Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Parallel volume to Ender's Game.

The human race is at War with the "Buggers," an insect-like alien race. The first battles went badly, and now as Earth prepares to defend itself against the imminent threat of total destruction at the hands of an inscrutable alien enemy, all focus is on the development and training of military geniuses who can fight such a war, and win. The long distances of interstellar space have given hope to the defenders of Earth — they have time to train these future commanders up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high-orbital facility called the Battle School.

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In this new book, Card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean — the one who became Ender's right hand, his strategist, and his friend. One who was with him, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers.

Bean's 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's. He knew he could not survive through strength; he used his tactical genius to gain acceptance into a children's gang, and then to help make that gang a template for success for all the others. He civilized them, and lived to grow older. This successful struggle to live brought him to the attention of the Battle School's recruiters, those people scouring the planet for leaders, tacticians, and generals to save Earth from the threat of alien invasion. Bean was sent into orbit, to the Battle School. And there he met Ender. . . .

I read Ender's Game probably 20 years ago now and I never forgot it. So I was interested to see how this would compare. I listened to it on CD while I've been driving too and from work. Wow, it was so engaging and well read. They actually used 4 different voices which is a new way for me to listen to a book on CD or tape. While at first a bit distracting it really added to the elements that make the story pop. You see the war from so many different points of view including Bean's which at some points did feel somewhat tedious to me but I got over it. Now I want to re-read Ender's Game but wish I could listen to it as well.