Shadows in Flight

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Emily Janice Card, Scott Brick, Orson Scott Card, Kirby Heyborne

Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's 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.

Shadows in Flight is the fifth novel in Orson Scott Card's Shadow Series.

©2011 Orson Scott Card (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

spoiler warning!

I have now read all of the books in the Enderverse as well as the entire Shadows series. and while Ender is awesome in his own right, it is truly Bean but I have come to like and appreciate the most. the character development is simply awesome, and I only wish there had been more books with his character at the center of the story. this was a difficult book for me to read, because I was fairly certain, from the outset, that Bean I was going to die. in fact, it would have been really cool if Ender had known of the events in this book, and had written his own book titled "The Life Of Bean" or possibly had been the speaker at his funeral. perhaps one of the things that I wish had been written into the storyline of this series was a closer relationship with his brother. perhaps something akin to what Ender had with his sister.
overall, all these books remain some of my favorites, and the performance across all the audio books is exceptional! I do not say that lightly, because I have spent my entire life listening to books, as opposed to reading them with my eyes. all the narrator's here are excellent, and pulled off a phenomenal performance.

Great story! (If not a little overpriced…)

Loved this story in the Bean saga!! Though I felt at 6hrs it was a tad overpriced at $15… but that’s my only complaint, book and production was good.

Sweet end to Bean’s story

I have read on paper all the other books in this series leading up to this. I didn’t realize this book existed, but figured it out right before I read the last two from this universe. I didn’t feel like waiting for the print so grabbed the audio and I’m glad I did. Excellent narration And such a sweet emotional ending.

OSC again conveys his clear insight into humanity.

Any additional comments?

I'm a huge fan of OSC and most especially of the Enderverse novels however that last two full length novels he has written in this series, A War of Gifts and Ender in Exile felt a bit like fluff. Sure if you are a Card junkie like me then you'll want to read them but they are only adding a little icing to a story to was finished long ago. Shadows in Flight finally gets back to the story fans like me have been waiting for years. What happens to Bean and his children after they leave earth. Even though its a shorter book, it didn't seem like filler between novels but a new story that needed telling and OSC does it with his usual finesse.
It was a great listen with such an amazing cast of narrators. I don't know what I'm going to when the movie comes out and I hear voices other than Stephen Rudniki or Scott Brick. It just won't seem right after so long of listening to them do it so well.
Can't wait for Shadows Alive.

Not Card's best, but worth the read

I am a long time fan of this series and enjoyed the read. If you are new to the series go back and start with Ender's Game first. If you have already read the series up to this point why are you wasting time reading my review? Not the best in the series, but good. If you've read everything so far this one is a must. For me the best narration is the type that becomes a transparent vehicle for the story. My highest praise for narration is that I didn't notice it. I didn't notice it here. If you love the Ender series definitely read this book. If you are new go to the beginning as this story really depends on you having a history with the character Bean. I have loved this series since beginning it in high school. If you've some how missed the series you have to go and read it from the beginning.

Short but sweet - Card goes old school

As some have already noted this is a story that many have waited for, finding out what happened to Bean and his children. It is very well done and also showcases Orson Scott Card's wonderful story telling talent. Some have kind of complained that this story is too short,that it is only a novella, but isn't that the way sci-fi started out? Short, concise, and well done stories. A complete story doesn't have to be 900 pages long to be well done and complete. Mr. Card, goes back to his roots and old school sci-fi writing by masterfully telling this story in such a concise, without any fluff, way. It can be enjoyed in one satisfying sitting (which is such a rarity these days). It brings Bean's storyline to an end and it really wets the appetite for the book that is coming that will finally bring Bean's and Ender's storylines together.

This is a must read that I think will be enjoyed by most.

Not cards best work

If you are a fan of the shadow series, this is a must read. But it is not the best short story Card has written. I think it needed more Bean, and it created more questions than it answered. Probably for more $ in the future. I almost feel like boycotting the Enders game prequel and every other book Card writes that isn't a Children Of The Mind Sequal. It's been 16 years, not very nice of Mr.Card to keep us all waiting so very long.

I enjoyed this.

I want to read about these kids. Like, I need more. I have enough this series.

Amazing Novella!

Would you listen to Shadows in Flight again? Why?

I would listen to this book again because it is another chapter in Bean's life. There is so much to be learned from the writing.

What did you like best about this story?

It tied up a lot of loose ends from the previous novels.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

Not sure, both the male and female narrators were great performers.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

From tragedy rises a new generation of humanity.

Short!

In listening to the afterword from Card, I was struck by something he said about how this book came to be: he and the publisher were trying to see if they could create a book that would be half the usual length while reducing the price so that it could be an "impulse" buy in a way regular novels are not. In general, I support that idea.

I'm just not sure it's been implemented. The price for this book, both the Kindle edition and the Audible edition, is within pennies of the other books of the series. Since I know that most of what we're paying for is the intellectual property and the work that went into generating it, not the infrastructure necessary to deliver it to us (especially with the digital editions), it feels a bit like a ripoff - same price, but half the content.

I recognize that this isn't Card's fault - he likely has no control over how the book is priced - but if the point of this experiment was to create a low-priced book, it's frustrating to a significant degree that this book isn't comparatively low-priced. The publisher doesn't seem to have cared to see the experiment through. And that's a damn shame.