The Last Shadow

by Orson Scott Card

Overview

Orson Scott Card's The Last Shadow is the long-awaited conclusion to both the original Ender series and the Ender's Shadow series, as the children of Ender and Bean solve the great problem of the Ender Universe—the deadly virus they call the descolada, which is incurable and will kill all of humanity if it is allowed to escape from Lusitania.

One planet.

Three sapient species living peacefully together.

And one deadly virus that could wipe out every world in the Starways Congress, killing billions.

Is the only answer another great Xenocide?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765304957
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/16/2021
Series:	The Ender Saga
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	193,913
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 6.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Orson Scott Card is best known for his science fiction novel Ender's Game and its many sequels that expand the Ender Universe into the far future and the near past. Those books are organized into the Ender Saga, which chronicles the life of Ender Wiggin; the Shadow Series, which follows on the novel Ender's Shadow and is set on Earth; and the Formic Wars series, written with co-author Aaron Johnston, which tells of the terrible first contact between humans and the alien "Buggers." Card has been a working writer since the 1970s. Beginning with dozens of plays and musical comedies produced in the 1960s and 70s, Card's first published fiction appeared in 1977—the short story "Gert Fram" in the July issue of The Ensign, and the novelette version of "Ender's Game" in the August issue of Analog. The novel-length version of Ender's Game, published in 1984 and continuously in print since then, became the basis of the 2013 film, starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin.

Card was born in Washington state, and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he runs occasional writers' workshops and directs plays. He frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University.

He is the author many science fiction and fantasy novels, including the American frontier fantasy series "The Tales of Alvin Maker" (beginning with Seventh Son), and stand-alone novels like Pastwatch and Hart's Hope. He has collaborated with his daughter Emily Card on a manga series, Laddertop. He has also written contemporary thrillers like Empire and historical novels like the monumental Saints and the religious novels Sarah and Rachel and Leah. Card's work also includes the Mithermages books (Lost Gate, Gate Thief), contemporary magical fantasy for readers both young and old.

Card lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card. He and Kristine are the parents of five children and several grandchildren.

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

Editorial Reviews

08/30/2021

Bestseller Card sends out both the Ender series and the Ender’s Shadow series with a rambling finale that evokes many of the conflicts that have shaped both series from the outset, but bogs down in distracting detail. The starship Herodotus is carrying the hyperhuman Delphiki clan on “a voyage of research and discovery” through the human-colonized Hundred Worlds when it is visited by a simulation of Hyrum Graff, Ender Wiggin’s Battle School teacher, who tasks the Delphikis with traveling to the planet Lusitania to explore the source of descolada, a highly infectious virus that threatens all life forms throughout the galaxy. The virus appears to have originated from a nearby planet now dubbed Descoladora—but when young Thulium and Sprout Delphiki visit Descoladora in the company of Ender’s brother, Peter, and Peter’s wife, Wang-Mu, they discover a biosphere full of genetic surprises. Card applies his usual fecund imagination to the alien cultural diversity to conjure striking extraterrestrial flora and fauna and characters who have double souls or exist as holographic memory dumps. The adventures in which this colorful cast features, however, are often needlessly discursive and meandering. This is strictly for Card’s diehard fans. Agent: Ken Bova, Barbara Bova Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly