It is several years since Ender Wiggin saved the world. When he left into space, he left his fellow genius comrades on Earth, only to be manipulated by their governments to gain power. After a brutal war between in Asia, 3 leaders have emerged. Alai, Ender’s best friend, has become the new Caliph of the Muslim World; Han Tzu, who is now hailed as the Emperor of China;
And Lastly Virlomi, the self-proclaimed goddess of India.

Now it is up to Peter Wiggin, Hegemon of Earth, and Bean Delphiki, his brilliant General to unite the world under one rule. Shadow of the Giant is the fourth book in the Ender’s Shadow Series, and delves deep into a world of various emotions, battles, and characters. A primary factor in the book is that it changes perspectives in each chapter as multiple events are going on in the characters lives.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It is not the best in the series, but is quite good at characterization. Virlomi, for example, eventually loses control of herself and makes a huge mistake, while Alai, at one point becomes a puppet of others. A driving factor of the book is that Bean and his wife have lost their children and their embryos are put into surrogate mothers. Bean also has a form of Giantism that makes him very smart, but he will die at an early age, and the only way for him to survive is to go into space to reduce the strain in his heart. However, if he does, he must leave behind his wife and all his friends.