16 books
—
29 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Earth Awakens (The First Formic War, #3)” as Want to Read:
Earth Awakens
(The First Formic War #3)
by
The story of The First Formic War continues in Earth Awakens.
Nearly 100 years before the events of Orson Scott Card's bestselling 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; eve ...more
Nearly 100 years before the events of Orson Scott Card's bestselling 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; eve ...more
Get A Copy
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published
June 10th 2014
by Tor Books
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Earth Awakens,
please sign up.
Popular Answered Questions
Nikko Bautista
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Earth Awakens (The First Formic War, #3)

Many have criticized the First Formic war for crummy physics, shallow political/cultural analysis, and prose that feels like the novelization of a comic book. Those criticisms will not be deferred by the arrival of this book. Even if, like me, you enjoyed the first installments of this trilogy, I suspect you'll find Awakens to be somewhat of a disappointment.
My first criticism is that it appears that rather than put together an original, or create A unique spin on well-trodden sci-fi tropes, Ors ...more
My first criticism is that it appears that rather than put together an original, or create A unique spin on well-trodden sci-fi tropes, Ors ...more

I was going to write this long review addressing some of the criticism, but the simple truth is that a) I'm way too lazy for that, and b) I am just in too much awe over this book to do anything but gush about it. Each of the characters really popped off the page. The pacing was quick.
I am just amazed at what Card and Johnston were able to do with this trilogy. They take a pre-established universe and works within it to create a world that doesn't contradict what was previously laid out. Ender's ...more
I am just amazed at what Card and Johnston were able to do with this trilogy. They take a pre-established universe and works within it to create a world that doesn't contradict what was previously laid out. Ender's ...more

The third book in the prequel series to the original "Enders Game" series, the book is worth the read to fans of the Ender universe but once again it falls far short of the quality of the originals. Card seems to have given up any pretense at writing compelling and realistic dialog: each character has the identical sarcastic / juvenile sense of humor and manners of speaking which makes it impossible to develop any sort of attachment. Card also has given up on any pretense of 'hard' science ficti
...more

Couldn't wait until this one came out and sped right through it. Just ok and not up to the standards set by the first two books in the series. 2 Stars. It felt mechanical, not original and fresh. The story lines were not as tension packed and interesting as the leading books. Enjoyed it but not near as much as I hoped.
...more

Earth Awakens
The First Formic War book 3
By Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnson
A review by Eric Allen
The previous book ended with Victor on his way into the Formic mothership, and Mops having destroyed one of the Formic landers in China. We pick back up almost immediately afterward, which Victor's infiltration. When it goes horribly awry, he returns to the moon with a new plan, which he recruits Mazer Rakham and Mops to help him with. They must sabotage the Formic Mothership from within before the ...more
The First Formic War book 3
By Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnson
A review by Eric Allen
The previous book ended with Victor on his way into the Formic mothership, and Mops having destroyed one of the Formic landers in China. We pick back up almost immediately afterward, which Victor's infiltration. When it goes horribly awry, he returns to the moon with a new plan, which he recruits Mazer Rakham and Mops to help him with. They must sabotage the Formic Mothership from within before the ...more

I rarely review the books I read but this one was worth the time. Card does a great job giving the reader what they want. It described everything that happen in great detail. I really enjoyed Mazer and Bing it reminded me of Ender's experience with Mazer. Also there was a great plug for the second Formic War. I bet Bing's school will become Battle School!!
...more

I like Card and his books. This book focuses on closing out the story lines and ending the trilogy. This is accomplished with efficiency and is well done. I was satisfied not only with how the story lines ended, but they felt organic and credible given the way the characters would have behaved. This story focused a bit more on the story and less on the science and physics the first 2/3rds of the book. However, in the last 1/3 of the book machine guns in free fall are just a bad, stupid idea. The
...more

