Book 8: Shadow of the Giant
Writer: Orson Scott Card
Genre: Science Fiction
My Rating: B+

My Thoughts: The Shadow series -- which began with a parallel novel to Ender's Game and eventually turned very much into its own story -- comes to a seeming conclusion with this book. (This review will assume you've read the other books in the series -- if not, go back to Ender's Shadow and start there.) Eight of Bean and Petra's unborn children have been kidnapped and stolen away, and the race to find them before Bean's unstoppable growth kills him has begun. Meanwhile, Peter Wiggin -- the Hegemon -- puts a plan into action to unite the word, even as many of his brother's fellow Battle School graduates have taken control of their own countries. 

This book doesn't quite have the zing of many of the other Shadow novels. With Achilles dead, the main villain of the series is gone, and there's very little action here. The suspense here is largely political, as the Battle Schoolers make their war plans, make their deals, and try to make their world. Bean's personal story is interwoven with the political tale, as he discovers there may yet be a way to survive, but it will come with a heavy price. The entire book has the feeling of epilogue, like Card was trying to finish connecting the dots from the Bean books to the state of the world in the futures already laid out in the rest of the Ender novels. 

The ending here is particularly bittersweet, which is really quite appropriate for Bean. As much as the book works to tie up loose ends, however, Card leaves at least two threads dangling which could be picked up in later novels. It's entirely possible -- perhaps even likely -- that we have not yet seen the end of Bean's tale.

Book 9: Amelia Rules!: The Whole World's Crazy
Writer/Artist: Jimmy Gownley
Genre: Graphic Novel/Young Readers
My Rating: a

My Thoughts: For some time now, I've been telling anyone that would listen that Jimmy Gownley's Amelia Rules! is the best comic book for young readers to have been published in YEARS. Now, Gownley has begun reprinting the run in the handy digest format that the kids seem to dig these days.

The Whole World's Crazy reprints the first several issues in the tale of Amelia McBride, a girl who has to leave the excitement of New York City when her parents get divorced and she and her mother move to a small town to live with her aunt. The stories in this book deal with many of Amelia's firsts: her first day at a new school, her first Halloween and Christmas in her new town, and the first trip with her father after the divorce. In the comic as a whole, and in this volume in particular, Gownley frequently touches upon rather serious topics (divorce, for example) that young children have to deal with without really understanding. However, Gownley handles these subjects in a way that will help his young readers learn to handle their problems, with a blend of humor and wisdom that kids need. He's never frightening, never patronizing, and always entertaining. Amelia and her friends are wonderful characters, characters that kids can find themselves in, helping to open the door for them to embrace the story even further.

If I ever have kids -- especially daughters -- these are some of the first comics I'll get for them.

Coming Up: Duma Key by Stephen King; Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card; Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Vol. 2