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The Swarm
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The Hive
- The Second Formic War, Book 2
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A coalition of Earth’s nations barely fought off the Formics’ first scout ship. Now, it’s clear there’s a mothership out on edge of the system and that the aliens are prepared to take Earth by force. Can Earth’s warring nations and corporations put aside their differences and mount an effective defense?
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A perfect 2nd act
- By Cyrus on 2019-07-06
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Earth Awakens
- The First Formic War, Book 3
- Written by: Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston
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Nearly 100 years before the events of Orson Scott Card’s best-selling novel Ender’s Game, humans were just beginning to step off Earth and out into the Solar System. A thin web of ships in both asteroid belts; a few stations; a corporate settlement on Luna. No one had seen any sign of other space-faring races; everyone expected that First Contact, if it came, would happen in the future, in the empty reaches between the stars. Then a young navigator on a distant mining ship saw something moving too fast, heading directly for our sun.
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what a fantastic books to listen to
- By Jesse1983 on 2018-08-23
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Earth Afire
- Written by: Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye, Arthur Morey, Stefan Rudnicki, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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One hundred years before Ender's Game, the aliens arrived on Earth with fire and death. Earth Afire by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston is the story of the First Formic War. Victor Delgado beat the alien ship to Earth, but just barely. Not soon enough to convince skeptical governments that there was a threat. They didn’t believe that until space stations and ships and colonies went up in sudden flame. And when that happened, only Mazer Rackham and the Mobile Operations Police could move fast enough to meet the threat.
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Earth Unaware
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The mining ship El Cavador is far out from Earth, in the deeps of the Kuiper Belt, beyond Pluto. Other mining ships, and the families that live on them, are few and far between this far out. So when El Cavador’s telescopes pick up a fast-moving object coming in-system, it’s hard to know what to make of it. It’s massive and moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light.
El Cavador has other problems. Their systems are old and failing. The family is getting too big for the ship. There are claim-jumping corporate ships bringing Asteroid Belt tactics to the Kuiper Belt.
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Ender in Exile
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Andrew Wiggin is told that he can no longer live on Earth, and he realizes that this is the truth. He has become far more than just a boy who won a game: he is the Savior of Earth, a hero, a military genius whose allegiance is sought by every nation of the newly shattered Earth Hegemony. He is offered the choice of living in isolation on Eros, at one of the Hegemony's training facilities, but instead the 12-year-old chooses to leave his home world and begin the long relativistic journey out to the colonies.
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Shadow of the Hegemon
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- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
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Orson Scott Card tells a tale long awaited by millions of fans: the story of how Bean turned away from his first friend, Ender, and became the tactical genius who won the Earth for Ender's brother, Peter, who became the Hegemon.
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Decent Story, rough recording
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-07-27
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The Hive
- The Second Formic War, Book 2
- Written by: Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
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-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A coalition of Earth’s nations barely fought off the Formics’ first scout ship. Now, it’s clear there’s a mothership out on edge of the system and that the aliens are prepared to take Earth by force. Can Earth’s warring nations and corporations put aside their differences and mount an effective defense?
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A perfect 2nd act
- By Cyrus on 2019-07-06
-
Earth Awakens
- The First Formic War, Book 3
- Written by: Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Stephen Hoye, Arthur Morey, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nearly 100 years before the events of Orson Scott Card’s best-selling novel Ender’s Game, humans were just beginning to step off Earth and out into the Solar System. A thin web of ships in both asteroid belts; a few stations; a corporate settlement on Luna. No one had seen any sign of other space-faring races; everyone expected that First Contact, if it came, would happen in the future, in the empty reaches between the stars. Then a young navigator on a distant mining ship saw something moving too fast, heading directly for our sun.
-
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what a fantastic books to listen to
- By Jesse1983 on 2018-08-23
-
Earth Afire
- Written by: Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye, Arthur Morey, Stefan Rudnicki, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One hundred years before Ender's Game, the aliens arrived on Earth with fire and death. Earth Afire by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston is the story of the First Formic War. Victor Delgado beat the alien ship to Earth, but just barely. Not soon enough to convince skeptical governments that there was a threat. They didn’t believe that until space stations and ships and colonies went up in sudden flame. And when that happened, only Mazer Rackham and the Mobile Operations Police could move fast enough to meet the threat.
