In an alternate-reality tale in which the merchants of our world secretly visit parallel universes to trade for much-needed resources, the discovery of a universe beset by a 1967 atomic war prompts an investigation into what went wrong.

Security police in a future society shut down a game shop called The Gladiator when they discover that it is selling games that teach counterrevolutionary capitalist principles to the populace.

Earth and its society has been changed irrevocably in the aftermath of Ender Wiggin's victory over the Formics--the unity enforced upon the warring nations by an alien enemy has shattered. Nations are rising again, seeking territory and influence, and most of all, seeking to control the skills and loyalty of the children from the Battle School. But one person has a better idea. Peter Wiggin, Ender's older, more ruthless, brother, sees that any hope...