Shadow Puppets

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: David Birney, Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Browse more titles in the Ender Wiggin series.

©2002 Orson Scott Card (P)2002 Fantastic Audio

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

Did not disappoint

Not as good as Ender’s game but there is no sci-fi here really, only a poignant glimpse into human nature. Love, lust for power, reproduction, and meaning; pretty accurate account if you ask me.

Another solid installment of the shadow series

If you just finished Shadow Pt 2 and were on the edge on weather or not to continue. I'd say there's no decrease in the quality of the writing from the last book. Especially because I find this series far more satisfying than the proper Ender's series.

*possible spoiler*

I will say that Petra becomes a little baby crazy. Which I didn't have a real problem with, but I know it turned some other readers off.

Mostly enjoyable, but...

The story has too much religious fervor, for my tastes. I'm hoping the next episode is better.

Great book!

I just love these books; the "Ender" series and now the "Shadow" series, with Bean and Petra and Peter...I devour them!

Don't read this book if you haven't read "Shadow of the Hegemon" (which is preceded by "Ender's Shadow"). And if you haven't read "Ender's Game" yet, stop here and buy that instead!

Two things to point out, though:
1) This book does not end the "Shadow" series, and so far as I can tell the next book hasn't been published yet! So, while this book doesn't exactly leave you hanging, it doesn't resolve the story, either.
2) My only real complaint with these books are the love stories. I bought into the concept of battle school kids easily enough, and if you forget how old the characters are the story moves along fine. But I found that every time I remembered they're not yet 15, I recoiled a wee bit. I also note, however, that Card seems to realize this, and doesn't remind the reader about age very often.

Definitely another great addition to the "Ender" series - I can't wait for the next one!

good story

I’ve internalized the Ender’s Game quartet for over 20 years, so I was excited when Bean’s parallel stories came out. The narration is always good, not sure how Stefan didn’t notice that Gabrielle was pronouncing Achilles’ name wrong throughout the whole story. Each time she said it wrong, I cringed. So I guess my cringing muscles have been well exercised. But I’ve listened to the entire Shadow saga over a dozen times, so I’m sure I’ll be back again in a few months.

Not a fan of the music

Five-star all around. The only annoyance is the music between chapters, and sometimes sections within a chapter.

another brilliant performance

great audiobook. the story is more earth side focused which was less to my liking, I just prefer space haha. but it does make real life politics appear dumb, which it is.

Another Great Book in the Series

I'm a huge fan of Mr. Card, and I don't think I've read a book from him that I didn't like or love for that matter. This book is added to that collection, not my favorite from the Enderverse, but still an excellent story, and I love getting to know the other characters more.

The narration is phenomenal in my opinion, the voices are so easy to listen to.

Love this series

I just love this series. Looking forward to the conclusion for the battle of earth.

another great addition to the series

A new look on Peter and his psyche, bean and his, un, issues, and I enjoyed getting to know Petra better