Shadows in Flight

by Orson Scott Card

Overview

Ender’s Shadow explores the stars in this all-new novel...

At the end of Shadow of the Giant, Bean flees to the stars with three of his children—the three who share the engineered genes that gave him both hyper-intelligence and a short, cruel physical life. The time dilation granted by the speed of their travel gives Earth’s scientists generations to seek a cure, to no avail. In time, they are forgotten—a fading ansible signal speaking of events lost to Earth’s history. But the Delphikis are about to make a discovery that will let them save themselves, and perhaps all of humanity in days to come.

For there in space before them lies a derelict Formic colony ship. Aboard it, they will find both death and wonders—the life support that is failing on their own ship, room to grow, and labs in which to explore their own genetic anomaly and the mysterious disease that killed the ship’s colony.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250442840
Publisher:	Tom Doherty Associates
Publication date:	01/29/2013
Pages:	306
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.76(d)

About the Author

ORSON SCOTT CARD is the internationally bestselling author of Ender's Game. He lives in Greensboro, NC.

Hometown:

Greensboro, North Carolina

Date of Birth:

August 24, 1951

Place of Birth:

Richland, Washington

Education:

B.A. in theater, Brigham Young University, 1975; M.A. in English, University of Utah, 1981

Website:

http://www.hatrack.com

Read an Excerpt

Shadows in Flight (Chapter 1)

The starship Herodotus left Earth in 2210 with four passengers. It accelerated nearly to lightspeed as quickly as it could, and then stayed at that speed, letting relativity do its work.

On Herodotus, just over five years had passed; it had been 421 years on Earth.

On Herodotus, the three thirteen-month-old babies had turned into six-year-olds, and the Giant had outlived his life expectancy by two years.

On Earth, starships had been launched to found ninety-three colonies, beginning with the worlds once colonized by the Formics and spreading to other habitable planets as soon as they were found.

On Herodotus, the six-year-old children were small for their age, but brilliant beyond their years, as the Giant had been when he was little, for in all four of them, Anton's Key had been turned, a genetic defect and a genetic enhancement at the same time. Their intelligence was beyond the level of savants in every subject matter, without any of the debilitations of autism. But their bodies never stopped growing. They were small now, but by age twenty-two, they would be the size of the Giant, and the Giant would be long dead. For he was dying, and when he died, the children would be alone.

Shadows in Flight Copyright © 2012 by Orson Scott Card

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Card's latest installment in his Shadow subseries…does a superlative job of dramatically portraying the maturing process of child into adult…. Card makes the important point that there's always more than one side to every issue. Fans will marvel at how subtly he has prepared for the clever resolution." 

—Publishers Weekly, starred review, on Shadow of the Giant

“Shadow of the Giant is a fitting and satisfying continuation to the Ender series, although it is not a conclusion. Card...seems to indicate that he will at some point return to follow Bean's family and the other Battle School Children as they expand throughout the galaxy.” 

—SF Site.com

“Once again, Card keeps the action, danger, and intrigue levels high...paves the way for further Ender-Bean developments; and leaves his readers eagerly awaiting them.” 

—Booklist on Shadow Puppets

Editorial Reviews

In this long-awaited sequel to Orson Scott Card's 2005 Shadow of the Giant, Ender and three of his children flee to the outskirts of the universe in search of a cure of their accelerated life cycle. No encouraging answers come from Earth's scientists, but when the Delphikis come upon a deserted Formic colony ship deep in space, they make discoveries of their own that could change everything. Bound to be a bestseller. Now in mass-market paperback and NOOK Book.

"Card's latest installment in his Shadow subseries…does a superlative job of dramatically portraying the maturing process of child into adult…. Card makes the important point that there's always more than one side to every issue. Fans will marvel at how subtly he has prepared for the clever resolution." 

—Publishers Weekly, starred review, on Shadow of the Giant

“Shadow of the Giant is a fitting and satisfying continuation to the Ender series, although it is not a conclusion. Card...seems to indicate that he will at some point return to follow Bean's family and the other Battle School Children as they expand throughout the galaxy.” 

—SF Site.com

“Once again, Card keeps the action, danger, and intrigue levels high...paves the way for further Ender-Bean developments; and leaves his readers eagerly awaiting them.” 

—Booklist on Shadow Puppets

From the Publisher