-
Earth Unaware
- Written by: Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Stephen Hoye, Arthur Morey, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The mining ship El Cavador is far out from Earth, in the deeps of the Kuiper Belt, beyond Pluto. Other mining ships, and the families that live on them, are few and far between this far out. So when El Cavador’s telescopes pick up a fast-moving object coming in-system, it’s hard to know what to make of it. It’s massive and moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light.
El Cavador has other problems. Their systems are old and failing. The family is getting too big for the ship. There are claim-jumping corporate ships bringing Asteroid Belt tactics to the Kuiper Belt.
-
Ender in Exile
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, David Birney, Cassandra Campbell, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Andrew Wiggin is told that he can no longer live on Earth, and he realizes that this is the truth. He has become far more than just a boy who won a game: he is the Savior of Earth, a hero, a military genius whose allegiance is sought by every nation of the newly shattered Earth Hegemony. He is offered the choice of living in isolation on Eros, at one of the Hegemony's training facilities, but instead the 12-year-old chooses to leave his home world and begin the long relativistic journey out to the colonies.
-
Shadow of the Hegemon
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: David Birney, Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Orson Scott Card tells a tale long awaited by millions of fans: the story of how Bean turned away from his first friend, Ender, and became the tactical genius who won the Earth for Ender's brother, Peter, who became the Hegemon.
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Decent Story, rough recording
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-07-27
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Shadow of the Giant
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: David Birney, Scott Brick, Full Cast
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Bean, once the smallest student at the Battle School, and Ender Wiggin's right hand, has grown to be a power on Earth. He served the Hegemon as strategist and general in the terrible wars that followed Ender's defeat of the alien empire attacking Earth. Now he wishes for a safe place to build a family, something he has never known, but there is nowhere on Earth that does not harbor his enemies; old enemies from the days in Ender's Jeesh, new enemies from the wars on Earth.
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Shadow Puppets
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: David Birney, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Best selling SF author Orson Scott Card brings to life a new chapter in the saga of Ender's Earth.
Earth and its society have been changed irrevocably in the aftermath of Ender Wiggin's victory over the Formics. The unity forced 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.
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Children of the Mind
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir, John Rubinstein
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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The planet Lusitania is home to three sentient species: a large colony of humans; the Pequeninos; and the Hive Queen, who was brought there by Ender Wiggin. Once again, the enemy (the Starways Congress) has gathered a fleet and is threatening to destroy Lusitania. Ender's oldest friend, Jane, an evolved computer intelligence, is trying to save the three sentient species of Lusitania, but the Starways Congress is destroying the computer world she lives in.
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Very annoying narration ruined excellent story
- By Lola Devi on 2019-06-04
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Shadows in Flight
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Emily Janice Card, Scott Brick, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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At the end of Shadow of the Giant, Bean flees to the stars with three of his children--the three who share the engineered genes that gave him both hyper-intelligence and a short, cruel physical life. The time dilation granted by the speed of their travel gives Earth’s scientists generations to seek a cure, to no avail. In time, they are forgotten - a fading ansible signal speaking of events lost to Earth’s history. But the Delphikis are about to make a discovery that will let them save themselves, and perhaps all of humanity in days to come.
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Ender's Shadow
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, full cast
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Andrew "Ender" Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In this book, Card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean, the one who became Ender's right hand, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers. Bean's past was a battle just to survive. His success brought him to the attention of the Battle School's recruiters.
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More in depth then the original Ender's Game
- By Christopher Lemmon on 2019-04-08
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Xenocide
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, Amanda Karr, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Xenocide is the third installment of the Ender series. On Lusitania, Ender found a world where humans and pequeninos and the Hive Queen could all live together; where three very different intelligent species could find common ground at last. Or so he thought. But Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus which kills all humans it infects, but which the pequeninos require in order to transform into adults.
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Amazing book
- By Brandon on 2019-02-27
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First Meetings
- In the Enderverse
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Gabrielle De Cuir, Amanda Karr, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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First Meetings is a collection of three novellas (plus the original "Ender's Game") that journey into the origins and the destiny of one Ender Wiggin.
