Shadow of the Giant
Encyclopedia
Shadow of the Giant is the fourth novel in Orson Scott Card
's Ender's Shadow series.
that the government has lost the Mandate of Heaven
. Han Tzu meets up with Mazer Rackham, who passes him a blow dart pen, calling it the "Mandate of Heaven". Shortly afterwards, Han Tzu kills the emperor, Snow Tiger, overthrows the Chinese government, and installs himself as the new emperor.
Peter Wiggin
, Hegemon of Earth
, along with Petra Arkanian
, go to visit Alai, Caliph
of the Muslim
League. The two help Alai realize that he is little more than a glorified prisoner, and that others have been ruling Islam
in his stead. After uncovering a conspiracy against him, Alai resolves to take firmer control of his nation, and to treat the peoples he wrested away from China as human beings, and not like animals, as they were being treated before.
The rest of the book deals with Peter Wiggin working to create a world government free of war through his Free People of Earth (FPE) alliance. Caliph Alai of the Muslim League and Virlomi, now the virtual goddess of India
, oppose his efforts. Against this backdrop of world political machinations by the former Battle School children is the extremely personal story of Bean. Anton's Key is making him grow at an astounding rate and he has only a short time before his body will become too large for his heart
to support. He searches frantically for his and Petra's missing children. Graff assists them in locating the surrogate mothers of their children. While Bean and Petra wait for news, Graff persuades Bean to support Peter in his world peace efforts.
The FPE alliance begins with only twenty-two countries. The first test of the FPE comes when they recognize two oppressed nations that are politically part of another nation. Peter sends Bean with Rwanda
n and Thai
troops to show that war against one FPE member is war against all of them and defeats the Peruvian army in South America and the Sudanese army in Africa. Their victories, and especially their militarily brilliant commander (Bean), strike fear into the nations of the world, and they begin to join the FPE to avoid conflict with Bean's well-trained and efficient army.
Meanwhile, Bean suspects that Peter is embezzling Ender
's military pension to fund the FPE, so he requests that Ender's funds be placed under the control of an autonomous computer. Colonel Graff has the Mind Game, (which later becomes Jane
), reprogrammed to accurately predict financial markets, and invests Ender's pension accordingly. The machine also limits the search for Bean's missing children from tens of thousands of possible recipients to hundreds. The International Fleet finds eight of the nine missing children, two of whom have Anton's Key turned, as does the baby Petra is carrying. But Achilles implanted the ninth child into a woman named Randi, brainwashed to think that it is the baby of Achilles, who is to her a hero assassinated by foul enemies. To avoid persecution, Randi determines to leave Earth and live in a colony, where she can raise her child (who appears to have Anton's Key turned, as the baby was born prematurely) to follow in Achilles' footsteps (her story is later continued in the book, also by Orson Scott Card, Ender in Exile).
With the secret help of Mazer Rackham, Bean divorces Petra for her own sake, takes the three found children with Anton's Key, and flies away on a starship provided by the Fleet to achieve relativistic speeds
and thereby stay alive long enough for medical researchers to find a cure. Bean's departure breaks Petra's heart, but she becomes Peter's military commander, eventually marrying and having five children with him, though she never stops loving Bean. By the end of the novel, all of the world's nations, except the United States
, have joined the FPE. Peter reconciles with Ender via ansible
, giving the "Speaker for the Dead" all he needs to write The Hegemon, a deeply felt and truthful biography of his brother. Petra reads his biography at his grave, thinking of him as the man who truly changed her life. Still, Bean remains the one who she loves and has changed her life the most.
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
's Ender's Shadow series.
Plot summary
A belief is spreading in conquered ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
that the government has lost the Mandate of Heaven
Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers. It is similar to the European concept of the divine right of kings, in that both sought to legitimaze rule from divine approval; however, unlike the divine right of kings, the Mandate of...
. Han Tzu meets up with Mazer Rackham, who passes him a blow dart pen, calling it the "Mandate of Heaven". Shortly afterwards, Han Tzu kills the emperor, Snow Tiger, overthrows the Chinese government, and installs himself as the new emperor.
Peter Wiggin
Peter Wiggin
Peter Wiggin is a fictional character in the science fiction novel Ender's Game and its sequels, written by Orson Scott Card. He has appeared in the novels Ender's Game, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, Shadow of the Giant, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind and in an upcoming short story to...
