Book Review: Shadow of the Giant
Just this very morning, I finished Shadow of the Giant, by Orson Scott Card. This book represents the eighth (and unless Card finds himself desperately in need of money, final) story in what has commonly been called his â??Ender Sagaâ? but I think could more accurately be called the story of the Hive Queen and the Hegemon (not to be confused with the books of the same name in the story).
The series has been, even the biggest Card fan would have to admit, inconsistent. Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead each won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards for outstanding science fiction, and well, the kindest thing we could do is not mention that Children of the Mind and Shadow Puppets ever happened.
I’ll end the suspense, and say that Shadow of the Giant is a fitting end to the series. It is far more comprehensible than the previous two â??Shadowâ? books, with their incredibly convoluted politics and â??cross, double-cross, and tripe-crossâ? interpersonal relationships. Unlike those volumes, events are tied in with the original â??Enderâ? storyline, and quite simply, the entire story makes sense. this was more than you could say for some of the recent outings with these characters.
The crowning achievement of Shadow of the Giant however, is precisely where 90% of novels fall apart. The ending. It is, in a word, perfect. It is satisfying, it fits, and the reader is not left confused, disoriented, disappointed, or wanting more. The story is finished.
There are a few small storylines that are left unwrapped, but none that I think should become their own novel. It is good to have a little think about, a little wonder… â??What do I think would have happened to…â? The very fact that not everything was wrapped in a tidy little package with a bow on top makes the ending seem more real. Real life does not come in a package, and the story never ends so neatly. Bad guys don’t always lose, good guys don’t always win, and they certainly cooperate to give storytellers a convenient â??ending.â? (Unless, of course, there’s a big fight and everyone dies… not usually a satisfying ending)
Card claims that the ending was reader-inspired, and he had the good sense to recognize an improvement when he heard one. This is not always a solid approach. Nelson Demille’s ending to Nightfall, inspired by a reader (his son) was nothing more than a convenient cop out to a writer who had written himself into a corner.
Unfortunately, unlike Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead, and even Ender’s Shadow, Shadow of the Giant is not a stand alone volume. I can’t imagine picking it up without reading the other â??Shadowâ? books first. And that would be a struggle after Ender’s Shadow. But if you are bound and determined to read all of the books in the series, rest assured that the payoff is worth it.