The Swarm

By Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston

The Swarm - Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston
  • Release Date: 2016-08-02
  • Genre: Science Fiction
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 238 Ratings

Description

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?

THE ENDER UNIVERSE

Ender series
Ender’s Game / Speaker for the Dead / Xenocide / Children of the Mind / Ender in Exile / Children of the Fleet

Ender’s Shadow series
Ender’s Shadow / Shadow of the Hegemon / Shadow Puppets / Shadow of the Giant / Shadows in Flight

The First Formic War (with Aaron Johnston)
Earth Unaware / Earth Afire / Earth Awakens

The Second Formic War (with Aaron Johnston)
The Swarm / The Hive

Ender novellas
A War of Gifts / First Meetings

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Reviews

  • Wanting for More

    5
    By jjpappa
    The suspense continues to build as the story unfolds. Can't wait for the next volume to come out.
  • Most gratifying!

    5
    By Citizenstat
    Great story, great characters, great narrative tensions! Thank you, guys!
  • Wow

    4
    By kickmehigh
    This was an excellent story! Thank you for great read and not leaving me hanging. I can't wait till the next story.
  • A Healthy Beginning

    4
    By MykeLaw
    I've followed OSC's work for years now and have read each novel he has come out with. While some may argue the Ender Universe is overused now, I disagree. The Formic Wars series has been extraordinarily interesting to all fans of the Ender sagas, and even though it is a prequel it may be one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish as he incorporates elements of current political and scientific realism with fictional possibilities that tie into later books within the universe. The Second Formic Wars is off to a great start. We were not looking for an immediate pickup from the last book, yet the time skip did not overly change the characters we've come to love. You can see many have matured and grown into leaders that they will need to be, and even in The Swarm you can see the small cracks of hope that will help contribute to victory over the Formics. Very well done for the first book, I can't wait for the next two.
  • They Are Back!

    5
    By William Mark
    Excellent tale and characters. Enjoyed this new adventure.
  • A Treat That'll Leave You Craving for More

    5
    By SolinTheSecond
    Card and Johnston prove their mastery over the art of story-telling once more with this incredible start to the Second Formic War series. The novel bursts with life at every moment, causing one to hoot in joy at the victories, audibly curse the misfortunes, and much more. Honestly, the only vice this novel has is the fact that it does not give one closure and forces readers to painstakingly wait a good several months before having the ability to rejoin the gang in their unspooling adventures during the Second Formic War. However, fantastic literature such as this needs time in order to properly materialize, so all one can do now is enjoy this work for what it is and wait patiently for the next installation.