Shadow of the Giant

Shadow of the Giant concludes the long-drawn global conflict for leadership of, basically, planet Earth whilst the International Fleet expands the human race into the stars. Bean and Petra are the focus of the story, now searching for their missing children and assisting Hegemon Peter Wiggin in uniting every country under the Free People of Earth (FPE), as they struggle with the gigantism syndrome. Opposing them are Virlomi, whose reality is blurring with her power-hungry persona as the Indian goddess; Alai, struggling Caliph surrounded by pressurising advisors; and Han ‘Hot Soup' Zhu, making up for China's past shortcomings with a Mandate from Heaven. All of this is supervised by Graff and Rackham, who also offer all battle school graduates light-speed leadership of offworld colonies. The ending felt suprisingly emotional, with Card doing characters justice after spending so long with them, and overall the world politics whilst feeling slightly recycled did engage me throughout.