I understand that this book has gotten horrible reviews. I usually try to give the author the benefit of the doubt, but Orson Scott Card wrote a horrible book this time. Listen, I loved Ender's Game, and even loved Earth Afire, but this book was a fail.
Where do I start? Card left a lot of loose ends untied. I'm going to start rambling (I'll try to keep it short):
#1. When Victor was leaving the ship for the first time, he adjusted and launched himself toward the return ship. Card says it took one ...more
Where do I start? Card left a lot of loose ends untied. I'm going to start rambling (I'll try to keep it short):
#1. When Victor was leaving the ship for the first time, he adjusted and launched himself toward the return ship. Card says it took one ...more

This book is what I was afraid of when I saw Aaron Johnston's name on the cover for this series. I had tried to read a collaboration of Card and Johnston before and it was terrible. While I was happily surprised with the first novel in this trilogy, each book has gotten worse. Perhaps because Card's involvement has decreased along the way? I don't know. But it's highly unusual for me to put down a book halfway in, especially if it's part of a series, and I did just that with this one for several
...more

Such a satisfying book! I had major worries when I learned that Card was writing prequels to Ender's Game, and am so glad he (and his co-author) wrote these. An absolute "MUST READ!" for any fans of the Enderverse.
Buy it and read it! ...but only after reading the first two... ...more
Buy it and read it! ...but only after reading the first two... ...more

This will be my review for the entire trilogy:
Plenty of other reviewers have covered in minute detail the points I am going to make, but let me have my turn:
Positives:
Interesting Characters. Good start to the back story. (Sort of. This was not the back story you were looking for. Minor spoiler alert... this is just the beginning of the back story.) Okay... that was it.
Negatives:
Junk science. This was startling in part because Scott Card made such a fuss over this at Writer's Boot Camp a handful ...more
Plenty of other reviewers have covered in minute detail the points I am going to make, but let me have my turn:
Positives:
Interesting Characters. Good start to the back story. (Sort of. This was not the back story you were looking for. Minor spoiler alert... this is just the beginning of the back story.) Okay... that was it.
Negatives:
Junk science. This was startling in part because Scott Card made such a fuss over this at Writer's Boot Camp a handful ...more

This is the third in the First Formic War trilogy. It's really the third installment in a very long three part novel. It's fast moving, exiting, a fun entertaining read; not great literature, but it is well written. I read the first book, Earth Unaware, quite some time ago and a lot of the details had faded. I read the second, Earth Afire, immediately before reading Earth Awakens - that's the right way to do it.
This trilogy is a prequel to Ender's Game. Mazur Rackham, an important character in E ...more
This trilogy is a prequel to Ender's Game. Mazur Rackham, an important character in E ...more

Another excellent book from Orson Scott Card .
The audiobook was expertly read by his usual cast of audio readers--Stefan Rudnicki, Emily Rankin,
Roxanne Hernandez, Arthur Morey, etc.
This picks up where the second book in the First Formic War Series, "Earth Afire" left off.
It's got the same cast of characters too, along with a few additions.
Victor Delgado and Imala Bootstamp have enlisted Lem Jukes' help to do a scouting mission to a Formic ship in Earth's atmosphere.
Mazer Rackham, Whit O'Toole ...more
The audiobook was expertly read by his usual cast of audio readers--Stefan Rudnicki, Emily Rankin,
Roxanne Hernandez, Arthur Morey, etc.
This picks up where the second book in the First Formic War Series, "Earth Afire" left off.
It's got the same cast of characters too, along with a few additions.
Victor Delgado and Imala Bootstamp have enlisted Lem Jukes' help to do a scouting mission to a Formic ship in Earth's atmosphere.
Mazer Rackham, Whit O'Toole ...more

I realized something about Card's writing fairly early on in this book - everyone's a genius. Everyone's a Mary Sue, able to do exactly what needs to be done, and conflict is almost invariable resolved through reasonable conversation. It's weird for that to occur in the middle of a war. But then the war isn't really the focus of this book - instead it is finishing the stories of the characters from the previous novels, who are of course indispensable in concluding the conflict, but don't really
...more