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Speaker for the Dead
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: David Birney, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender Wiggin disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: the Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story of the Bugger War. Now, long years later, a second alien race has been discovered by Portuguese colonists on the planet Lusitania. But again the aliens' ways are strange and frightening...again, humans die. And it is only the Speaker for the Dead, who is also Ender Wiggin the Xenocide, who has the courage to confront the mystery...and the truth.
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Good read
- By David Richardson on 2019-09-25
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Ender's Game
- Special 20th Anniversary Edition
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Why we think it’s a great listen: It’s easy to say that when it comes to sci-fi you either love it or you hate it. But with Ender’s Game, it seems to be you either love it or you love it.... The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Enter Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, the result of decades of genetic experimentation.
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Probably a great story. But...
- By Ben & Maggie McGrath on 2018-03-12
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Children of the Fleet
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Ender Wiggin won the Third Formic war, ending the alien threat to Earth. Afterwards, all the terraformed Formic worlds were open to settlement by humans, and the International Fleet became the arm of the Ministry of Colonization, run by Hirum Graff. MinCol now runs Fleet School on the old Battle School station, and still recruits very smart kids to train as leaders of colony ships, and colonies.
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An Ok Book
- By Patrick Funk on 2018-09-20
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A War of Gifts
- An Ender Story
- Written by: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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At Battle School, there is only one purpose, only one curriculum: the strategy and tactics of war. The children are drawn from all nations, all races, all religions. There is no room for cultural differences, no room for religious observances, and certainly no room for Santa Claus.
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Armageddon
- Expeditionary Force, Book 8
- Written by: Craig Alanson
- Narrated by: R. C. Bray
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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After the Renegade mission by the crew of the starship Flying Dutchman, the UN Expeditionary Force thought Earth was safe for hundreds of years, at least. After there was trouble on the home front, and the president had to authorize a nuclear strike on an American city, UNEF decided they did need the Merry Band of Pirates again. So, the Flying Dutchman is sent out on a simple recon mission. But for the pirates, nothing is ever simple, and their mission will become Armageddon.
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Hammered through it in two days
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-11-07
Publisher's Summary
Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston return to their Ender's Game prequel series with this first volume of an all-new trilogy about the Second Formic War in The Swarm.
The first invasion of Earth was beaten back by a coalition of corporate and international military forces and the Chinese army. China has been devastated by the Formic's initial efforts to eradicate Earth life forms and prepare the ground for their own settlement. The Scouring of China struck fear into the other nations of the planet; that fear blossomed into drastic action when scientists determined that the single ship that wreaked such damage was merely a scout ship. There is a mothership out beyond the solar system's Kuiper Belt, and it's heading into the system, unstoppable by any weapons that Earth can muster.
Earth has been reorganized for defense. There is now a Hegemon, a planetary official responsible for keeping all the formerly warring nations in line. There's a Polemarch, responsible for organizing all the military forces of the planet into the new International Fleet. But there is an enemy within, an enemy as old as human warfare: ambition and politics. Greed and self-interest. Will Bingwen, Mazer Rackam, Victor Delgado, and Lem Juke be able to divert those very human enemies in time to create a weapon that can effectively defend humanity in the inexorable Second Formic War?
Full cast of narrators includes Susan Hanfield, Emily Rankin, Orson Scott Card, and Aaron Johnston.
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ryan Scoville
- 2019-03-04
If you like the series you will enjoy this Book.
Orson and Johnston work well to develop a back story on characters for which the ending has already been written. Much is same when it comes to this book of the series. Character development and plot lines are well established and the story line itself fits well with an ending we all know is written in The Ender Game series.
Without getting into details fans of the series will appreciate the story for what it is and the details and thought that went into developing the main characters back stories. At times I will say that I found the repetitiveness of the details a little over done but the details themselves were well developed.
The narrative team did another great performance adding character depth that listeners can really follow.
Overall great story.
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- Erick Mayen
- 2018-12-05
Could the prequels be better than the sequels??
In my opinion yes! I loved the First Formic War series and I love the Second Formic war even more! Great book.
