How long is shadows in flight

Author Information Biography Books by this Author. Orson Scott Card Author Biography. More Recommendations More Books. Readers Also Browsed. Find out more. Cataclysmic floods. Unprecedented heat waves and protracted droughts. Devastating wildfires breaking The little-known Amur River, the 10th longest in the world, acts as the natural border of Russia and West Moss is an award-winning writer of essays and short stories. Our First Impressions reviewers Book Club Discussion.

A deliciously strange and daringly original novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Margaret Verble. Instead, the children tell us in their mind what they have decided and how things will go, without either process or evidence. Characterization is the same way. We are told Carlotta bends to Sergeant's will, but we rarely see her capitulate in any way beyond a simple occasional favor.

The 'crisis' of the novel comes too early. I really didn't give a shit if the life support was going out. I had known the children for all of 10 pages and none of them had been interesting or endearing. Bean was functionally out of the picture, doomed to die and residing in the cargo bay of the ship in a near vegetative state. What little Bean does say or do, his children say seemingly decades before him. Either that or he reminisces. There's a lot of reminiscing.

Like, a lot. Lastly, the last third of the book undermines the entire messagethe entire POINTof the entire Ender line of novels. Completely and irrevocably. For a book that tries to latch onto my nostaglia using Bean's memories of Ender, it seems to fail to understand the significance of those memories, that plot and history that came before.

Sometimes these things can add complexity and depth, but in this case, the depth was already there, and these changes were trite and shallow, much like the rest of the novel. A minor nitpick is that Card didn't go all-in with Bean's disability. In previous novels, doctors stipulated that removing limbs could drastically lengthen Bean's life. If Bean is to be a tragic character as he's been presented, well, don't puss out.

This novel ties up some, but certainly not many, loose ends, and in a wholly unsatisfying way. Die hards only. View all 14 comments. Jan 03, Michael rated it it was ok Shelves: science-fiction , read-in Over time, the Ender novels have become a series of diminishing returns. Orson Scott Card breathed a bit of new life into the series by going back to its roots and examining the saga from Bean's point of view, but after five books I find myself once again suffering series fatigue. The latest installment Shadows In Flight isn't necessarily a terrible book.

It's just a pale shadow pun fully intended of the first novels in this series. Bean and three of his children have launched themselves into t Over time, the Ender novels have become a series of diminishing returns. Bean and three of his children have launched themselves into the universe, trying to get away from Earth and to cure the condition that condemns them to a rapid lifespan. Along the way, they encounter a mysterious ship resulting in a first contact situation.

I know that Card isn't a huge fan of Star Trek but there were multiple instances reading this latest book that I felt like this story would work better in the Trek universe than it does in the Ender universe.

Again, part of that could be my deep abiding hope that Captain Kirk might somehow beam over and start to liven things up a bit because large chunks of this book are endless philosophical debate between characters who, quite frankly, fail to grab my attention or be memorable in any significant way.

The good thing I can say about Flight is it's mercifully shorter than most of other installments of the series. It felt more like an interesting idea for a novella expanded out to just barely a short novel length. With each of the last several Shadow novels, I've come to the final page and felt like Card has run out of interesting ideas for this universe and declared that it's less than likely I'd read the next installment, assuming there is one.

So, here I am, once again at the same point, swearing off the books and vowing to not read any more. But I know deep down the completest in me won't allow a sixth installment to go unread simply because of the fond memories I have of the early installments of the Ender saga.

So maybe it's time for Mr. Card to do us all a favor and let this series rest. View all 4 comments. Jul 24, Vivian rated it did not like it. Submitting this review of "Shadows in Flight - Enhanced Ebook edition" as a warning to those interested in purchasing this novel for their ebook readers. First, the enhanced edition has pretty pictures, which are illegible on typical black-and-white ereaders. Second, the enhanced edition is an abridged version of the hardcover novel, with less than half the text of the paper version.

Third, the "non-abridged" version of the original is only available as an ebook as of And fourth, I paid th Submitting this review of "Shadows in Flight - Enhanced Ebook edition" as a warning to those interested in purchasing this novel for their ebook readers. And fourth, I paid the same price for this abridged, "enhanced" version as I would have paid for a full-length bestseller.