Great trilogy from great authors. I love all of Card's Ender/Shadow books...though I'm not a fan of his other works. This series is just as compelling as the rest. If you haven't read the Ender series or the Shadow series, and you like scifi, you need to read all of these books! Start with this trilogy first, then Ender's Game...wonderful read...
...more

Dec 04, 2015
Louisiana36
added it
this one was good all good characters. enjoyed listening to the trilogy

A satisfying ending to a good trilogy. How much of this was Orson Scott Card and how much was co-written by Aaron Johnston I can only speculate, but it did live up to my own expectations. I found the character development was satisfying, even in the case of Lem and his father Uko, who had their motivations for acting and their motivation for decisions fleshed out and given some justification, when it would have been all-too-easy for another author to simply cast them in the role of "evil corpora
...more

I have been on such a Sci-Fi kick after watching the movie Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. I wanted more about people in space, spaceships, and terraforming planets. This series was so much YES! Despite the fact that the planet being terraformed in this instance was our own, by an alien species, I was riveted right through it all. I love getting Mazer's backstory here and in the second book. He was only mentioned briefly in the first book.
I love how these books connect so many ...more
I love how these books connect so many ...more

This is an adequate conclusion to the First Formic War series that provides more background for the famous and excellent Ender's Game. It continues on with the stories of all the heroes that are now familiar to anyone having read the first two books. I do like how a lot more of the action moved away from earth and back to space. I also like the continued character development of Lem Jukes.
That said, I do believe the transition from "we're all gonna die" to "lets go kick some alien butt" was far ...more
That said, I do believe the transition from "we're all gonna die" to "lets go kick some alien butt" was far ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

Like most of Card's books (in the Ender series, anyway; I haven't read the others), once I got in, I couldn't put it down. The whole First Formic War series was exactly what I wanted, exactly the story I wanted told from the beginning. Mazer and Bingwen were decidedly my favorite characters throughout, but I think that's to be expected. I would like to meet Bingwen. I think he's a real person. And he'd be SO much fun to hang out with.
Dinged one star, for the simple fact that whenever Victor and ...more
Dinged one star, for the simple fact that whenever Victor and ...more

The First Wave.
Buckle up and enjoy the exciting culmination of the afforded efforts of mankind to save the human race from the Formic invasion while leaving you bracing for the next wave in the Second Formic War series.
In this action packed conclusion to the First Formic War trilogy we get to experience the formation of the international fleet and the hegemony that will continue to color the human race as it is known when Ender enters
the scene a hundred years later. This alone is reason enoug ...more
Buckle up and enjoy the exciting culmination of the afforded efforts of mankind to save the human race from the Formic invasion while leaving you bracing for the next wave in the Second Formic War series.
In this action packed conclusion to the First Formic War trilogy we get to experience the formation of the international fleet and the hegemony that will continue to color the human race as it is known when Ender enters
the scene a hundred years later. This alone is reason enoug ...more

A pretty good ending to the trilogy and a good set-up for the continuation of the story. As I read the third novel in this trilogy, I found writing problems that were present all along, but I just didn't notice them because I was caught up in the story. Now, there are many things that I am questioning and I am no longer quite so certain this is a great trilogy. Just fun.
...more

I really enjoyed this trilogy!! I listened to the audiobook and loved the full cast reading! I haven't read Ender's Game yet so this was the perfect intro to the Enderverse! Definitely recommend!
...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
New OS Card book...will not buy or read | 12 | 51 | Jun 22, 2015 08:56AM |
389 users
137 users
39 users
29 users
22 users
22 users
18 users
17 users
16 users
15 users
Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools.
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th ...more
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th ...more
Other books in the series
The First Formic War
(3 books)
Related Articles
Few things compare to the electric anticipation of the next entry in a series you're obsessed with–you get to drop back into worlds your...
64 likes · 15 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Sometimes you have to trust people enough to let them succeed and love them enough to let them fail.”
—
7 likes
“Why do we persist in this divided idiocy? Because the world is full of prideful bastards, that’s why. Everyone believes they’re smarter than everyone else, more capable than everyone else, more justified than everyone else. Humility went extinct a long time ago.”
—
4 likes
More quotes…