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A review by scottcmikula
Earth Unaware by Orson Scott Card
4.0
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, I'm pleased to say that Earth Unaware does feel like an Orson Scott Card book. But more importantly, it's a really good story. As a prequel, it begins to explain some of the technology and backstory that leads into Ender's Game, but it isn't a slave to those things. There's a whole new cast of characters to love (or love to hate!) and we're immersed in the frontier-like setting of the Kuiper belt on the outer rim of the solar system, where mining families scrape a living by harvesting metal from asteroids. Even before the Buggers (sorry, Formics) show up, there's plenty of conflict and difficult choices to make. And once they realize an alien ship is heading towards Earth, everything in their already complicated life is thrown into chaos. In other words, this isn't just filling a gap in the Enderverse backstory; this is good sci fi and a story that can stand on its own legs.
Well, it stands on its own relative to Ender's Game and the subsequent books. As far as the story of the Formic Wars, this is just the beginning. There is a bit of resolution, but Earth Unaware ends with the promise of all the biggest events still to come.
Well, I'm pleased to say that Earth Unaware does feel like an Orson Scott Card book. But more importantly, it's a really good story. As a prequel, it begins to explain some of the technology and backstory that leads into Ender's Game, but it isn't a slave to those things. There's a whole new cast of characters to love (or love to hate!) and we're immersed in the frontier-like setting of the Kuiper belt on the outer rim of the solar system, where mining families scrape a living by harvesting metal from asteroids. Even before the Buggers (sorry, Formics) show up, there's plenty of conflict and difficult choices to make. And once they realize an alien ship is heading towards Earth, everything in their already complicated life is thrown into chaos. In other words, this isn't just filling a gap in the Enderverse backstory; this is good sci fi and a story that can stand on its own legs.
Well, it stands on its own relative to Ender's Game and the subsequent books. As far as the story of the Formic Wars, this is just the beginning. There is a bit of resolution, but Earth Unaware ends with the promise of all the biggest events still to come.