Returning to the time of "Ender's Game", "Ender's Shadow" follows the story of one of Ender Wiggin's fellow pupils at the Battle School. The novel is the first in a new "Ender" sequence.

Ender and Valentine Wiggin are brother and sister who both share the gift of genius. The monstrous Starways Congress has sent a warfleet to their home planet of Lusitania, containing two alien species and the deadliest virus ever known. They have also issued the order to destroy the planet.

When humanity is under threat from an alien race, Ender Wiggin, at the age of six, leaves his family on Earth to journey to the Belt. There he enters Battle School, where his life is strictly disciplined by mind games and computer mock-battles fought in deadly earnest. Instinct, compassion and genius make Ender unequalled. But while he trains, the invasion approaches fast. And Ender will be pushed to the limits of endurance, for he is a unique destiny......