Amazing. The view on formics and why they were to be feared is totally different from the view "Speaker for the dead" gave, which was empathetic.The unprovoked attacks by an alien specie justifies the bended society we see in Ender's game as well as the desperation people had to end all formics.Great read.

The story took a bit to get into, but that's not offputting to me because world- and character-building in speculative fiction often requires that, especially those with an epic style. This story was pretty fascinating and kept our interest rapt on a very long road trip.

I didn't have high expectations going into Earth Unaware. It's a collaboration, and even though Orson Scott Card's name is plastered on the front it's a good bet that Aaron Johnston did most of the writing. I wasn't particularly fond of their last collaboration, Invasive Procedures, where it felt (to me) like someone else writing a book based on an Orson Scott Card idea. For that matter, I haven't been overwhelmed by the recent Enderverse books such as Shadows in Flight and Ender in Exile.Well,

So many science issues it was distracting, either this book was written by the coaurhor with no real oversight by Card or I've lost a lot of respect for Card as an author.

Ender's Game is still one of my top 5 books of all time. While I didn't like the followup novels as much -- they didn't quite my satiate my reading tastes as much as Ender's Game -- I could still appreciate how well they were written. Earth Unaware, however, is a completely different beast. Seeing that the book was co-authored should have set alarm bells ringing in my head, but I was excited to read a new Card novel, so... Earth Unaware is more of a series of short stories that are loosely tied

While this book says it's by Orson Scott Card, I'm wondering if most of the writing was actually done by Aaron Johnston, who worked w/ Card while writing the comic book version of this story. If you'll remember, I accidentally read book 2 of this series first. Since Card often starts strong but goes downhill in subsequent books, I was excited to read book 1...book 2 was excellent. Apparently Johnston has the opposite problem as Card. Thanks to Earth Unaware, I started disliking characters. This

As a huge fan of the Enderverse, I knew that I would like Earth Unaware. I was not aware (hah!) of how *much* I would like it- I found it gripping and nearly impossible to put down.Like Michael Flynn's "Wreck of the River of Stars", there is no question how the Formica wars turn out: very, very badly for the humans. We know that from the basic premise of the universe. So knowing the doom that is coming could lend a funereal tone to the work, but in Card and Johnston's hands it does not. The char...

This book was not good. There was nothing grievously wrong with it - except the author's apparent complete lack of understanding of physics - but there were lots of little things that just rankled. First of all, some of the audiobook narrators were terrible, particularly the ones who voiced Victor and Lem. If you're going to write about a Venezuelan family of space miners you'd better find somebody who can pronounce Spanish words properly.None of the characters were that great and many of them f...

After Card and Aaron Johnston began writing the Ender's Game comic book series, they began to see that what happened prior to Ender's story deserved a story of its own. Hence, Earth Unaware, having to do with the events leading up to the first Formic War. Vico is young, but a master mechanic. He and his family have a small ship, El Cavador, and they mine asteroids out in the Kuiper Belt. They are the first to discover an anomalous ship heading their way. Lem Jukes, heir to Jukes Unlimited, a rut...

Read This Review & More Like It On My Blog!Written as a prequel to the well-loved Ender's Game, Johnston's Earth Unaware tries to fill in some of the holes and unexplored history of the "Enderverse" and the first Formic War that led to Battle School, and Ender's adventures in vanquishing the "hormigas"/Formics. When this book works the most, it succeeds predominately on misplaced nostalgia for the earlier-published-but-later-in-the-chronology novels like Ender's Game, Xenophobe, Children of the

I've read Ender's Game two or three times, and I love it. Needless to say, the fact that it was getting a prequel series filled me with curiosity and trepidation in about equal measures. While finding out about first contact with the aliens could be interesting, Card could definitely much it all up with his asshole opinions. Turns out, though, that this was mostly neither. Card didn't assault me with a religious message, but this book also just was not that good.The first chapters of Earth Unawa...

I didn't know this book existed until a coworker dropped it on my desk. I might have been happier then. I have read an awful lot of Orson Scott Card, starting in college when I came across Ender's Game in college and read it through in one sitting. (I did not sleep, I did not eat, I did not go to class, just read until I was finished. Luckily I'm a quick reader so it was a one day thing.)I was skeptical about the Shadow books, but they were fine. So I was willing to give this one a shot.It is *t...

I enjoyed the story, but despised the poor basic physics in this book. That has made it me least favorite of Card's books. Add the fact that it is an unresolved ending (unlike any of his other 12 or so books I've read) and it's 2 stars for me. For those interested, the physics blunders mostly focused on a misunderstanding of relative velocity and what's speed means in space. They make a big deal out of a high speed docking maneuver in space, but that is absurd. As long as the 2 ships match each

Earth Unaware is to Orson Scott Card what "Lady in the Water" was to M. Night Shyamalan - The latest disappointing tale in a descending career abruptly punctuated by explanatory paragraphs to beat you over the head with every concept since he couldn't work it in more craftily. Ender's Game was Card's brilliant supernova of a novel, which, Like Shyamalan's Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense, expertly twirled the reader's mind an incredible twist ending that left one pondering the meaning for days to...

The story was typical Orson Scott Card. Solid characters, I wanted to read more. I was entertained. However, the physics and common-sense errors in this book were absolutely horrible, it made me want to scream. If that was it, I would give the book 4 stars.Here is an example: In the first chapters of the book, the need for one of the characters to give an update to the board, drove all of the action - to speed up tests. Then that same character, who had to do a bunch of things for the updates to...

A decent enough entry in the Ender saga. I would have preferred that all the various characters and plot points got tied together more before ending the book. All the MOPs backstory was a waste of time, briefly introducing Mazer Rackham and then booting him offstage. We know we'll see him again, but in this first book, it seems very gratuitous. Most of the science of this book is very fictional, so check your science background at the door, if you've got one. Finding out that the book was writt

One of the pleasures of listening to science fiction audiobooks over the years has been hearing Orson Scott Card's Ender series. Besides being expertly narrated by an ensemble led by Stefan Rudnicki, these audiobooks are entertaining because Card isn't delivering the same book over and over. In Earth Unaware, Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston take the series in yet another direction.I know, I know. It's been proven time after time. When a book series gets to the point where [Original Author] p...

As far as I'm concerned, Card can write as many stories in the Enderverse as he wants. Milk that cash cow, man! Especially if the stories are as compelling as these. It was particularly thrilling to read how certain elements in Ender's Game started out (eg: Battle School, the MD, the IF, etc). My only complaint is that the dialog isn't as snappy as Card's other books, but that could be a side effect of the co-authoring. I still found it very enjoyable! Loving the fleshed out backstory and can't

I went into this thinking I'd be reading the story of the elusive Mazer Rackham. Without giving anything away, let me say that this is much more than that.As the first in a planned trilogy, I am a little upset that I can't yet read the sequels which have yet to come out, but this is actually a very good sign when it comes to how good a novel is. I'm extremely pumped by the story, even though (since it's a prequel) I technically know what's going to happen.Note that there are some marvel comics a...

I now have read twelve books in the Ender Universe. And, sadly, I think I'm done reading books in that universe. The last book I read from Scott Card was Ender in Exile, and I largely left off reading that book with a positive feeling. I wrote in part: "With so many books and so many authors in the wild to enjoy, I'm not exactly sure why I keep coming back to the Ender well. Regardless of whether I figure it out or not, I'll be back to take another drink and more than likely enjoy the taste just...