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Formic Wars #2
Ender's Game: Formic Wars: Silent Strike
The all-new prequel to Orson Scott Card's science-fiction classic Ender's Game returns! With 44 million people killed by the toxic gas that the alien Formics unleashed in China, the only hope of a counter-agent lies with Mazer Rackham and the Mobile Operations Police safely retrieving a sample. Meanwhile, young asteroid miner Victor Delgado has snuck aboard the Formic mother ship in hopes of taking it down alone ... and boy is he is for a big disappointment.
FORMIC SILENT STRIKE 1-5
FORMIC SILENT STRIKE 1-5
120 pages, Hardcover
First published July 11, 2012
2 people are currently reading
953 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Johnston
63 books134 followersAaron Johnston is a New York Times bestselling author, comics writer, and film producer. He cowrote the novels Invasive Procedures, Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, Earth Awakens, and the other forthcoming Formic Wars novels with science-fiction legend Orson Scott Card.
He was also an associate producer on the movie Ender’s Game, wherein he makes a cameo appearance as an officer of the International Fleet. Blink and you’ll miss him.
Aaron’s comic credits include Ender in Exile, Speaker for the Dead, Formic Wars, League War, and Mazer in Prison, all for Marvel. His screenplay adaptations include Alvin Maker, Sarah: Woman of Genesis, The Multiple Man, Feed the Baby of Love, and others. His play Lifeloop, an adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s short story, was featured at Western Illinois University. A longtime stage improviser, Aaron is a former member of LA’s Improv Factory, Santa Clarita Improv, and the Garrens Comedy Troupe. He and his wife are the parents of four children.
He was also an associate producer on the movie Ender’s Game, wherein he makes a cameo appearance as an officer of the International Fleet. Blink and you’ll miss him.
Aaron’s comic credits include Ender in Exile, Speaker for the Dead, Formic Wars, League War, and Mazer in Prison, all for Marvel. His screenplay adaptations include Alvin Maker, Sarah: Woman of Genesis, The Multiple Man, Feed the Baby of Love, and others. His play Lifeloop, an adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s short story, was featured at Western Illinois University. A longtime stage improviser, Aaron is a former member of LA’s Improv Factory, Santa Clarita Improv, and the Garrens Comedy Troupe. He and his wife are the parents of four children.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 21, 2019
Decent read, original storyline material for Enders Game Fan
The review is for all the 5 comics collected into a single volume.
This is a direct continuation of the Formic Wars: Burning Earth graphic novel. The plotting is more focused and ends the particular storyline making it a better read than its predecessor. The art itself is passable. Overall the graphic novel is mediocre and doesn’t hold a candle to what one may expect from Orson Scott Card's novel with their detailed plotting and character development.
The review is for all the 5 comics collected into a single volume.
This is a direct continuation of the Formic Wars: Burning Earth graphic novel. The plotting is more focused and ends the particular storyline making it a better read than its predecessor. The art itself is passable. Overall the graphic novel is mediocre and doesn’t hold a candle to what one may expect from Orson Scott Card's novel with their detailed plotting and character development.
May 26, 2021
I like this series, The art and writing works well together to tell this story. Another series I hope they make would be the Ender's Story from the point of view of the troops that were the actual fighters taking orders from the battle command. This was a Good Read.
May 30, 2022
The graphic novel that tells the same story as Earth Awakens. A picture must really be worth a thousand words. The details vary a little. This came first, and the books came after. I like the novels better.
May 21, 2020
A little more action than the Formic Wars: Burning Earth set of comics. They tied in the ending well with what we know will happen in Ender's Game. Fun little distraction for an hour or so.
August 3, 2012
Many of the novels and short stories in Orson Scott Card's Ender series have been adapted into comic book form by Marvel, but this collection represents a brand new story in the series written as a comic. Card and Aaron Johnston co-wrote the story (Johnston wrote the script). They have announced plans to expand on the story in a trilogy of novels, the first of which Earth Unaware was published last month.
The artwork by Giancarlo Caracuzzo is adequate. The panels support the text and were usually easy to follow. His depiction of the Buggers was spot-on as to how I imagined them reading the first book twenty years ago. A few of the covers, especially the last one depicting flaming alien ships falling from the skies, are very evocative and memorable. I had some quibbles with the fact that Captain O'Witt's skin color kept changing hues from white to dark, and it was hard to tell the soldiers apart in a few of the fight scenes inside the enemy ship. Also, I felt the art was too cartoonish; I preferred Pasqual Ferry's more three-dimensional and textured artwork in the original Ender's Game adaptation.
The story itself was fast-paced and exciting, especially the hand-to-hand combat scenes in China between human resistance fighters and the Formic aliens. The focus was clearly on the action and not on detailed plotting or character development. In general this has been true of all the comic adaptations in the series, except Speaker for the Dead. The result is much different than the novels, which are much more focused on characters and politics. If this were a standalone man vs. alien tale, I would probably appreciate it as a simple adventure tale.
