This is the third in the sequence that began with Ender’s Shadow, which I really liked, following directly after Shadow of the Hegemon. And as with Shadow of the Hegemon I’m somewhat underwhelmed.

In the previous book, the nations of Earth begin to fight amongst themselves after the successful conclusion of the war against the Buggers. Both China and Russia expand significantly, with China conquering most of east Asia, including India. Much of the conflict has been engineered by Bean’s old adversary, Achilles, who’s a real piece of
work.

In this book the tale continues more or less from where the last left off; indeed, it’s my understanding that the material in this book and its precessor were originally intended to fill a single book. Unfortunately, there’s nothing very compelling about it. Bean continues to mature, which is nice; and Card’s view of possible future geo-politics is interesting; and Bean has his final confrontation with Achilles, which is a relief but turned out to be somewhat anti-climactic. It’s not a bad book, and it has some good bits, but there’s just nothing very special about it.

I’m planning on getting the final book in the set, Shadow of the Giant, sometime today, so I can take it with me on a business trip this coming week; but if Card doesn’t have a pretty good conclusion lined up I’m going to be seriously disappointed.