The Hive

The Second Formic War, Book 2

By: Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston

Narrated by: full cast

Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York Times best-selling authors Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston return to the prequels to Ender's Game following The Swarm with The Hive, the second audiobook in the Second Formic War. 

Card and Johnston continue the fast-paced hard science-fiction history of the Formic Wars - the alien invasions of Earth’s solar system that ultimately led to Ender Wiggin’s total victory in Ender's Game.   

A coalition of Earth’s nations barely fought off the Formics’ first scout ship.  

Now, it’s clear there’s a mothership out on edge of the system and that the aliens are prepared to take Earth by force. Can Earth’s warring nations and corporations put aside their differences and mount an effective defense?  

Ender's Game is one of the most popular and best-selling science-fiction titles of all time. The Formic War series (The First Formic War and The Second Formic War) are the prequels to Ender’s story.  

The Ender Universe:

Ender series:

• Ender’s Game
• Speaker for the Dead
• Xenocide
• Children of the Mind
• Ender in Exile
• Children of the Fleet 

Ender’s Shadow series: 

• Ender’s Shadow
• Shadow of the Hegemon
• Shadow Puppets
• Shadow of the Giant
• Shadows in Flight 

The First Formic War (with Aaron Johnston): 

• Earth Unaware
• Earth Afire
• Earth Awakens 

The Second Formic War (with Aaron Johnston): 

• The Swarm
• The Hive 

Ender novellas:

• A War of Gifts
• First Meetings

This program is read by Orson Scott Card, Vikas Adam, Paul Boehmer, Susan Hanfield, Arthur Morey, Emily Rankin, Stefan Rudnicki, Rob Dean, and Gabrielle de Cuir.

©2019 Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

not the end of the story

I thought this was the conclusion. but alas, just another segment of the story. great book, but ends without finishing the story?

Not what expected from OSC

Having read nearly everything Card has written in the last 30 years I have come to expect a VERY well written story. While overall this was a great story, constant inconsistencies in the details detracted from the experience.

Ends upexpectedly

Great story but ends unexpectedly. No even sure why it’s called “The Hive” when it’s not even mentioned once in the book. I think the publishers broke the story into two parts for more cash.

Sequel... prequel... brilliant as both

I’ve been looking forward to this book ever since I finished the fantastic trilogy on the first formic war, and the equally enjoyable start to the second in “the Swarm”.
This book ticks all the right spots:
• continuing to develop characters we’ve come to love and respect
• providing fantastic foreshadowings (both subtle and obvious) to Enders game and the way the IF is structured.
• taking us on what appears to be the most interesting and dangerous navigation possible through the untold tale of the second formic war.
I can’t wait for the third instalment.... please don’t make me wait as long this time!

Not up to scratch

Full disclosure, I have read quite a bit from Orson Scott Card. I love the way he writes, how he analyzes everything and creates a world with rules that are immensely immersive, logical, and complete.

This book is, without finding another word for it, fine. It follows along with all the same rules, adds to the story, helps you find closure, etc. But the writing style doesn’t seem to be what it was in the other books.

I’m not totally sure if it’s because of the performance of the book, some of the character voices were much more hyperbole than normal and realistic, or if it’s the writing style, which seems a little rushed and less analytical, or the overall goal, which felt like Card was wanting to set up every realization that we received from all the other books. All of it together made this one of least immersive books I’ve read from him.

Most of his stories are stand-alone novels. Each one has it merits. But this one relies so much on everything else that it feels more like he tried to fit in a puzzle piece than to create a great book.

I hold the writings of Card in high regard which is why I’m so critical. It’s missing something. It’s the first time I felt a little let down.

Another Enderverse Masterpiece

Never disappointed, except that there isn't a tv show based off the books. I can't get enough of OSC's tactical reasoning.

Don’t waste your money-part 1 of ?? & 99% filler.

I have all of the books from the Ender series and enjoyed all but this one. This was a HUGE disappointment. The story went pretty much nowhere. There were some relatively small revelations that could have been summarized in a single chapter. There also was way too much whining by the characters with a bit of hocus pocus to get characters out of impossibly bad situations, come on Aaron that was very sloppy!! Seems like the second Formic war will go on indefinitely until Aaron and Scott realize that we’re not buying this filler stuff any more.

Not up to standard

I don't think the co-writing is working. Very disappointed. I don't think I'll bother with the next book.

Glad That's Over

I loved Ender's Game and the sequels. I also enjoyed the first book of The Firtst Formic War. But they went steadily downhill from there. So tedious. The total total disregard for the laws of physics also distracted from the story (and I'm a Star Wars fan). The most egregious example... a giant blind built in space that hides ships to stage ambushes from... c'mon.

Nothing but annoying bloviating about bureaucracy

This book is disappointing. It consists mostly of rants against incompetent military leadership. It has little plot, character development, action, intrigue, or provocative thinking. I can't think of anything it adds to the Ender universe.

It is a meaningless prequel to another book in the series. It can easily be skipped. Perhaps the next book can bring back the energy and thoughtfulness of the previous one.