Reviews and Comments

This was in incredibly short read. It's less than 100 pages, even with the extended edition (which is what I read).

I would recommend you pay the extra $2 and get the extended edition. It contains three sections which were originally cut, but which Orson Scott Card still wanted in there. The three sections were cut for a good reason, I think. That is, they didn't really fit in the story where they were put. But, those three sections (especially the third) give some great background to the characters that I really love.

This story is a continuation of [b:Shadow of the Giant|8647|Shadow of the Giant (Shadow, #4)|Orson Scott Card|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165699277s/8647.jpg|4088], following Bean and three of his children after they left Earth. The whole book is mostly one small story which is clearly intended to set up [a:Orson Scott Card|589|Orson Scott Card|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1294099952p2/589.jpg]'s next book, [b:Shadows Alive|11949135|Shadows Alive (Shadow, #6)|Orson Scott Card|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nocover/60x80.png|16910881], in which I suspect Ender Delphiki (along with his brother and sister), will get to meet his namesake, Ender Wiggin.

The story is really great, in my opinion, because it does a good job of showing how Bean's children are growing. I noticed some interesting parallels between Bean's children and the Wiggin children, in terms of group dynamics.

It was also a nice change from all the war stories that make up the rest of the Shadow series.

This was definitely a very different book than [b:Ender's Shadow|9532|Ender's Shadow (Shadow, #1)|Orson Scott Card|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316131738s/9532.jpg|3145587]. In fact, I'm not even sure I would classify it as science fiction. It was, more than anything, a book about war.

It was definitely interesting, and I liked getting the chance to meet more Battle School kids.

The part I liked the best was the greater characterization of the Wiggin parents. In [b:Ender's Game|375802|Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1)|Orson Scott Card|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316636769s/375802.jpg|2422333], I couldn't stand those characters. They didn't make sense to me, and seemed completely out of place. I just didn't understand how those two people could be the parents of Peter, Valentine, and Ender. But in Shadow of the Hegemon, we finally got to learn more about who Mr. and Mrs. Wiggin really are, and now they finally make sense to me.

I also liked to see Peter's development. He's become, in my opinion, one of the most dynamic characters of the series. He grew and developed so much in Ender's Shadow, and Shadow of the Hegemon. I really like the direction that [a:Orson Scott Card|589|Orson Scott Card|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1294099952p2/589.jpg] has taken him.

The beginning of the book was a little hard to read. The dialog felt very stilted: like he was trying for some hip, sci-fi, noir, but it just didn't work. There were also some basic plot points that were extremely difficult to accept, like the idea that Mafia has built their new business model around pizza delivery, and the head of the Mafia would personally go to someone's house to apologize for a late pizza. Really? That's just absurd.

After the beginning, I like it more and more. There were still a few things that irked me, especially when technical terms were used incorrectly, but I tried to ignore that kind of stuff and just enjoy the story.

The story, for me, was fascinating. It blended many of my favorite things: the Internet, advance technology, language (esp. dead languages), and mythology, to name a few. There were a few parts that some people might find a little dry, such as long explanations of ancient myth and languages. I found those parts incredibly interesting, and they really helped draw me into the story.

This book is action, more than anything else. There is a lot of it, and it's very well written action. The idea for the book, I believe, was originally conceived as a graphic novel, and it shows. I can just see a lot of those images just popping right off the pages.

All in all, I found it mostly enjoyable, once I got past the first few chapters.

This book could be described as a fantasy novel about a war between the gods. It could be described as a travel book.

This book is about many things, but to me, I think this book is mostly the story of America, and the American experience. The story about the war between the gods is mostly a backdrop to this, more important, story.

Being written by a non-American, it focuses, to a great deal, on the immigrant experience. With America being a country of immigrants, this is especially appropriate. Some of these immigrants happen to be gods, having been imported to the mortal immigrants.

I really enjoyed this book. I love the portrait it painted of life in America, and the melting pot of cultures that make up our fair nation.

The one problem I had with this book is a mostly philosophical one. Many times the line "This is a bad country for gods" was repeated. That's something I simply can't agree with. In fact, I think the book itself disproves that. America offers the greatest variety of religious experiences in all the world. Religion is as American as baseball and apple pie.

All in all, I would recommend this book to just about anyone. I would give one fair warning, though. There are some very sexually graphic scenes in this book. These scenes are in the extreme minority, but they're hard to avoid. Besides that one caveat, this book is a great story for just about anyone.

I'm not sure what to think about this book. It was incredibly derivative of both Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia. In fact, it made direct references to both stories. At times it felt like the author was trying to deliberately bring attention to the fact that he was ripping off [a:J.K. Rowling|1077326|J.K. Rowling|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1334596338p2/1077326.jpg] and [a:C.S. Lewis|1069006|C.S. Lewis|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1211981595p2/1069006.jpg].

On the other hand, there were some very different, and conflicting, messages than what either of those series portrayed. It appears, from the onset, that the only difference is that it's edgier and more adult than these other two series. The main characters aren't children, they're young adults, college students. And they get into all the same trouble that an average American college students gets into. It's Harry Potter with sex and alcohol.

But there's more to it than that. The main character clearly has chronic, clinical depression. When he learns that magic is real and he's been invited to study at Hogwarts Brakebills Magic College, he thinks becoming a magician will cure his depression. Of course, it doesn't. When he graduates, he tries to drown his depression in alcohol and drugs, which does nothing for him. When he learns that Narnia Fillory is a real place and he can travel there, he thinks going there will get him out of his funk. Of course, it doesn't.

At no point does he seek any actual help for his depression, and by the end of the book, he's basically given up on life, taking a meaningless job where he does nothing, and has little interaction with any real people. The book tells of fantastic adventures, with an incredibly depressed protagonist. I don't know if it's a nice change from most fantasy stories, or a pitiful portrayal of a pitiful life.

I began to read this book because I enjoyed the movie adaptation, so I figured the book might be entertaining enough. Despite the fact that it's target demographic is teenage girls, it was still fairly entertaining for me in a lot of ways, but there's a lot that I really hated about this book.

The basic plot is of a high school freshman girl, Mia Thermopolis, who was apparently too much of a ditz to have figured out that her father is royalty. He is, unbeknownst to her, Prince Phillipe Renaldo, ruler of Andorra Genovia. Her parents were never married, and they decided to keep her royal status a secret from her, since, as an illegitimate child, she had no claim to the throne. However, when her father was diagnosed with testicular cancer and told he'd have no more children, she became the heir to the throne.

When she learned the truth, she was absolutely opposed to becoming a princess. At one point, it occurs to her that she could simply refuse the crown. As she says, "This is America, and I can choose to be whatever I want to be. So I can choose NOT to be a princess." She vocalizes this idea to her father, her mother, and her grandmother. Her grandmother (the dowager princess) refuses to even consider it. Her father simply gives in to his mother. Her mother avoids addressing any of her concerns entirely, oftentimes by spending extra time with her new boyfriend, instead of talking to her daughter. Basically, none of the adults in her life care about her concerns. They never address her real issues, and strong arm her into a life she doesn't want for herself.

She starts out the book a normal, slightly awkward, teenager with normal teenage problems. By the end of the book, her life has become wonderful and happy. Basically, the author wants teenage girls to know that if their lives aren't idyllic, it's because they're not princesses.

Most of the book is fairly entertaining, but with the horrible lessons it seems to be giving, I wouldn't recommend it, and I'd especially try to keep it away from any teenage girls.