How does it fit within the overall scope of the Ender saga? Well, not too well.
It seems Card and Johnston decided to ignore the events of the First Invasion, as originally told in EG. I could understand a few continuity errors, but this will probably require a rewrite of several passages in a future edition of EG.
1. In EG, we learned the first battle of the First Invasion occurred on Eros. The Formics had made Eros their forward base of operations, and they blacked it out so we (humans) couldn't see what they were doing. Earth sent a ship to investigate and the Formics killed all the crew. This was how we learned of the Formics and how the first war started.
In EG, Mazer explains that people on Earth watched via delayed video feed as buggers boarded the ship sent to Eros and methodically killed the crew. He tells Ender that the buggers probably thought they were killing the ship's communications by doing this. In fact, of course, they never disrupted communications at all because it never occurred to them humans might not communicate telepathically. Mazer points this out as a major weakness of the Formics, one of the few advantages Ender can exploit.
Ender's entire understanding of the biology of the Formics, the role of the queen and drones, and the way in which faster-than-light communication occurred all stemmed from what Mazer told him about the Battle of Eros and the final battle of the Second Invasion, in which Mazer destroyed a queen. Ender's decision at the end of EG was directly influenced by these events.
But in Formic Wars, this Battle of Eros did not happen at all.
2. In EG, we learned Formics made no effort to block radio or video communication. Since they communicated to each other via telepathy, it never occurred to them that humans would communicate via technology.
In Formic Wars, the alien ship blocked all radio and satellite communication, at least while in flight. This may have been an inadvertent byproduct of the ship's technology itself rather than an intentional strategic decision by the Buggers. Still, it's a pretty big plot hole.
3. In EG, we learned the First Invasion occurred 30 years before the Second Invastion. Mazer Rackham served in the 2nd Invasiion, and is described as "little known, twice court-martialed" before his victory in the 2nd war. Then, he was stationed on Eros for 20 years. Then, he took a relativistic space flight that aged him 8 years, while 50 years passed on Earth. He appears to be around 60 years old at the time of EG.
If you work the timeline backwards, it is not possible for Rackham to have served in the First Invasion. He would have been 2 years old. Plus, it's hard to believe Rackham is an unknown at the time of the Second Invasion, given his huge role in repelling the First Invasion in Formic Wars.
The artwork by Giancarlo Caracuzzo is adequate. The panels support the text and were usually easy to follow. His depiction of the Buggers was spot-on as to how I imagined them reading the first book twenty years ago. A few of the covers, especially the last one depicting flaming alien ships falling from the skies, are very evocative and memorable. I had some quibbles with the fact that Captain O'Witt's skin color kept changing hues from white to dark, and it was hard to tell the soldiers apart in a few of the fight scenes inside the enemy ship. Also, I felt the art was too cartoonish; I preferred Pasqual Ferry's more three-dimensional and textured artwork in the original Ender's Game adaptation.
The story itself was fast-paced and exciting, especially the hand-to-hand combat scenes in China between human resistance fighters and the Formic aliens. The focus was clearly on the action and not on detailed plotting or character development. In general this has been true of all the comic adaptations in the series, except Speaker for the Dead. The result is much different than the novels, which are much more focused on characters and politics. If this were a standalone man vs. alien tale, I would probably appreciate it as a simple adventure tale.
How does it fit within the overall scope of the Ender saga? Well, not too well.
It seems Card and Johnston decided to ignore the events of the First Invasion, as originally told in EG. I could understand a few continuity errors, but this will probably require a rewrite of several passages in a future edition of EG.
1. In EG, we learned the first battle of the First Invasion occurred on Eros. The Formics had made Eros their forward base of operations, and they blacked it out so we (humans) couldn't see what they were doing. Earth sent a ship to investigate and the Formics killed all the crew. This was how we learned of the Formics and how the first war started.
In EG, Mazer explains that people on Earth watched via delayed video feed as buggers boarded the ship sent to Eros and methodically killed the crew. He tells Ender that the buggers probably thought they were killing the ship's communications by doing this. In fact, of course, they never disrupted communications at all because it never occurred to them humans might not communicate telepathically. Mazer points this out as a major weakness of the Formics, one of the few advantages Ender can exploit.
Ender's entire understanding of the biology of the Formics, the role of the queen and drones, and the way in which faster-than-light communication occurred all stemmed from what Mazer told him about the Battle of Eros and the final battle of the Second Invasion, in which Mazer destroyed a queen. Ender's decision at the end of EG was directly influenced by these events.
But in Formic Wars, this Battle of Eros did not happen at all.
2. In EG, we learned Formics made no effort to block radio or video communication. Since they communicated to each other via telepathy, it never occurred to them that humans would communicate via technology.
In Formic Wars, the alien ship blocked all radio and satellite communication, at least while in flight. This may have been an inadvertent byproduct of the ship's technology itself rather than an intentional strategic decision by the Buggers. Still, it's a pretty big plot hole.