None of this was disclosed on the Sony site where I purchased the book, and from the scathing reviews on Amazon, that seems to be the case for the Kindle edition as well. I only found all this out after reading the book, and reading the reviews of others who feel as cheated as I do.

While I do get the concept of "buyer beware," I always assumed an "enhanced" anything means there is something extra, not that something is taken away. View all 6 comments. I was thoroughly prepared for the possibility that this book might not be as good as the incomparable Ender's Game , the masterful Ender's Shadow , or the other books in the Shadow series.

I was not at all prepared for the actuality that this book was not only awful in its own right, it actually retcons the original books to the point of making them worse by association. No one who loves Ender's Game should read this book under any circumstances.

Dec 06, awgusteen rated it it was ok Shelves: owned. At the end of Shadow of the Giant, I couldn't wait for this one to be released. That was a couple years ago, and when I heard that it was finally written, I pre-ordered it. I'd been disappointed in Ender in Exile, but that hadn't been terrible just forgettable.

I was excited to see how this finally ended, and hoped Mr. Card had returned to form. Dear Lord, were those hopes misplaced. I noticed right away that the book was short. I don't have it in front of me, but I think it barely reaches At the end of Shadow of the Giant, I couldn't wait for this one to be released.

I don't have it in front of me, but I think it barely reaches pages. If these pages were packed with peril, character development, and intriguing plot, this might have been fine, but since at least a third is given over to rehashing often inaccurately the old books, the plot feels really thin. Despite it's short length, it still manages to drag on and on and be rather dull.

I didn't care about any of Bean's children, and perhaps that's why it was dull. If the characters are boring, the plot can be the most interesting thing in the world which is was not , and it will still leave little impact.

I've always loved Mr Card for his characters, but these seemed like flat rehashes of everyone else he's ever written. Character traits are shoehorned in and badly exposited during dull and painfully unrealistic dialogue.

If he had taken more words and shown more of their life on the ship before this, perhaps I would have cared more. Worse still is the revelation at the end of the book. I won't spoil it, but I will only say that it made me very angry and now I won't be able to read the early books the same way.

However, I did mostly like the parts from Bean's point of view, and I'll admit to getting a little choked up at the last scene, but then again, I cry over Beauty and the Beast. I'd say don't bother, but if you're buying it, you've probably already read the other books and are kind of looking forward to it.

Allow me to crush your hopes and tell you: No, Ender fans. It is not worth it. But you will still buy the next book, and keep buying them as the series continues and Mr. Card lines his pockets with your hard earned cash. At this point, he could write blindfolded and drunk and you would buy it, just to see what happens next. And the sad part is, so will I. View 1 comment. Nov 18, Davyne DeSye rated it it was amazing.

The second book in that series picks up 3, Earth-years later although due to the relativistic time dilation when travelling near the speed of light, Ender is not very much older than when he left Enjoyable!

The second book in that series picks up 3, Earth-years later although due to the relativistic time dilation when travelling near the speed of light, Ender is not very much older than when he left Earth. This, book five in the Shadow series, is the first bridge between the two series… Bean and three of his children have been sent into space, again, to take advantage of the relativistic effects of travelling near the speed of light.

They are sent in the hopes that while they are away, a cure will be found for the genetic defect that both makes them geniuses and causes an early death. While in space, they discover what they believe to be an inhabited alien space ship coming into orbit around a far off planet… After fighting and winning one war against aliens, are Bean and his children about to discover another species that humans will need to fight? Also, the book is interesting from the aspect of taking us away from Earth and introducing us to an alien race.

This book can be read as a standalone novel and I definitely recommend it! True rating: 4. Shelves: first-reads , science-fiction. First off, the sci-fi element is grand. Wonderful detail concerning mechanical and biological systems, as well as logistical solutions.

Well written and easy to read and understand. That could be difficult to pull off, but I bought it. Some of the quips were funny. I'll stop counting now -- reading sci-fi stimulates my left brain. I have read most of the Ender series, so this installment made sense and ad First off, the sci-fi element is grand. I have read most of the Ender series, so this installment made sense and added an interesting and creative perspective.

There were a couple of explorations into the nature of language and mind -control that I loved. Adventure and space stories can be fun, but I'll give an extra cheer for those that teach me something or are thought-provoking. My criticism with the novel is that despite all the positive qualities, it still felt shallow and sketchy.