, Hegemon of Earth
Hegemon of Earth
In the Ender's Game and Shadow series by Orson Scott Card, the Hegemon is the ruler of the planet. Even though the planet is still divided into countries, the Hegemon has power over them all....
, along with Petra Arkanian
Petra Arkanian
Petra Arkanian is a main character of the books Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card. She is also a major character in Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow and Shadow of the Giant.-Ender's Game:...
, go to visit Alai, Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
of the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
League. The two help Alai realize that he is little more than a glorified prisoner, and that others have been ruling Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in his stead. After uncovering a conspiracy against him, Alai resolves to take firmer control of his nation, and to treat the peoples he wrested away from China as human beings, and not like animals, as they were being treated before.
The rest of the book deals with Peter Wiggin working to create a world government free of war through his Free People of Earth (FPE) alliance. Caliph Alai of the Muslim League and Virlomi, now the virtual goddess of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, oppose his efforts. Against this backdrop of world political machinations by the former Battle School children is the extremely personal story of Bean. Anton's Key is making him grow at an astounding rate and he has only a short time before his body will become too large for his heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
to support. He searches frantically for his and Petra's missing children. Graff assists them in locating the surrogate mothers of their children. While Bean and Petra wait for news, Graff persuades Bean to support Peter in his world peace efforts.
The FPE alliance begins with only twenty-two countries. The first test of the FPE comes when they recognize two oppressed nations that are politically part of another nation. Peter sends Bean with Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
n and Thai
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
troops to show that war against one FPE member is war against all of them and defeats the Peruvian army in South America and the Sudanese army in Africa. Their victories, and especially their militarily brilliant commander (Bean), strike fear into the nations of the world, and they begin to join the FPE to avoid conflict with Bean's well-trained and efficient army.
Meanwhile, Bean suspects that Peter is embezzling Ender
Ender Wiggin
Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is a fictional character from Orson Scott Card's science fiction story Ender's Game and its sequels , as well as in the first part of the spin-off series, Ender's Shadow...
's military pension to fund the FPE, so he requests that Ender's funds be placed under the control of an autonomous computer. Colonel Graff has the Mind Game, (which later becomes Jane
Jane (Ender's Game)
Jane is a fictional character in Orson Scott Card's Ender series. She is an artificial sentience thought to exist within the ansible network by which spaceships and planets communicate instantly across galactic distances. She has appeared in the novels Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children...
), reprogrammed to accurately predict financial markets, and invests Ender's pension accordingly. The machine also limits the search for Bean's missing children from tens of thousands of possible recipients to hundreds. The International Fleet finds eight of the nine missing children, two of whom have Anton's Key turned, as does the baby Petra is carrying. But Achilles implanted the ninth child into a woman named Randi, brainwashed to think that it is the baby of Achilles, who is to her a hero assassinated by foul enemies. To avoid persecution, Randi determines to leave Earth and live in a colony, where she can raise her child (who appears to have Anton's Key turned, as the baby was born prematurely) to follow in Achilles' footsteps (her story is later continued in the book, also by Orson Scott Card, Ender in Exile).
With the secret help of Mazer Rackham, Bean divorces Petra for her own sake, takes the three found children with Anton's Key, and flies away on a starship provided by the Fleet to achieve relativistic speeds
Lorentz transformation
In physics, the Lorentz transformation or Lorentz-Fitzgerald transformation describes how, according to the theory of special relativity, two observers' varying measurements of space and time can be converted into each other's frames of reference. It is named after the Dutch physicist Hendrik...
and thereby stay alive long enough for medical researchers to find a cure. Bean's departure breaks Petra's heart, but she becomes Peter's military commander, eventually marrying and having five children with him, though she never stops loving Bean. By the end of the novel, all of the world's nations, except the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, have joined the FPE. Peter reconciles with Ender via ansible
Ansible
An ansible is a hypothetical machine capable of instantaneous or superluminal communication. Ansibles occur as plot devices in science fiction literature.- Origin :The word ansible was coined by Ursula K. Le Guin in her 1966 novel, Rocannon's World...
, giving the "Speaker for the Dead" all he needs to write The Hegemon, a deeply felt and truthful biography of his brother. Petra reads his biography at his grave, thinking of him as the man who truly changed her life. Still, Bean remains the one who she loves and has changed her life the most.
See also
- List of characters in the Ender's Game series
- Concepts in the Ender's Game series
- List of works by Orson Scott Card