Shadow Puppets Audiobook By Orson Scott Card cover art

Shadow Puppets

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Shadow Puppets

By: Orson Scott Card
Narrated by: David Birney, Stefan Rudnicki
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Bestselling author Orson Scott Card brings to life a new chapter in the saga of Ender's Earth and The Shadow Series.

Earth and its society have been changed irrevocably in the aftermath of Ender Wiggin's victory over the Formics. The unity forced upon the warring nations by an alien enemy has shattered. Nations are rising again, seeking territory and influence, and most of all, seeking to control the skills and loyalty of the children from the Battle School.

But one person has a better idea. Peter Wiggin, Ender's older, more ruthless, brother, sees that any hope for the future of Earth lies in restoring a sense of unity and purpose. And he has an irresistible call on the loyalty of Earth's young warriors. With Bean at his side, the two will reshape our future.

Shadow Puppets is the continuing story of Bean and Petra, and the rest of Ender's Dragon Army, as they take their places in the new government of Earth.

©2002 Orson Scott Card (P)2002 Fantastic Audio Fantasy Genre Fiction Sagas Science Fiction

Critic reviews

“David Birney's voice sounds purposefully fatigued, beautifully conveying the world leader Peter Wiggin's frustrated resignation, and Stefan Rudnicki's clipped, low baritone is perfect for the cloack-and-dagger email correspondence that bookends the chapters. Gabrielle de Cuir expertly handles both accents and emotion...[Scott Brick] tackles the Bean chapters with the youthful cynicism and passion that Bean embodies in this book, capturing the character's voice with wonderful passion.” —AudioFile

“The folks at Audio Renaissance have quite literally brought greatness to the text. They've included an introduction and a postscript read by Card himself, both of which place the novel and the audiobook in its context as well as enlightening us to the author's method of its construction. Multiple readers led by Stefan Rudnicki work perfectly to vocally illustrate each chapter, character and scene.” —Science Fiction and Fantasy on Ender's Game(A Science Fiction and Fantasy Essential)

“The ideal presentation of any book of mine is to have excellent actors perform it in audio format.” —Orson Scott Card from the afterword of Ender's Game
Engaging Political Intrigue • Complex Character Development • Compelling Protagonists • Compelling World-building

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You continue with Bean's story, and the positive here is that Card develops the character quite nicely.

However, the premise of the world going to war based on advice from 10 and 12 year olds is simply not believable in this one.

I was able to suspend disbelief in Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, but he simply missed the mark with the story.

Overall, I recommend and will be moving on to Shadow of the Hegemon.

Another Good Read in the Ender Series

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Bean is one of my favorite characters of all time. It's a thrilling story however I'm disappointed that the author had to use his characters to preach religious views

Shadow puppets - great story!

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This production house is typically amazing, but there are some strange issues with this reading. I think the readers must have been mispronouncing "hegemon" because the word is dubbed over in a really jarring way throughout the production. There were places were they couldn't agree on how to pronounce Achilles. The audio quality also seemed of compared to previous entries in the series.

I enjoyed more time with these characters very much. A few times I had to roll my eyes because the author's personal political evolution is shining through in ways unseen in previous works. Bean's exploration of the morality of abortion as an example. Didn't stop me from enjoying the story. Anyone who made it this far in the series has no reason to stop here.

spotty recording

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the novel it's self is amazing and the voice actors do a phenomenal job. the random music is off putting though

strange music

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Great characters and story, great research into geography and cultures. Well paced action and thought provoking

Great political thriller

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