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

Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

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

This is why I enjoy Orson Scott Card's work

I gave a less than generous review for the previous book, but this action packed book with geopolitical themes is what makes Orson Scott Card shine. Highly recommended.

This is a GREAT adventure Sci-Fi Book. Masterful!

I fell in love with Sci-Fi from reading "Ender's Game" many, many, years ago. Even great writers like Orson Scott Card can write mediocre stories -- but this one fits in the very top of the master's work and Sci-Fi as a whole! It kept me a gripped for hours. The narration was great. If you are a fan of Card you must read this one. Prequels are not always good, but this one is BEYOND good and would fit in the great category.

Wow

What did you love best about Earth Afire?

Fast paced and action packed

What did you like best about this story?

All the different angles, agendas and depth of the different characters, as usual from Mr. Card

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to many of these narrator`s many times in other publications, and this one is right at the top. Great!!!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Be ready to experience the gambit of emotions. This one has it all.

Any additional comments?

I just have two words for Mr. Card. Write Faster.

Not bad by any means...

and a great edition to the story, but the cliffhanger makes it feel incomplete. It feels like a half-book. There's no definite ending as found in cards other works. Definitely feels as if this was a back-burner book while he was writing something else.

An ok addition

The idea of a prequel series to Enders game is intriguing. To me it falls a little flat. You’re following a much larger group of people and hearing the story from several points of view. This is a big departure from Enders game where you may hear from different people but not as many in this series. This book could be a number of novelettes or comics and would fit right in, but in my opinion it’s too fractious in structure to hold up as a novel.

Fresh story experience in a constrained storyworld

Even though I know the ultimate outcome of the first bugger war, nothing in the narrative feels certain. Very well written. I'd love to see Hollywood take as fresh and imaginative an approach to storytelling as this does.

very good story, good pace, niece lectors

I enjoyed the second book the same amount as the first one. Recommend for every Enders Game fan.

Riveting, moving book

Keep me entranced. How does Card keep doing it? Great characters and great alien invasion.

Wow, that was disapointing.

This book did not work for me, it feels like one of those books written years later by the talentless sons of a great author, similar to the Dune books being put out by Brian Hubert.
Some of the plot points simply feel like a check list bring drawn from a list titles "Things that must happen for Ender's Game to make sense."
Instead of making a great book Card has made a book that simply "Fits" in the Ender's Universe.

A fun listen, might not stand on its own

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

For devoted readers of the Ender books, this is a fun listen for the history of the first Formic attacks. In terms of a standalone book, it was good, but not quite as good as some of Cards other books. It felt like it was building the whole time, but didn't quite climax. I am looking forward to the next book, this one ends when it was just getting really good.

Any additional comments?

Another listener complained about the voice actors, I have no idea what they were talking about. The readers were terrific.