Earth Unaware

By: Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston

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

Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

A hundred years before Ender's Game, humans thought they were alone in the galaxy. Humanity was slowly making their way out from Earth to the planets and asteroids of the Solar System, exploring and mining and founding colonies.

The mining ship El Cavador is far out from Earth, in the deeps of the Kuiper Belt, beyond Pluto. Other mining ships, and the families that live on them, are few and far between this far out. So when El Cavador's telescopes pick up a fast-moving object coming in-system, it's hard to know what to make of it. It's massive and moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light.

But the ship has other problems. Their systems are old and failing. The family is getting too big. There are claim-jumping corporates bringing Asteroid Belt tactics to the Kuiper Belt. Worrying about a distant object that might or might not be an alien ship seems…not important.

They're wrong. It's the most important thing that has happened to the human race in a million years. This is humanity's first contact with an alien race. The First Formic War is about to begin.
Earth Unaware is the first novel in The First Formic War series by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston.

©2012 Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“The somber basso voice of Stefan Rudnicki and two well-chosen players march through the story, with a young man's voice particularly effective in segments featuring the angst-ridden teenager. This is an outstanding job, with more to come.” —AudioFile Magazine

“As the narration passes from character to character, the talented cast... 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.” —Publishers Weekly

A Story Unto Itself, Which I Really Enjoyed.

I read several reviews which gave me the impression that this story was somehow unfinished, that there was an unexpected cliff-hanger and/ or that this story ended abruptly without fulfilling the listener's expectations. I would like to assure people reading these reviews in order to make a decision about buying this book, that this is not the case. The title of this book is "Earth Unaware" and that is the story about which this book is written.

Is this book a set-up for the next book to come? Yes. Of course. But it is also a story that can stand alone in many ways. There is a lot to know about what was going on when the Formics show up and this book is the starting point.

To keep this review short, I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. I have listened to all of the "Ender" and "Ender's Shadow" series and I liked this book more than some of those. The reading is fantastic, as usual. I am definitely looking forward to the next in the series.

Spoiler Allert--- Great story well told.

Card has given us a view of the opening of the first Formic War by introducing compelling characters and telling a moving story. There was nothing shallow about the relationships between the members of the different ship crews, or the main point of view characters on each ship. The journey each character made from the beginning to the end of the book was rich and individual and authenticly human. It was great to see what may prove to be the origins of the DR Device that was so important in the end of Ender's Game. It was also great to explore the limitaions the absence of the Ancible placed on comunications abilities.

This was a wonderful story, masterfully told, and I believe absolutely properly named. The entire point of the multiple protagonists struggles were that these characters knew something that Earth did not. When one amazingly brave young man puts himself through a 7 month torturous journey to get the warning to Earth only to find himself arrested for breaching typical burocratic noncence, it is only right that the book end with the final act to let the planet know what is coming. Yes, there obviously MUST be a sequal. After all, this was the beginning of the First Formic War and Ender won the Third.

I listened to this in one sitting. I was deeply emotionally engaged, and as key point of view characters gave their last full measure I cried. I truely hope I can live up to the nobility of spirit portrayed in Mr. Card's world.

Good characters

If you could sum up Earth Unaware in three words, what would they be?

Good but flawed.
Good story, but seems it has some scientific flaws.
- Everything is moving in space, slowing down doesn't make you any safer from space junk.,
-The formics couldn't project noise over all electromagnetic wavelengths and frequencies with out being noticed. I don't see a reason that the free miners or the Jukes couldn't have transmitted a morse code warning with full spectrum white light. Parabolic reflectors to aim the light at Earth wouldn't be that hard to make for someone like Vico or the Juke scientists.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Earth Unaware?

Secundo alone in space

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

-

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Formic fighting.

Any additional comments?

Looking forward to the next book.

amazing book, fantastic storytelling.

Oh this book is so easy to listen to! the narrator's do a fantastic job splitting up the scenes to let you easily know where you are (good because there are a few different stories going on at the same time). There was one part where you're in the perspective of a teenage girl and it honestly gets a little annoying with how much she complains, coupled with the narrator being very good at mimicking a teenage girl complaining. It's only about 10 minutes and if you power through that 10 minutes it's an amazing story! can't wait to listen to the next in the series!

More Enderverse!

Would you listen to Earth Unaware again? Why?

Absolutly will listen to this book again. Gripping story that draws you into an even deeper layer of the Enderverse. I read Ender's game 15 years ago and have been hooked on Card's Stories ever since. The enderverse will always be among my favorites!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Earth Unaware?

The most memorable moment was when I heard the name Mazer Rackham mentioned, I hadn't read anything about this book and didn't really know what it was going to be about in advance so I was completely blown away when there was a sudden tie in for the Enderverse.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Stefan Rudnicki is one of my favorite narrators, he's read several of Card's books and always brings a great deal of depth to the characters he reads.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely would listen to this in one sitting if I had the time.

Any additional comments?

Can't wait for the next book in this installment!

Great story - can't wait for the continuation

This books begins to set the background for the course of events that led up to Ender's Game. Far from feeling jipped that this book didn't wrap it all up in one volume, this means I can have many more books to look forward to.
The characters are well developed and they have deal with the same kind of difficult, painful choices all of us face in life, without the benefit of know what the future holds.

Any great crisis begins with just unrelated and often puzzling events. It is only from our superior position of hindsight that we recognize their true significance.

a great story to kick off Enders game

I totally love this story by Orson Scott Card. the story is one that catches your imagination keeps your attention going and leave your hanging at the end I totally enjoy this I found it I did not want to stop listening to it in fact I drove a few extra miles to make sure I could still here the story.
the performance by Mr Rudnicki and others was just perfect the beautiful part of this is that these performers have done most of OSC's stories so often that I'm familiar with their voices.
I can't wait to listen to the next installment. thank you so much for writing a really good story!

Loved this

This was a really great start to what promises to be an amazing series. The audiobooks in this series are well narrated.

Excellent

lloved it. very nice acting. Excellent book. Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite writers.

Good start to the series

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, good start to Formic War Series

If you’ve listened to books by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston before, how does this one compare?

This is fair on action and slow to keep moving compared to later stories