Shadows in Flight

Summary:

 Ender's Shadow explores the stars in this all-new novel.  At the end of Shadow of the Giant , Bean flees to the stars with three of his children--the three who share the engineered genes that gave him both hyper-intelligence and a short, cruel physical life. The time dilation granted by the speed of their travel gives Earth's scientists generations to seek a cure, to no avail. In time, they are forgotten--a fading ansible signal speaking of events lost to Earth's history. But the Delphikis are about to make a discovery that will let them save themselves, and perhaps all of humanity in days to come. For there in space before them lies a derelict Formic colony ship. Aboard it, they will find both death and wonders--the life support that is failing on their own ship, room to grow, and labs in which to explore their own genetic anomaly and the mysterious disease that killed the ship's colony.

Staff Review:

Shadows In Flight is Orson Scott Card’s sequel to Shadow of the Giant, a book set in the Enderverse. In the previous book, we know that Bean has set off, in a ship that will accelerate near light speed, with his three children who had Anton’s Key turned in them in hopes of staying alive long enough to find a cure.  In Shadows In Flight we are introduced to those children. This book explores the dynamic of three genus siblings living in small quarters for years on end with a genus father who is hardly into adulthood himself. After this introduction, and what feels like maturation for both our characters and our understanding of the characters as the reader, something unexpected happens. In the depths of deep space, we come across an alien ship. The characters have not only to contend with the boredom and monotony of an unchanging environment and unchanging company, the struggle against their shortened lives by the genetic mutation, but also this new and unexpected turn of events. Card’s children are just as compelling as ever. This book is for the followers of Ender’s Universe, but also I think it can be enjoyed by those who have never read anything by Card before.

-- by Lee V.