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- Adrian Houle
- 2018-09-17
great
As always, these books translate great into audio. If you liked the prequels, you'll like this, simple as that.
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- Cyrus
- 2018-05-09
Come on get book 2 out already
Makes you hungry for the rest of the trilogy. An excellent and worthy addition to the Enderverse.
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- Daniel A. Dennett
- Locust Grove, VA, USA
- 2016-09-20
Great for a theoretical physics geek
I think what interests me most about Scott Card's books are the ideas or theories he presents and work to help you understand. It is true that sometime the explanations can make to story drag if you aren't interested it them but I am and they make the story that much more interesting. It was predictable what was going to be in the asteroids but was suprised by what else was in them (hope that doesn't give too much away).
Another great book and I can't wait for the next one.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
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- Katy Troe
- 2016-08-09
Extremely happy
This was a marathon for me, done so quick. it was right in line and properly throughout. now back to the beginning!
9 of 10 people found this review helpful
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- GWcritic
- 2016-08-03
Very good, just hope we can finish the saga
Once again, the story is addictive. I just hope we can get to the end in less than 3 years.
14 of 16 people found this review helpful
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- Eric A. Smalling
- Euless, TX USA
- 2016-09-02
Interesting, but feels unnecessarily drawn out
What did you like best about The Swarm? What did you like least?
Liked best: the parts of the story were those that actually dealt with the Formics strategy and actions, also the politics of the I.F. were interesting.
Liked least: Without giving away too much, there is a character in this book that magically discerns far too much about things that previously only were discovered in the far future according to other Ender/Shadow books. SPOILER ALERT: Specifically, the philotic connections between things; they were just figuring that out hundreds of years in the future according to the Ender/Shadow books, but somehow a person on Earth before the second war theorizes it? Not likely.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
Get rid of the above mentioned character that knows way too much about the Formic's capabilities.
Which scene was your favorite?
The last one (on the peanut shaped asteroid)
Was The Swarm worth the listening time?
Not really. Many times, it felt like the authors are stretching one book into two or three. (seems to be a pattern in the last several books in the Enderverse)
Any additional comments?
I've listened to and/or read all of the books so I'm sure I'll get the next ones but I sure wish they would finish a story instead of adding filler to sell 2 or 3 books.
12 of 14 people found this review helpful
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- Paul Kain
- Seward, Alaska USA
- 2016-09-19
A great prequel
Loved the filling in some of the story in between 1st and last fornic war. The narration was outstanding. I can't wait for more
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
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- Donald E. Mansell
- Paradise, CA
- 2016-08-21
When is the next prequel coming out?
The Swarm is a seamless, well-crafted yarn in the very best tradition of Ender's Game. Without space battles near Saturn and no Rackham children we trust what we read was a pre-prequel. Mazer promises to be an even more interesting character than Ender, if that's possible. The child heroes are no disappointments either. Bingwen, who we were introduced to in Earth Alive plays a pivotal role in the story and may be saved from an asteroid explosion thanks to high tech armor and nanotechnology co-developed by Mazar and Victor with input from Bingwen himself..
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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- shaneseggar
- 2016-08-17
Needs another edit
The relationship details between Victor and Imalia was poorly written and way too protracted. I wanted to strangle the authors for wasting my time.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful
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- Michael
- Walnut Creek, CA, United States
- 2019-07-11
Another Formic Book...
This is the first book in the Second Formic War series in the Ender universe and is the fifteenth book overall.
If you have read every other book in the series, this is one more.
This is not the best of the series, and not the worst.
This seems a bit more bland, predictable, less thought provoking, and more stretched out than the best of the series.
The characterization was OK as was the story (although a bit slow).
I will likely read the next in this series when it comes out, but I will not be waiting with bated breath.
The narration was quite good, with multiple voices leading to good energy and clarity.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2019-07-04
too many voice actors
It is obvious how this book is on the path to Ender's Games. loved the introduction to the fighting cage. But having multiple voice actors read different parts for a single character, namely Mazer Rakum, is very frustrating.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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- 28 year old gamer
- 2019-04-19
letdown
I was disapointed that the book did not really end the formic war, story did not progress far enough.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful