Editing Shadow Puppets

{{Short description|2002 novel by Orson Scott Card}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name         = Shadow Puppets
| title_orig   =
| translator   =
| image        = OSCshadow puppets.jpg
| author       = [[Orson Scott Card]]
| cover_artist = 
| country      = United States
| language     = English
| series       = [[Ender's Game (series)|Ender's Game series]]
| genre        = [[Science fiction]]
| publisher    = [[Tor Books]]
| release_date = 9 August 2002
| media_type   = Print (hardback & paperback)
| pages        = 384 
| isbn         = 0-7653-0017-6 
| dewey= 813/.54 21
| congress= PS3553.A655 S53 2002
| oclc= 51336647
| preceded_by  = [[Shadow of the Hegemon]]
| followed_by  = [[Shadow of the Giant]]
}}

'''''Shadow Puppets''''' is a science fiction novel by American author [[Orson Scott Card]], published in 2002. It is the sequel to ''[[Shadow of the Hegemon]]'' and the third book in the Ender's Shadow series (often called the Bean Quartet). It was originally to be called ''Shadow of Death''.<ref name="shadow">[[Orson Scott Card]], ''Shadow of the Hegemon'' (Tor Books, 2000). Pgs 447-448. {{ISBN|0-8125-6595-9}}.</ref>

==Plot summary==
{{Ender's Game chronology}}
[[Peter Wiggin|Peter]], [[Ender Wiggin|Ender]]'s brother, is now Hegemon of Earth. Accepting a tip from inside China, where [[Achilles de Flandres|Achilles]] is held prisoner, Peter had planned for [[Bean (Ender's Game)|Bean]] to operate the mission, but at the last minute (because he doubted Bean would cooperate) assigns Suriyawong, a Battle School student from Thailand, to rescue Achilles in transport. Peter believes that he can spy on Achilles, take over his network, and then turn Achilles over to some country for trial, since Achilles has previously betrayed Russia, Pakistan, and India.

Achilles is known to kill anyone who has seen him vulnerable. Bean and his friend [[Petra Arkanian|Petra]], who also served under Ender and who is travelling with Bean, have both seen Achilles so and immediately go into hiding, preparing for a future confrontation.  Bean believes Peter has seriously underestimated Achilles, and that he himself is not safe unless he is hidden. During their travels, Petra convinces Bean to marry her and have children with her by taking him to Anton, the person who Anton's Key (Bean's Condition) was named after. Bean is reluctant to have children, as he does not want his Anton's Key gene to be passed on.  He finds [[Volescu]], the original doctor who activated the key in his genes, and has him prepare nine embryos through [[artificial insemination]].  Volescu pretends to identify three embryos with Anton's Key and they are discarded.  One of the remaining six is implanted into Petra, while the rest of them are placed under guard.

At the same time, a message is passed to Bean that [[List of Battle School students#Han Tzu|Han Tzu]], a comrade from Battle School, was not in fact the informant in the message sent to Peter about Achilles.  Realizing that it had been a setup, Bean gets a message to Peter's parents, and they flee with Peter from the Hegemon's compound, located in Brazil, which Achilles takes over.  Bean narrowly escapes an assassination attempt himself, and escapes to [[Damascus]].  There they find that another Battle School comrade, [[List of Battle School students#Alai|Alai]], is the unrivaled [[Caliph]] of a nearly unified [[Muslim]] world.  Meanwhile, Bean and Petra's embryos are stolen; Bean expects Achilles to use them to bait a trap for them.

Peter and his parents escape to the colonization platform in space that used to be the battle school, relying on the protection of [[Colonel Graff]], the former commander of the school, now Minister of Colonization.  Shortly after they arrive, however, a message is sent betraying their presence.  Faking their departure from the space station, Peter and his parents discover the traitor, one of the teachers at battle school. The unmanned shuttle sent as a decoy is shot down over Brazil.

In the [[Shadow of the Hegemon|previous novel]], China had conquered [[India]] and [[Indochina]].  Alai plans to liberate them by invading first China in a feint, and then India once China has withdrawn its armies to defend the homeland.  His invasion is successful, and in the midst of realizing their danger, the Chinese government disavows Achilles, providing evidence that he stole the missile launcher that destroyed the decoy space shuttle.  Left with nowhere to turn, Achilles contacts Bean and offers the embryos in exchange for safe passage.

Bean and Peter return to the Hegemon's compound.  Achilles expects Bean to be so distracted with the idea of retrieving his children that he can be killed with a bomb in the embryo transport container.  When Bean sees through that trap, Achilles offers up fake embryos in [[petri dish]]es, expecting to lure Bean into a vulnerable position.  However, Bean sees through the deception. He pulls out a pistol and shoots Achilles in the eye - a similar fashion to Achilles' first victim, Poke, whom he killed with a knife to the eye in [[Ender's Shadow]].

The novel ends with Peter restored as Hegemon, Petra reunited with Bean, a Caliph in command of the world's Muslims, a China severely reduced in territory and forced to accept humiliating surrender terms, and the embryos still lost.

==See also==
{{portal|Novels}}
{{Wikiquote}}
*[[List of Ender's Game characters|List of ''Ender's Game'' characters]]
*[[Orson Scott Card bibliography]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote|Orson Scott Card}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071122233516/http://www.hatrack.com/osc/books/shadow_puppets.shtml About the novel ''Shadow Puppets'' from Card's website]

{{Orson Scott Card |Enderstate=expanded}}

[[Category:2002 American novels]]
[[Category:American science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Ender's Game series books]]
[[Category:Tor Books books]]