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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
These books are excellent and full in the details of the first Formac war quite well. The story of Mazer is fascinating to watch unfold, knowing what he does in Enders Game. I thoroughly enjoy Card’s writing style and ability to forge interesting stories.
Ender's Game is good. Really good. The universe Card created and expanded into Speaker for the Dead was completely capable of supporting the original original four books. But I wonder if that's where it should have stopped. The Bean series is an entertaining geopolitical thriller, but it hardly seems to hold compared to either the action or the contemplative science fiction of the initial books. These Formic War books seem to support this gradual decrease in returns. Perhaps it's the inclusion of a co-author. Perhaps it's the conversion from a comic. In any case, something is lacking.
Perhaps it is the characters. More than elsewhere in the Enderverse, these characters come off as wooden, one-note, and prone to obfuscating near-stupidity and impulsiveness in service to the plot. Victor is a glaring example, the resourceful free-miner with a chip on his shoulder. Is Victor in a scene? Then he will a) challenge the conventional wisdom on how a goal might be accomplished--and generally be right and b) get upset about some perceived slight towards free miners in general or his family in specific. The majority of the free miners suffer from a variation of this personality, and while it is perhaps forged by common experiences and bonds, it doesn't ring true. Impala--Imala?--is no different, a junior functionary prideful and principled to a point that generally defies belief. (Later, she develops slightly more pragmatism, which is a relief. It only took the threat of world annihilation.) The non-free miners are no luckier. The Jukes boys are cut from a very similar cloth, and the elder Jukes elects to pursue particularly desperate plans, the foolishness of which is so clear that they seems to exist primarily to allow the younger Jukes room for professional maneuvering. Despite the world-spanning cast of several, each group is represented by a one-note figure, with a background cast that makes these few individuals look fleshed out.
And let's not start on Bingwin. There are arguments over realism of the gifted children in the Ender books, Ender in particular, but despite the fact that his dialogue is often clearly preternatural and contrived, he maintains the reader's sympathy with ease. Not so, Bingwin. I vacillated between wanting to skip his chapters and reading them in the hopes that he would meet a grisly Formic-induced end. Ender strains realism. Bingwin, as a English speaking Chinese child self-educated by the internet, completely blows it out of the water. What eight year old talks like that, anywhere? Especially if they learned English from the internet. Not once does he sling homophobic abuse, randomly plug politicians, reference the size, shape or color of someone's genitals, or describe his favorite kittez.
If it's not the characters, then what is it? Maybe it's the insistence on making Mazer Rackam the hero of these novels too. I grant that there's a third book to come, presumably linking the first invasion and the second, but surely there was room for other characters? In fact, the MOP commandos seem like exactly the characters who could do this, but Mazer is forced into their midst, because he has to come from somewhere, I supposed. Alternatively, maybe it's the relative lack of originality. Hyper-intelligent children, battles that hinge on thinking in more dimensions than the enemy, much here seems recycled from the initial Ender books. And the bits that don't come seem to to arise from elsewhere. I went back to Ender's game to see when space was referred to as The Black (in caps, occasionally.) Didn't see it. But watching the free miners ply their rag-tag band of brothers schtick in a scrappy space ship, I couldn't help thinking, "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal."
Perhaps it is the characters. More than elsewhere in the Enderverse, these characters come off as wooden, one-note, and prone to obfuscating near-stupidity and impulsiveness in service to the plot. Victor is a glaring example, the resourceful free-miner with a chip on his shoulder. Is Victor in a scene? Then he will a) challenge the conventional wisdom on how a goal might be accomplished--and generally be right and b) get upset about some perceived slight towards free miners in general or his family in specific. The majority of the free miners suffer from a variation of this personality, and while it is perhaps forged by common experiences and bonds, it doesn't ring true. Impala--Imala?--is no different, a junior functionary prideful and principled to a point that generally defies belief. (Later, she develops slightly more pragmatism, which is a relief. It only took the threat of world annihilation.) The non-free miners are no luckier. The Jukes boys are cut from a very similar cloth, and the elder Jukes elects to pursue particularly desperate plans, the foolishness of which is so clear that they seems to exist primarily to allow the younger Jukes room for professional maneuvering. Despite the world-spanning cast of several, each group is represented by a one-note figure, with a background cast that makes these few individuals look fleshed out.
