author. This book only affirms my opinion. The book flows with good narrAtion.

"Ender's Shadow"、"Shadow of the Hegemon"に続くシャドウ・サーガの三作目。「エンダーのゲーム」をビーンの視点で描いた「エンダーズ・シャドウ」から出発したこのシリーズですが、"Shadow of the Hegemon"同様、この作品でもビーンとぺトラ、ピーターと、彼らを翻弄する敵との戦いを中心に語られていきます。第一章からの急展開でのめりこまされた"Shadow of the Hegemon"に続き、今作もしょっぱなから「うわー、どこ行くの!」と目を白黒させられます。逃避行に地下活動にスパイに暗号トーク、二転三転する世界情勢…と、本筋もそれは面白いのですが、真のみどころは大人になっていく３人の主人公の内面的な変化の過程(特にビーン!!)にあると思います。ペトラがビーンをいかに変えていくか、本当にドキドキさせられました。ますますパワフルなエンダーのご両親(笑)はじめ、前作で登場したSuriyawongやVirlomi(←大好き!)も活躍しますし、２部ではあまり出てこなかったかつてのEnder's jeeshのあるメンバーも重要な役で登場します。１作目とは大きく違い、２作目ともまた趣を異にする今作ですが、過去のエピソードが知らないうちに伏線と化してゾクリとさせられる、カードのシリーズものならではの感動も味わえます。お奨めです!