Card's Hegemon Continues Series

Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card continues mining his Ender's Game universe for new book material. Shadow of the Hegemon brings the tally of books in this setting where a group of the brightest children save the planet from alien invasion to six volumes.

The first, Ender's Game, is widely regarded as a science fiction classic, one of the top stories of its decade and a hit movie in waiting. Ender Wiggin was the name of Card's pint-sized strategic hero, a general who trained by playing a zero gravity version of laser tag and commanded armadas while thinking he was playing an elaborate combat simulator. Selected as one of Earth's brightest and most mentally tough children, Ender surrounded himself with a diverse cadre of leaders who were all among the planet's best and brightest. Known as the Battle School graduates, the group unknowingly commanded their space flotilla to victory over a gruesome race that Card spent hundreds of sequel pages humanizing only to make them caricatures again in later novels.

No stranger to serial writing, Card followed with other stories that were enthusiastically purchased but lacked the zip punctuating stories like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Ender. The new novels were written on a higher level, with more thought given to the galaxy-altering events thrust upon Card's children. Card effectively updated Heinlein's Starship Troopers, but mixed in a healthy dose of philosophy with the futuristic spatter. Along the way, however, he missed connecting with many early Ender fans, some of who had been tracking Card's career since he was cranking out computer magazine articles on how to parse text adventure games.

Ender's Shadow, the back story of Julian Delphiki, aka Bean, restored the original story's vigor and Shadow of the Hegemon extends the concept, plotline and vitality. Neither approaches the shock and punchy writing of the original Ender, but both are faithful followers of its methodology.

The Plot In Exactly One Hundred Words

The Bugger War is over. Petra, Bean and the other recruits have returned to Earth as heroes, but Peter Wiggin, Ender's Machiavellian older brother, is maneuvering public opinion and governments to consolidate power and distract critics from using his age as a drawback. Achilles, Bean's childhood nemesis, tracks down the young hero and sets off a series of events designed to not only thwart Peter, but destroy Bean. This involves manipulating events in Russia, India, Pakistan and Thailand. Bean learns the truth about his genetic mutation and is forced to face Achilles to avenge Sister Carlotta's death and Petra's kidnapping.

What Works Well

I have always asserted that few authors in any genre write children with Orson Scott Card's depth. Even Card's cartoonish planet saviors are eventually imbued with the complexity reserved for more literary character portraits. Readers will quickly determine which characters have Card's special attention and receive more than a token description. Card apparently felt more comfortable in bringing out Petra's character for this story, as well as continuing to explore his beloved Bean. The adults, especially Sister Carlotta and Colonel Graff are treated as more than window dressing. In the process, Petra reaches depths previously reserved for the series' stars with a bit of a twist: she's not an especially likeable character.

With a bit of fortuitous timing, much of the book's later action revolves around a threatened war between India and Pakistan with others jumping in and manipulating both countries. Seemingly torn straight from today's headlines, Card is the beneficiary of a somewhat cyclical flare-up in relations between those two enemies, and he addresses the cultural issues well. The political scenes, not only in Asia, but in Peter Wiggins' attempt to become Hegemon are also done well, and show Card's interest in broadening his Ender universe to incorporate more potential stories.

What Doesn't Work

As befalls many series, the Ender universe is developing patterns, partly due to Card's own patterns and partly due to the limitations written into the universe in the first novel. Old enemies resurfacing and introducing new enemies is a series chestnut and necessary to keep things fresh. The Achilles plotline is predictable, though, and the sense of imminent danger seems removed. Like ancient movie serials, readers expect that their heroes will emerge unscathed.

There are of course unresolved plot complications that can be used as material for future stories, but these seem mundane with the possible exception of a great political novel describing how Peter attempts to unite the planet. Unfortunately, Card has left much of the cultural and sociological background vague in previous stories so one is unsure exactly how interesting this alien-free world will be. If anything, Card's future world seems a lot like today's with some nifty gadgets and a few different coalitions sprinkled in for variety. That is not a fatal flaw, but does reduce the series' impact.

The Bottom Line, Dog Eared Pages and All

An obvious must for the series readers. Card fans who have read Ender's Game will probably want to skip straight to Ender's Shadow and then to this story rather than reading the books in order of publishing date. Those who have not read Ender's Game must start there - reading this story rui ns the entire context and magic of the first story's ending. This is a serviceable sequel that will make little sense and provide little enjoyment without the background of the two earlier novels.