I re-read it over christmas. I'd note that firstly, I don't believe Ender was ever truly a hawk, and secondly, on a re^n-read (I don't remember how many times n

I re-read it over christmas. I'd note that firstly, I don't believe Ender was ever truly a hawk, and secondly, on a re^n-read (I don't remember how many times now) I find that the weight is in Ender's progression through Battle School, and that the part of the book set after that felt to me like obvious consequences playing out. To be frank, I'd be quite comfortable with a version that ended on the shuttle out except for the fact that the remainder of the book is necessary to set up the preconditions for Speaker.