Ender Wiggin's eradication of the Buggers at the end of Ender's Game cemented his reputation as the greatest military hero the world has ever seen. To avoid jeopardizing the peace agreement between all nations, the great hero has to leave Earth and become governor of a new colony on a now-vacant Formic planet. But why does Ender agree to leave? What convinces his sister Valentine to go with him? What happens on the colony ship, and how does Ender cope with the knowledge of all that he's done and all he still needs to do? This is the story of Ender's days between the end of the Formic Wars and the events of Speaker for the Dead. 
 Ender in Exile is hailed as a direct sequel to Ender's Game, but there are many references to events detailed in the companion Shadow series. By necessity, this book has to achieve a very specific narrative arc to bridge the gap from the end of the first book to the beginning of the second, and as a result the plot is stiff and forced. Pacing bumps along over irrelevant characters and plot points; stronger editing would help this over-long novel. The writing is pedantic, laced with political and biological jargon, and pushes some of Card's own socially-conservative agenda. This is an optional read at best.