For basic story-telling qualities alone, such as character development, etc, I'd give it 3 stars. For example, the story starts with Ender, one of the genius children, then hops to the other two children, so we get to know them, which is fine. However, the real owner of the story is Bean. Once the baton is passed to him, it becomes more interesting because he has the history and maturity. Artistically, right brain - is that you?

I think the entire framework should have been from Bean. But then, who am I to criticize Sir Card? I can say, I liked the earlier Ender novels better because they had more meat in the present story, rather than in the back-story. If you liked the Ender series, you'll appreciate this installment, but don't start here. Dec 01, Brian rated it it was amazing Shelves: first-reads.

Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card, as reviewed here is an uncorrected proof of a book that will be published in January, This novel does not have a stand-alone plot. Picking up where he left off, Orson Scott Card immediately reminded me why I was drawn to his writing originally. Card proves himsel Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card, as reviewed here is an uncorrected proof of a book that will be published in January, Card proves himself to be knowledgeable and capable of writing about an assortment of applicable sciences, from astrophysics to cellular biology to developmental psychology.

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.

He controlled and watched everything on the ship through his holo-top terminal, often prompting the children to have secret meetings they believe the Giant Bean cold not hear. In one of these meetings, the militarily-minded Cincinnatus nicknamed "Sergeant" tried to enlist the aid of his siblings in killing their father, saying that he was a drain on resources. Carlotta was unwilling to take a stance, but Ender punched Sergeant and broke his nose for proposing such an idea, thus ending his brother's domination over the family.

Ender and Carlotta told Bean about Sergeant's plans, and Bean put all three children in their place, reminding them they were each as intelligent as the other.

Sergeant had been imagining threats to their security where there were none, because he believed the Giant meant to pass his soldier role onto him. Ender took on the bulk of the genetic studies by monitoring the advances made by the scientists on Earth.

Carlotta served the family by taking care of every aspect of the spacecraft, since Bean was too large to work on any sort of repairs. After despairing at the condition of their lives, and in the light of the discovery that their condition could not be cured, Carlotta noticed an unknown spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit around an uncharted planet in the Goldilocks zone.

Bean and his children deliberated courses of action. If they altered their course, they must slow down to turn, possibly killing Bean with the increased gravity. However, they could not anticipate who or what was in the spacecraft; it may attack them, or they may be detrimental to the survival and progression of the human race. This hypothesis was solidified when Sergeant deduced that the ship is a Formic Ark , a colony ship that had been in flight for close to a millennium.

The story was short but tied the end of saga nicely. Orson Scott Card is a remarkable writter with a vast array of concepts that boggles the mind. I just wish the book was longer. Too short wanted it to last much longer but isn't that the mark of a good book The shadow series is written with such maturity, so much more so than the earlier works. Where the Ender series has profound themes of responsibility, meaning, and religiosity.

The shadow series is concerned with life, love, and the brevity we all face. As always this book is amazing. Orson Scott Card is an amazing author and his books are wonderfull.

Nicely told and an easy listen. I I really liked the shorter story. As it kept right to the point. Didn't change my life like some of the others in the series but still good. Add to Cart failed. Please try again later. Add to Wish List failed. Remove from wishlist failed. Adding to library failed. Please try again. Follow podcast failed. Unfollow podcast failed.

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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews. Amazon Reviews. Sort by:. Most Helpful Most Recent. Filter by:. All stars 5 star only 4 star only 3 star only 2 star only 1 star only. Brittani Patrick Flynn Excellent addition to the "Enderverse" Would you listen to Shadows in Flight again? OSC again conveys his clear insight into humanity. Wesley I didn't realize I liked Bean this much.

Thanks --Wesley 4 people found this helpful. Moore Reynold Loved it Nancy Connects the Ender and Bean storylines Some of the reviews indicate that this novel was awful but I respectively disagree. Chris W. Very Short, not at par with earlier books What made the experience of listening to Shadows in Flight the most enjoyable? Voice and emotion of the reading Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Its fine for new stories, but not on sequel 6 people found this helpful. Haas Disliked the ending I've really enjoyed the stories in the "Ender verse", including this one.