3. In EG, we learned the First Invasion occurred 30 years before the Second Invastion. Mazer Rackham served in the 2nd Invasiion, and is described as "little known, twice court-martialed" before his victory in the 2nd war. Then, he was stationed on Eros for 20 years. Then, he took a relativistic space flight that aged him 8 years, while 50 years passed on Earth. He appears to be around 60 years old at the time of EG.
If you work the timeline backwards, it is not possible for Rackham to have served in the First Invasion. He would have been 2 years old. Plus, it's hard to believe Rackham is an unknown at the time of the Second Invasion, given his huge role in repelling the First Invasion in Formic Wars.
June 17, 2012
While I generally love OSC's works, this didn't really feel like something that he created. He served as Executive Producer and helped with the plot, but the text and illustrations were created by others on his team.
Also, OSC's normal characters are very appealing because they're clever and complex. These characters seemed very one-dimensional.
Finally, maybe I'm just not a fan of the comic genre, but I felt that these stories were just too easy to skim over, rather than getting into the meat that good prose can bring. (Or maybe I just didn't like how the artists portrayed the Formics, which was different than how I'd imagined them while reading the original Ender's Game books.)
Also, OSC's normal characters are very appealing because they're clever and complex. These characters seemed very one-dimensional.
Finally, maybe I'm just not a fan of the comic genre, but I felt that these stories were just too easy to skim over, rather than getting into the meat that good prose can bring. (Or maybe I just didn't like how the artists portrayed the Formics, which was different than how I'd imagined them while reading the original Ender's Game books.)
March 3, 2016
This finishes the retelling of the Formic Wars trilogy. The story is a bit more focused here than the previous volume, which makes it a little more cohesive a graphic novel. It's still a straight retelling of the novel, with nothing added or expanded, just illustrated with an art style that's okay but not memorable. The story still balances ingenuity with physical action, and a variety of heroic characters. It's good, but not great. I can't say I'd recommend it for people who read the novels, but if you're interested in the story but don't want the full version, this will give you everything you need.
July 1, 2013
2.5 (good conclusion)
Didn't love this. Enjoyed the expansion of the universe, and Mazer story, but I wasn't too thrilled with the art, colors, and story. I did enjoy the ending, which I didn't see coming.
A personal qualm, but I also don't love the Marvel version of the Formics. I can get over that when the story is great, but not when it's all about them. And the story is only so-so.
I was happy to have borrowed this one. I won't be buying it anytime soon. (I go back and forth on if this deserves a 2 or 3.)
Didn't love this. Enjoyed the expansion of the universe, and Mazer story, but I wasn't too thrilled with the art, colors, and story. I did enjoy the ending, which I didn't see coming.
A personal qualm, but I also don't love the Marvel version of the Formics. I can get over that when the story is great, but not when it's all about them. And the story is only so-so.
I was happy to have borrowed this one. I won't be buying it anytime soon. (I go back and forth on if this deserves a 2 or 3.)
October 10, 2012
Enjoyed this conclusion to the Formic Wars story just a little better than the opening. This volume opens with Earth forces knowing a bit more about what they're up against and beginning to come up with strategies to combat the Formics. It takes a combined effort on multiple fronts with many heroes to finally 'win' the battle. Really only interesting to Ender's Game completists. And some of them may be upset by some revisionist 'history'. Still fun.
April 23, 2013
I'm a fan of comics and of the Ender's Game books series, but I truly feel these never should have been translated into comics. The characters here are great, but what I like about the Ender books is the political (much of which is dulled down here) and the way he can create mental imagery without much description.
Perhaps if the art were better, this would have been more enjoyable. I would have liked to see it in book rather than comicbook format.
Perhaps if the art were better, this would have been more enjoyable. I would have liked to see it in book rather than comicbook format.
June 26, 2017
A not especially good bit about the initial Bugger attack on Earth. Some interesting bits concerning the inside of the Bugger ships - but really this is covered better elsewhere. Art is not bad but writing really didn't contain much. Basically its just a ghost of a plot. And a book form is coming out - I read the first one and it is better than this though not a lot better.
May 9, 2012
Still very interesting...can't wait for the book!
February 8, 2013
This book follows Formic Wars Burning Earth. Both are well done.
May 10, 2013
Not a fan of graphic novels, but at least it tells the story of how the humans defeated the formics in the first formic war.
January 6, 2014
Plot was fairly decent. Execution was just ok. Characters weren't very distinct - couldn't always tell who was talking. Some unrealistic/silly ideas.
November 3, 2014
This comic is a rough draft of a very good book.
August 2, 2016
Good, but not as good as the novel. Definitely see the foundations of the ideas that make the novel great, so a tip of the hat there.
April 24, 2013
Interesting backstory. Doesn't hold much on its own.
November 11, 2013
Excellent graphic novel with lots of action and great storyline!
Read
February 27, 2017Liked it a lot though the Formic ships on the outside seemed overly simplistic. The characters seemed to come alive more in this book than the first.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews