Earth Unaware

May 7, 2012
Card and Johnston expand Card’s near-future universe in this readable, if not notable, novel, which launches a prequel trilogy to the bestselling Ender’s Game that will cover the same ground as the recent Formic War comics from Marvel. The residents of the mining spaceship El Cavador discover what appears to be an alien ship, and although young Victor advises alerting as many people as possible, he is overruled by the too cautious ship’s council. Then a human corporate ship, under the guidance of Lem Jukes, a son attempting to crawl out from his father’s shadow, attacks the El Cavador. Between the alien attacks and the intra-human warfare, there’s plenty of action, but the story adds little to the space invasion subgenre, and even less to the Ender universe. Fans won’t find anything to actively dislike, and they might appreciate the added development of characters who were one-dimensional in the comics, but there’s little to love.

October 29, 2012
In this prequel to the popular Ender science fiction series, Card and Johnston reveal mankind’s first encounter with space aliens during the early mining and industrialization of the solar system. Although this audio edition begins a little slowly, as the narration passes from character to character, the talented cast—which includes Stefan Rudnicki, Stephen Hoye, Arthur Mory, Vikas Adam, Emily Janice Card, Gabrielle de Cuir, and Roxanne Hernandez—easily keeps listeners intrigued with skillful characterizations that feature unique voices, accents, and dialects. And by the time the huge alien ship arrives and the story kicks into high gear, listeners will be utterly captivated by this exciting adventure. A Tor hardcover.

The book ENDER'S GAME (first published 1985) propelled Orson Scott Card to the front ranks of science fiction/fantasy authors. He remains there today with a wide body of publications, including a series of video games. A film adaptation of ENDER is underway for 2013. The present novel is a prequel that describes the first contact between earth and an alien civilization and the violence that ensues. A mining ship in the Kuiper Belt, far beyond Pluto, detects an incoming starship traveling at immense speed. The somber basso voice of Stefan Rudnicki and two well-chosen players march through the story, with Vikas Adam's young voice particularly effective in segments featuring an angst-ridden teenager. This is an outstanding job, with more to come. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine