Beans past was a battle just to survive. He first appeared on the streets of Rotterdam, a tiny child with a mind leagues beyond anyone else. He knew he could not survive through strength; he used his tactical genius to gain acceptance into a childrens gang, and then to help make that gang a template for success for all the others. He civilized them, and lived to grow older. Then he was discovered by the recruiters for the Battle School.
Bean was the smallest student at the Battle School, but he became Ender Wiggins right hand, Since then he has grown to be a power on Earth. He served the Hegemon as strategist and general in the terrible wars that followed Enders defeat of the alien empire attacking Earth. Now he and his wife Petra yearn for a safe place to build a familysomething he has never knownbut there is nowhere on Earth that does not harbor his enemiesold enemies from the days in Enders Jeesh, new enemies from the wars on Earth. To find security, Bean and Petra must once again follow in Enders footsteps. They must leave Earth behind, in the control of the Hegemon, and look to the stars.