In the third book of Orson Scott Card’s Shadow Saga,
Shadow Puppets, a cycle of espionage and deception
runs rampant on the Earth as humanity continues to engage in regional wars in
the wake of the Formic destruction. Thus, in this science fiction turned James
Bond narrative, I found myself clamoring for the philosophy of man Card played
out when discussing the viability of the piggies in
Xenocide. Unfortunately,
while Card creates a semi-entertaining novel, this piece fails to live up to
both the critical and intellectual level one would expect. While it does fixate
on the minds of teenagers, characters prone to the irrational,
Shadow Puppets lacks full intellectual mettle.
Instead, the text is full of inexplicable decisions, contrived plot points, and
an Amazon River like path that meanders to and fro.
As the novel starts, Achilles, the psychopath and enemy of both
Bean and the Peter Wiggin is rescued from a Chinese transport and put into the
employ of the Hegemon. Why? Only Card knows, for this inexplicable plot point serves
as the catalyst for ever event for the remainder of the Shadow Saga. Thus Bean
flees with Petra, prompting the two to fall in love. This build up to love is
unsubstantiated and lacking in detail—it happens and the reader takes the face
in stride lest they stop reading the novel. Bean and Petra argue over having
children, get married, opt for in-vitro fertilization in order to avoid passing
on Bean’s genetic condition, and then of course, they fall into a web of evil
created by Achilles.
On the other side of the word, Asia and the Middle East
tumble into war, wars led or planned by battle school graduates. These wars
turn society on end, and begin marching toward the planet’s ultimate need of a
Hegemon and the removal of the battle school graduates from earthbound society.
But this plot will not playout yet—there is still another book to sell. In the
end and to no one’s surprise, Achilles is murdered at the hands of Bean, taking
the reader right back to where they began, but with a little more war, a marriage,
and the search for babies. While not Card’s best work, the pages turn, the saga
goes on, and Bean is almost free to travel the galaxy and wait for a cure for
his incurable condition.
As I read Paul Kingsnorth's: The Wake, a post-apocalyptic novel that takes place around a thousand years ago, I have found myself creating a glossary for the Kingsnorth's shadow tongue. His language mirrors Old English in a modern, updated manner, and uses many variations of words that one would have found during the novel's era. While much of the language begins to flow as you read it, a list of terms can help. Thus, this what I have so far (updates will flow):
