Shadow Puppets

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Shadow Puppets

Author	Orson Scott Card
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Ender's Shadow
Genre(s)	Science fiction novel
Publisher	Tor Books
Released	August 19, 2002
Media Type	Print (Hardcover/Paperback)
Pages	352 pp (Hardcover) 384 pp (Paperback)
ISBN	0765300176 (Hardcover) 0765340054 (Paperback)
Preceded by	Shadow of the Hegemon
Followed by	Shadow of the Giant

For information regarding the puppets, see Shadow play.

Shadow Puppets (2002), by Orson Scott Card, is the sequel to Shadow of the Hegemon and the third book in the Ender's Shadow series (often called the Bean Quartet). It was originally to be called Shadow of Death.^[1]

[edit] Plot summary

Peter Wiggin, Ender's brother, is Hegemon of Earth. Accepting a tip from inside China, where Achilles de Flandres is held prisoner, Peter rescues Achilles in transport, believing that he can spy on Achilles, take over his network, and then turn Achilles over to some country for trial (at the time of this story, Achilles has betrayed Russia, Pakistan, and India).

Achilles is known to kill anyone who has seen him vulnerable. Since they have both seen him so, Bean and Petra immediately go into hiding, preparing for the future confrontation. Bean believes Peter has seriously underestimated Achilles, and that he is not safe unless he is hidden. During their travels, Petra convinces Bean to marry her and have children with her. Bean is reluctant to have children, as he does not want his Anton's Key gene to be passed on. He finds Volescu, the original doctor who turned the key in his genes, who makes nine embryos to be created through artificial insemination. He pretends to identify three embryos with Anton's Key. One is implanted into Petra, while the rest of them are guarded.

At the same time, a message is passed to Bean that Han Tzu, a comrade from Battle School, did not pass the message about Achilles to Peter. Realizing the setup, Bean gets a message to Peter's parents, and they flee with Peter from the Hegemon's compound. Bean and Petra narrowly escape an assassination attempt themselves, and escape to Damascus. There they find that where another Battle School comrade, Alai, is the unannounced Caliph of a nearly unified Muslim world. Their embryos are stolen, and Bean expects Achilles to use them to bait a trap for them.

Peter and his parents escape to the colonization platform in space that used to be the battle school, relying on the protection of Colonel Graff, the former commander of that school, now Minister of Colonization. Shortly after their arrival, however, a message is sent betraying their arrival. Faking their own departure from the space station, they discover the traitor and send an unmanned shuttle instead, which is shot down over Brazil (not coincidentally, the same country where Achilles now occupies the Hegemon's compound).

In the previous novel, China conquered India and Indochina. Alai plans to liberate them by invading first China (a feint), and then India (once China has withdrawn its armies to defend the homeland). His invasion is successful, and in the midst of realizing their danger, the Chinese government disavows Achilles, providing evidence that he stole the missile launcher that destroyed the decoy shuttle. Left with nowhere to turn, Achilles contacts Bean and offers the embryos in exchange for safe passage.

Bean and Peter return to the Hegemon's compound. Achilles expects Bean to be so besotted with the idea of his children that he can be killed with a bomb in the transport container for them. When Bean doesn't fall for the trap, Achilles offers up fake embryos in petri dishes, expecting to lure Bean into a vulnerable position where Bean can be killed. However, Bean has already decided that Achilles was feinting and refuses to fall for his traps. Finally, Bean pulls out a pistol, and with Achilles begging for his life, shoots him in the head, finally killing his old enemy.

The novel ends with Peter restored as Hegemon, Petra reunited with Bean, a Caliph in command of the world's Muslims, a China severely reduced in territory and forced to accept humiliating surrender terms, and eight embryos still lost.

[edit] References

1. ^ Orson Scott Card, Shadow of the Hegemon (Tor Books, 2000). Pgs 447-448. ISBN 0-8125-6595-9.

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series
Ender Quartet	Ender's Game | Speaker for the Dead | Xenocide | Children of the Mind
Bean Quartet	Ender's Shadow | Shadow of the Hegemon | Shadow Puppets | Shadow of the Giant
Additional books	Shadows in Flight | Ender in Exile: Ganges (working title)
Short stories	First Meetings: "The Polish Boy" | "Teacher's Pest" | "Investment Counselor" Intergalactic Medicine Show: "Mazer in Prison" | "Pretty Boy" | "Cheater"
Books | Characters | Concepts