This book tells the same story as Ender's Game but from the perspective of one of Ender's fellow students at the Battle School. This is the story of Bean, the smallest member of the school, and the most intelligent.

The story begins in Rotterdam with the street kids, orphans who exist (barely) on what scraps they can find or beg. Bean is starving and nearly dead when he encounters Poke, a girl who leads a gang and approaches her with a view to joining her "crew" and living a while longer.

He persuades her of the idea of jumping one of the street bullies, and using him to increase the status of their crew. They choose Achlles, so named because of his lame leg and once ambushed he is given the choice of death or joining their crew.

Soon Bean encounters a nun running a soup kitchen named Sister Carlotta. Carlotta has been searching amongst these street kids for one who might amount to something, who might qualify for battle school and help humanity in their quest for survival.

Bean is inducted into Battle School, even younger and smaller than Ender was when he entered the school. As such the comparisons between the two are inevitable. Bean resents this comparisons and strives to be different to the great Ender Wiggin.

Bean is also completely distrustful and so refuses to play in the game on the computer, the game that allows the teachers to gain insight into the students' psychologies. He also attempts to gain as much information about the school as he can, using other student's logins (and even one teacher's) to mask his trail.

Okay the rest of this story is probably familiar to anyone who has read Ender's Game. Bean joins Dragon Army – lead by Ender and they quickly become subjected to the most intense sequence of Battles (simulated three-D, null-g wargames) that has ever been, before Ender is progressed to Command School and the story moves to its end.

So in some ways this book is not going to give most readers any major surprises, for although the author states in his introduction that this book can be read independently of Ender's Game, I really don't see that it will be. This book will be read by fans of Orson Scott Card who will be very familiar with the story this is shadowing.

And for the fact that I was reading a story I have already read it I found it very enjoyable. I like this author's style (even when he gets a little heavy, philosophical and into long ethical discussions as in the later books in the Ender series). I found the length of the book surprising, the pages passed at a remarkable rate, and I found I had read 50 pages almost without blinking.

One odd thing about this book is the way the author handled the character of Bean. Bean is a suspicious paranoid child, but given his street upbringing this is probably not all that surprising. But despite this his character is not totally dislikeable even though he does move to the edge of being so at times.

Okay so there is no suspense, we know how it ends. But despite this obvious downside this is a good read, just make sure you have read Ender's Game first.