The spaceship Herodotus has left Earth in 2210. Bean is located (Enders "shadow") and his three children who also contribute Beans gene defect in aboard. This defect do those affected by it although incredibly intelligent, but also reduces the life expectancy max. 20 years since the gene in question is also responsible for the Stop the size growth of a human being. Is it defective, we hear no more on grow and eventually dies of an exuberant body size that is no longer able to lift the heart at the end.
As Herodotus flies with approximate speed of light, are on the ground at the onset of action of the novel more than 400 years have passed since the departure, while just five years have passed on the spaceship. A solution for the gene defect was not found on the earth and its now nearly 100 space colonies - mankind had mostly other worries than to devote himself to just this specific problem. Beans children are now six years old, but already have the intellectual abilities of adult Nobel laureates. Of course, there is also on board to massive sibling and parent-child conflicts that have washed because of the particular situation. Especially dramatic but it is, as the Herodotus near a habitable planet encounters a spaceship that was definitely not built by people ...
The book is easy to read and a certain voltage level is undershot at any point. The fact that the three children vaguely reminiscent of Ender and his siblings, certainly has its appeal. One of them has even adopted the name "Ender", furthermore there is the girl Carlotta (with its penchant for art, however, not too much reminiscent of Enders sister Valentine) and last but not least the military oriented Cincinatus who quite certain power ambitions of the day sets and therefore has a high resemblance to Peter Wiggin. Although of course you do not know in detail, how to proceed in each case, the act passes but in typical "Card'schen sense" relatively predictable. For a star deduction. Nevertheless, recommended for those who wish to know what degree of plotline to Bean finds in the final verses.