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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Bereft of character, life, wonder, creativity, and humanity. An emotional void. Made bearable solely by virtue of its almost insulting brevity.
An embarrassment. Card's better than this.
An embarrassment. Card's better than this.
Probably the most recently published book I ever read, only 6 months old. It was good. Not necessary at all for the Shadow series. Nevertheless, it was nice to be reading scientific fiction again. The family dynamic was very interesting and all the deaths poetic.
2.5/5. Tenía que leerlo, pero me ha decepcionado bastante. No esperaba una obra maestra, eso ya lo son El juego y La sombra, pero sí algo más.
Short review: This is the fifth book in the Shadow series. Bean is in space with his three children, searching for a cure and a place to be. The story itself isn't bad. Probably a four star story. But the book is short. Card ends the book with a note about how he wanted to write a shorter story so it could be priced lower. Honestly I think most of the books in this series would have been better if they were this length instead of the full length. There was too much filler, not enough movement of the story. But the actual price is the same as a regular book. And the Kindle version only has an even shorter abridged version available. The full book will not be available until next year.
My full thoughts about the book are on my blog at http://bookwi.se/shadows-in-flight/
My full thoughts about the book are on my blog at http://bookwi.se/shadows-in-flight/
I think I should have rated this a 1 star instead but couldn't bring myself to rate anything in the Enderverse so low. It was a really crummy ending to an amazing series. I was thoroughly disappointed from beginning to end. There was no climax, not much storyline, and not even much character building. It didn't seem like the same writer even as the other books. Very disappointing.
Maybe I liked this book so much because I'm partial to Bean and his story over the story of Ender, but I REALLY enjoyed this book. It was a quick-read, full of answers to questions I had after Book 4, and was a perfect end to Bean's story. Highly recommend this to anyone who has read the first four books in the series. You won't be dissappointed.
This latest addition to the Shadows series feels uneven. It starts out with the characters agonizing and analyzing everything, especially each other, so much that it feels tedious and heavy. Then the action starts, and things get glossed over. Bean and his children come to an agreement with some aliens, and it seems to happen mostly off-camera, so to speak. The book felt unbalanced, and when Card's characters start navel-gazing it's a real turn-off, and not just in this book.
I actually really loved this one, and I'm glad, as that wraps up my foray into the world of Ender's Game. I think that this had more to do with the order I read the books in than actual raw quality of this book, but I'm just glad to walk away from the series without wanting to throw it down in disgust or roll my eyes. Shadows in Flight is super short - my wife looked over my shoulder and commented on how big the font was, which I hadn't noticed. It only took a few hours to get through it. I think the review on the front of my copy that dubs the book more of a myth is accurate. Bean didn't necessarily feel like Bean anymore, but then again, no one has gone through more in this entire saga than he did. I didn't mind the end of the book, but if you had been waiting for a sequel to Shadows in Flight since the mid 2000s, I would absolutely not blame you for being utterly disappointed.
This book finally takes on a tone that is a bit more grounded. It doesn't have the "happy ever after" Card seems determined to include in every book. Bean's kids are kind of all over the place with their personalities, but Card reiterates the fact that they are 6 year olds with the minds of both children and genius adults that have only ever known life on a spaceship, so this makes sense. I thought the the main plot that turns up about 1/3 into the book was an interesting addition, and I'll be interested to see where it's taken in the final volume later this year. It does kind of undo the feelings that you get from a certain person and race's behavior in Xenocide and Children of the Mind, but again, it's an interesting addition to the story. If you've been holding the Lusitania Trilogy in reverence for the last 30 years, you might be bothered. I finished both of them within the last 2 weeks, so my opinions haven't had that long to set.
If you liked the main saga and Bean's story, then this should be a decent read for you. I'd suggest reading it after the four (five) Ender's books. I'll revisit the prequels at a future date when the last one is out and I have a little breathing room from the 13 books/stories I just read from this series in 6 months; I'll be reading Shadows Alive as soon as it comes out later this year.
This book finally takes on a tone that is a bit more grounded. It doesn't have the "happy ever after" Card seems determined to include in every book. Bean's kids are kind of all over the place with their personalities, but Card reiterates the fact that they are 6 year olds with the minds of both children and genius adults that have only ever known life on a spaceship, so this makes sense. I thought the the main plot that turns up about 1/3 into the book was an interesting addition, and I'll be interested to see where it's taken in the final volume later this year. It does kind of undo the feelings that you get from a certain person and race's behavior in Xenocide and Children of the Mind, but again, it's an interesting addition to the story. If you've been holding the Lusitania Trilogy in reverence for the last 30 years, you might be bothered. I finished both of them within the last 2 weeks, so my opinions haven't had that long to set.
If you liked the main saga and Bean's story, then this should be a decent read for you. I'd suggest reading it after the four (five) Ender's books. I'll revisit the prequels at a future date when the last one is out and I have a little breathing room from the 13 books/stories I just read from this series in 6 months; I'll be reading Shadows Alive as soon as it comes out later this year.
Still dragging on, and I could have finished this a lot quicker than I did. But, that said, it was nice to get a final book on Bean, so far, anyway.