Shadows in Flight is the fifth book in the shadow series of
the Ender saga. Julian Delphiki, A.K.A Bean resolves his previous conflicts at
the end of the last book. Because his children inherited the engineered genes
that Bean has, they are incredibly smart at the expense of a 20-year lifespan.
They are sent to live on a ship that undergoes time dilation, with which the
passengers of their ship experience time much more slowly than normal, giving
Earth hundreds of years to come up with a cure for their disease. After
unsuccessful efforts over multiple centuries of real-time, the new subspecies
of humans dubbed as "homo leguminesis" must look to the vast expanse
of space to create lives for themselves. In the process of searching for a new
shelter for themselves, the family discovers a secret that would change the
course of human history.
Just like all of the other books of the Ender saga thus far,
I very much enjoyed Shadows in Flight. After the events of the previous book, I
absolutely had to see what was in store next for Bean. I love the dynamic the
"half-family" has with each other, all of them being geniuses. As
their search for a new home advances, Card builds up an overarching story with
finesse. Being left with many questions at the end of the main Ender series, I
loved that Card connected the events of the Ender series to those of the Shadow
series. The story is extremely intriguing. The only downside to this book is
that it isn't long enough--it's quite short in relation to the other novels in
the saga. Nonetheless, I highly recommend any fan of Ender's Game or science
fiction in general to read this book (after reading all of the previous books
of course!).
Reviewed by M.A., Grade 10
Montrose Library
