Shadow of the Hegemon is the second novel in the Shadow Saga, following Ender's Shadow and preceding Shadow Puppets. It was written by Orson Scott Card.
Short Summary[]
The war is over, won by Ender Wiggin and his team of brilliant child-warriors. The enemy is destroyed, the human race is saved. Ender himself cannot return to the planet, but his crew has gone home to their families, scattered across the globe. The Battle School is no more.
But with the external threat gone, the Earth has become a battlefield once more. The children of Battle School are more than heroes; they are potential weapons that can bring power to the countries that control them. One by one, all of Ender's Jeesh is kidnapped. Only Bean escapes; and he turns for help to Ender's brother Peter.
Peter Wiggin, Ender's older brother, has already been manipulating the politics of Earth from behind the scenes. With Bean's help, he will eventually rule the world.
Detailed Summary[]
After Ender's Jeesh was allowed to return to Earth, the former Battle Schoolers had a few days of peace before conflict began again. While the rest of the Jeesh was captured by Russian agents under the direction of Achilles de Flandres, Bean and his family were targeted for assassination. However, the attempt failed as Bean, Nikolai Delphiki and their parents were out of the house as it exploded. Bean went into hiding with the nun who saved him from the streets of Rotterdam, Sister Carlotta. While on the run from Achilles, Bean and Carlotta reached out to Peter Wiggin ,still under his pseudonym of Locke, for help in eliminating their hunter.
In Russia, the kidnapped Petra Arkanian discovered that Achilles had been manipulating his way through Russia's intelligence service and had obtained a position where he could get whatever he wanted. She sent a coded message containing the location of the compound where the Jeesh were being held on to the Nets that she knew only Bean would figure out, informing him of Achilles' whereabouts. He collaborated with Peter to get Achilles removed from Russia, but Achilles avoided capture.
Immediately after being removed from Russia, Achilles was taken in by the Indian government, where he was granted another position of power for his tactical brilliance. India began to go to war against other countries in its vicinity in order to expand its borders. Bean decided to hide in Thailand so he would be closer to Achilles and the war, where he was greeted by another Battle School graduate, Suriyawong. During his stay in Thailand, Bean and Suriyawong were betrayed time and time again, including one by the Thai military commander-in-chief. After Bean asked Sister Carlotta to come to Thailand, her plane was shot down by a Chinese SAM, causing her death.
Bean and Suriyawong used the troops Bean had trained to halt Indian supply lines. While striking a bridge, they met Virlomi, a former Battle School student who had been working with India, who defected to their side. After publishing another influential essay, Peter Wiggin was elected Hegemon.