And let's not start on Bingwin. There are arguments over realism of the gifted children in the Ender books, Ender in particular, but despite the fact that his dialogue is often clearly preternatural and contrived, he maintains the reader's sympathy with ease. Not so, Bingwin. I vacillated between wanting to skip his chapters and reading them in the hopes that he would meet a grisly Formic-induced end. Ender strains realism. Bingwin, as a English speaking Chinese child self-educated by the internet, completely blows it out of the water. What eight year old talks like that, anywhere? Especially if they learned English from the internet. Not once does he sling homophobic abuse, randomly plug politicians, reference the size, shape or color of someone's genitals, or describe his favorite kittez.
If it's not the characters, then what is it? Maybe it's the insistence on making Mazer Rackam the hero of these novels too. I grant that there's a third book to come, presumably linking the first invasion and the second, but surely there was room for other characters? In fact, the MOP commandos seem like exactly the characters who could do this, but Mazer is forced into their midst, because he has to come from somewhere, I supposed. Alternatively, maybe it's the relative lack of originality. Hyper-intelligent children, battles that hinge on thinking in more dimensions than the enemy, much here seems recycled from the initial Ender books. And the bits that don't come seem to to arise from elsewhere. I went back to Ender's game to see when space was referred to as The Black (in caps, occasionally.) Didn't see it. But watching the free miners ply their rag-tag band of brothers schtick in a scrappy space ship, I couldn't help thinking, "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal."
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
characterization in this book is a bit wonky compared to the first book. Feels just a bit too convenient that the only way to destroy the Formic landers just so happens to be in the country that they landed in. Wit's chapters still not interesting lol. Otherwise very compelling.
A step up from the last book in that it didn’t take forever to get the action going, but there was too many characters and subplots that it got pretty bloated and I don’t know why we had to follow so many people when their story didn’t really go anywhere (I’m especially talking about Rena, Victor’s mom). There was also, once again, a comment about someone maybe being interested in their cousin and what the hell is up with this series that has to bring up incest this much? Overall, though, I had a better time reading this one as it actually went somewhere instead of that dry first book that spent like 250 of its 400 pages with nothing happening. I’m still keeping my expectations low for the last book of the trilogy though
Earth Afire is the second part of The First Formic War series, which is a prequel to Ender's Game. This is the fifth novel I have read that takes place in the Ender Universe (there are some comic books as well). This book is marginally better than the first book in the series, Earth Unaware, which I reviewed last year. The science is a little more realistic, and the story has much more continuity and structure.
In this series, Card takes multiple characters through the Hero's Journey simultaneously, which is quite a feat. Lem, Mazer, and Victor from book #1 continue their stories, and a new character, an 8-year-old Chinese boy named Bingwen is introduced. Victor's mother Rena's story also continues, but does not get quite as much attention. I assume that she will come back into the main plot in book #3, as Captain O'Toole did in book #2 after seeming incidentally involved in book #1. The theme of this book can be summed up in a wise line from Victor:
Unfortunately, Card takes this theme to the extreme, and about 350 pages of this 400-page book consists of characters arguing about whether or not they should fix something and then how to fix it.
The First Formic War series is not Card's best work, but you get to enjoy many great aspects of his writing. His characters are interesting. His writing flows beautifully. There is plenty of sci-fi tech and Sun Tzu-esque military strategy. And the suspense makes you unable to put it down. I highly recommend reading Orson Scott Card's novels that are set in Ender's Universe, but I suggest reading Ender's Game first. If you like it, pick up Ender's Shadow, then continue forward in the timeline that follows those 2 novels, and then jump back to The First Formic War #1 and work through this series.
In this series, Card takes multiple characters through the Hero's Journey simultaneously, which is quite a feat. Lem, Mazer, and Victor from book #1 continue their stories, and a new character, an 8-year-old Chinese boy named Bingwen is introduced. Victor's mother Rena's story also continues, but does not get quite as much attention. I assume that she will come back into the main plot in book #3, as Captain O'Toole did in book #2 after seeming incidentally involved in book #1. The theme of this book can be summed up in a wise line from Victor:
If there’s a problem, you fix it. You don’t set up fences around it and make rules about how it should be fixed. You fix it.
Unfortunately, Card takes this theme to the extreme, and about 350 pages of this 400-page book consists of characters arguing about whether or not they should fix something and then how to fix it.
The First Formic War series is not Card's best work, but you get to enjoy many great aspects of his writing. His characters are interesting. His writing flows beautifully. There is plenty of sci-fi tech and Sun Tzu-esque military strategy. And the suspense makes you unable to put it down. I highly recommend reading Orson Scott Card's novels that are set in Ender's Universe, but I suggest reading Ender's Game first. If you like it, pick up Ender's Shadow, then continue forward in the timeline that follows those 2 novels, and then jump back to The First Formic War #1 and work through this series.
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated