Rating: 
Summary: "Suspense-Filled Conclusion"
Review: "SHADOW PUPPET" by creative storyteller Orson Scott Card is a 'Must Read' series in my opinion. VERY ENTERTAINING!The series premise starts off and continues throughout each eposide with the concept of children wise beyond their age dealing with grave responsibilites like; Good V's Evil, and War. The characters are fun and easy to relate to, the dialogue quick and full of spunk, and at times humorous, and the plot supplies the reader with plenty to think about, an interesting combination!
Rating:
Summary: Another Card masterpiece, but not his best
Review: If this book were written by anybody else, he or she would get five stars, no questions asked. However, this is THE MASTER. I have read the entire Ender series and this one seemed to be the most predictable and the least entertaining of them all. But let me back up a bit, this is STILL a great book. I bought it and could not put it down. Though I can't put my finger on it exactly, this book was missing some of Card's magic. Something seemed to be missing. Probably because we've already seen everything up Achilles' sleeve and this didn't bring out anything new. I loved the further character development of Bean and those in his life. As always, there were the ethical delimnas he struggled with (though it was nice to have him not struggle with the last bit of action he had to perform at the end of the book) while trying to save the world and protect those he loves. The ending was very good. And of course, this is all opened up to a sequel. Great book, highly recommended. I'm looking forward to the next release when we follow the further adventures of Julian.
Rating: 
Summary: We deserve better!
Review: This book, which is part three of about Bean, is the worst book that I have ever read from Orson Scott Card. First, the books makes peter seem to be a teenager who makes a lot of mistakes, unlike his brother or his sister, which doesn't flow with any other of the books. The book basically makes the the wiggins parents, as very smart people. Those of us, who could were or are the cream of the crop, know that our parents weren't that smart, and never will be. It's as if, Card, is trying to justify his own existence, as father of peter, very smart, but from the reading he is dull witted. The very last point that I wish to make, is that the book is full of mormon/religious notes, as if the older card gets, to closer to god he gets. In the earlier books, he was cryptic in his views of god and religion. In this book, where he thinks the readers are (people), come out cold. In my opinion, your better off reading Ender's Game again. Shadows puppets is just another attempt of the corporation to make more money off of a great series. Sorry Orson, I know you can do better!
Rating: 
Summary: Ender's back!
Review: I am a huge fan of Orson Scott Card's Ender series & was glad to get my hands on SHADOW PUPPETS. If you're expecting a rant against the mundaneness of this episode, you're not going to get it. I was, once again, fascinated by the world this author has created, & by how his characters rise & fall by their all-too-human foibles. Answered a lot of questions & unearthed some tasty new nuggets. If you're a lover of the Ender Earth - this is a must buy.
Rating:
Summary: Another Card masterpiece
Review: This is the third novel in Card's SHADOW SERIES that started with ENDER'S SHADOW and continued with SHADOW OF THE HEGEMON. Like its two predecessors it offers a rousing and involving tale that continues the stories of Baen, Petra and some others. Don't miss it. It's an absorbing and thoughtful book well worth your time and money. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Beanie Babies (NOOOO!!!)
Review: Okay. This is my attempt at a spoiler-free review of the story. I'll probably let a few things slip, but hopefully not too many. Not that people above me haven't given away one of the main points of the story. NOOOO! NO PETRA/BEAN!!! Shadow Puppets seems almost like it's wrapping up everything from EG to SotH. We see old friends. Lots of old friends. Alai comes back with a startlingly major role after his obscurity during SotH. Ambul (and I would have never remembered who this guy was if I hadn't reread ES right before starting SP) has a few pages. He actually seems pretty cool. We get mentions of Dink Meeker (in England, planning for NATO) and Crazy Tom (also doing something in the UK where he can give info to Peter). I'm sorry, Crazy Tom fans, but he only gets this tiny little footnote. Han Tzu (Hot Soup) has a few pages. Virlomi comes back. Volescu (his first name is Constantine) plays an important part. We also see Dimak again, he's Underminister of Colonization or something like that (still working for Graff...). And Uphanad (the guy Bean stole the teacher password from) is in the story too. There's also another trip to Battle School. I didn't catch any mentions of how old anyone was, which made some parts a little strange. I keep thinking of Bean as this tiny little boy, so when he starts doing adult things, I have to wonder just how old he is. Yet despite the fact that the jeesh is older, this book is not at all like Speaker for the Dead and the later Ender books. It still has the lighthearted bantering, and even when Bean gets morbid, there still isn't adultery or aliens. Or computers posessing Val. This book seems to be geared once again to the younger audiences who just didn't get/like Speaker, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind. OSC has a great plan for the world. In an Amazon[.com] review once, somebody mentioned that OSC never made up any history of his own. Personally, I thought this was a bit harsh (who knows who could get angry for panning their country?) but pretty much true. Bean knows Machiavelli, Vauban, Caesar, Nietzsche, and Aquinas. In fact, the most futuristic person ever mentioned in the whole series is Saddam Hussein. Aside from events that actually happen in SotH, OSC doesn't talk much about details of world history beyond the New Warsaw Pact and America's decline. Now he talks about Israel being accepted by Muslims and a Fifth World War. Reading, I couldn't help but think that a lot of people were getting stupider. But, upon reflection, I noticed it was just Peter was just getting stupider, ruining everything, and tainting the entire book for me (in case you forgot, I really like Peter Wiggin). He got better toward the end, though, and seemed really human. And annoying. [QUOTE] "No," said Mother. "You're getting up now (...)"
(this is Peter) "OK, OK, leave the room so I can take my clothes off and get in the shower. Or is this just a subterfuge so you can see me naked again? You've never let me forget how you used to change my diapers, so aparently that was a very important stage in your life."[/QUOTE] And then Mr. Wiggin dumps half a bucket of water on him. You know who Peter reminds me of? Draco Malfoy and Artemis Fowl. And since Peter is either blond or black haired, he has to look like one or the other, too. Does Peter always act like this? Or is it just around his folks? Really, we do see a dang lot of Mr. and Mrs. Wiggin. Theresa and John Paul (or Johnny P!). It was sort of annoying how Peter thought of his parents as "mother" and "father", but hey, I got over it. Because the two of them are both brilliant, like Battle School brats, but older. Reading about them, I don't feel bad that Petra and Crazy Tom and the rest are going to grow up, because if they grow up the the Wiggin parents, I'll still love 'em. The ending was a bit abrupt. I mean, we've been working up to this climax since the start of ES, and then it all ends really fast. All the wrong done in SotH is undone, though, and there's still another book, so Bean is off on a quest that you would have never anticipated from ES of SotH. It's almost like the change between The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, only backwards, because in ES, SotH, and SP, Bean destroyed the Ring of Power, and now he's going to go fight an insignifigant little dragon. My prediction for the next book is that the goals of this novel will have very little do with the goals of all the other Bean books. But that's just me. Overall, SP was a good book. It lacks the majesty of Ender's Game, but is just what I expected for Bean's next book.
Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK IS RACIST
Review: I would like to state my opinions on this book that have been burning inside me, held in until the book was finally read. First, Orson Scott Card is blatantly racist against the Chinese. He makes the correct assumption that they will rinse to become the world's superpower, but China taking over India? The Chinese have no interest in other countries that they do not feel are their own people. Taiwan, yes. Tibet, yes. Not India, a nation who is projected to surpass the population of China (by the time the story takes place in Shadow Puppets). Ultimately, I felt like the true antagonist with not Achilles, but China itself. It was mentioned in the book that other than Hans Tzu, there were 80 other Battle School graduates in China, and yet they still get whipped by an unthinkable 'unified' Muslim force. The Chinese should not have been the focus; Achilles was the true bad guy. His death (which other people in this post argue wasn't exciting enough) was overshadowed by the 'evil' Chinese portrayed by Orson Scott Card.
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: Don't have time to write a full review, but this book was amazing, and is OSC's writing at its best. Though I miss Petra's wit, which this book is lacking, I still loved the humour and the grief and the joy and the pain that OSC has always conveyed with the simplest of sentences.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow moving continuation of the Ender/Bean series
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This installment in the Enders series stands almost diametrically opposed to the original "Ender's Game" short story that started it all. "Shadow Puppets" is seemingly filler in the series, and I would recommend that the interested reader skip this and continue on directly to the next book in the series, perhaps coming back to read this as a later novelty. The characterization in the book is shoddy. The book dedicates much of itself to the forced redemption of two of the major characters, and both fall woefully short of plausibility. The characterization of the major female characters is shallow enough to be insulting, reducing them to charicatures. The witty bantering is overdone and its novelty withers quickly. The plot jumps aren't enough to be jarring, but the pages and pages of Banter should have been replaced with more meat to the book. In all, I continue to think that Card is a good writer who writes one klinker in every bunch. Whether it's the fault of bad editors or not: skip this and be glad that the final book should be good.
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