Earth Afire

By: Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye, Arthur Morey, Stefan Rudnicki, Vikas Adam, Gabrielle de Cuir, Roxanne Hernandez, Emily Rankin

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.

©2013 Orson Scott Card (P)2013 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“The gifted Stefan Rudnicki leads a team of talented narrators who do an excellent job of keeping vivid and focused the two-dozen or so characters and multiple locations…Orson Scott Card remains a master storyteller, and each narrator is right there with him as he mixes hard science and psychological insights – right up to the cliff-hanger ending.” —AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner

“With a stellar cast of narrators, this prequel to Card's sci-fi classic Ender's Game is a rollicking, rollercoaster ride of an adventure…From the very beginning of this audio edition, the almost nonstop action is delivered perfectly, keeping listeners on the edge of their seats. At the same time, the narrators manage to bring a large and diverse cast of characters to life with a sharply realized array of distinct voices and accents.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Great

Loved the final book of the series. Which it included a bit more of a final ending for the characters but very enjoyable.

...but left me HANGIN', man!

As the second book in a series, Earth Afire begins to weave the characters lives together as I had hoped. In the first book, Earth Unaware, people were depicted going about their lives as usual, (if deep-space mineral mining and living on a colonized Luna is usual). The crisis we already know about is coming. Earth Afire really explodes into action and moves along rapidly, helped in no small measure by the performances of the narrators.
But I think the editorial decision to stop the story where it did was too abrupt. In fact, it felt like hitting a brick wall after jumping off a cliff on a hang glider with one wing and no 'chute. I know that there's at least a few more paragraphs, if not a few more chapters, that could have been used as an epilog or something. It left me HANGIN', man!

good stuff

Enjoyed the story ans the characters. The characters from the first book had some good growth. Only complaint with the book is how abruptly it ends. The ending was right in the middle of a good action scene and then just abruptly ends with no conclusion or anything.

Another fantastic part of the Formic story

Such an amazing amazing addition to the Enderverse and the 1st formic war, this thrilling story has me hanging on the edge waiting to see what happens to my favorite characters next!

great follow up to earth unaware

This book is great with many threads and the balance between them is good which keeps you gripped all the way. Where is the next one?