The Hive

The Second Formic War #2

by Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston

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.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space Opera, Aliens

Audiobook

First published June 11, 2019

About the author

Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

2nd book in a row where Mazer just sits, sidelined by some fatigued obstacle being rehashed again.

Same format as first trilogy and this cookie cutter mentality is getting frustrating.

Very disappointed to read over 300 pages of politicking with minimal action. Maybe my vision for this book was wrong but we already learned people are vindictive and look out only for themselves in the 1st trilogy and 1st book in this trilogy.

Honestly, what is happening to this series???

Final book better be amazing.....

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a little disappointing but pretty good overall; perhaps it wasn't what I expected so I was a bit let down. I haven't read all of the Ender-verse books and didn't read the ones that I have in the proper order, which was perhaps a prerequisite. This one drops you into a series of situations with some interesting characters that were presumably set up and explained in The Swarm. The characters talk to each for a very long time and then the book ends without any kind of resolution (and very little action), which will presumably be addressed in The Queens, which has yet to be published. So, rather than a traditional trilogy, I think this is one very long novel that's chopped into three volumes. It was well-written and rather engaging, but I was left wanting more story. The moral is one should never read the middle book without having the other two on hand.

[Greg · Rating 1 out of 5]

The First Formic War series was highly enjoyable. Progressing to the the Swarm felt like a slight letdown yet potentially a setup for stronger second and third books of the Second Formic War. Here we are at the Hive and it is a an enormous letdown. Most chapters consist of filler with circular and sometimes tedious discussions to scant story payout. Where excitement starts to build, the perspective switches to characters elsewhere. When the story returns to the excitement, we find the excitement is over as the plot has moved forward in our absence. In other installments, young characters have some form redeemable story arc while here, the younger characters are simply annoying children. Orson Scott Card phoned this one in.

[John Wargo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Card’s books lately consist primarily of characters arguing amongst themselves. I found myself skipping so many pages of long discussions and arguments that I finally just gave up on the book and moved on. I hope I remember this review when the next book in the series comes out so I won’t order it.

[Eric Allen]

I've realized that I don't care enough to read this book. So I'm removing it from my to read list, along with the eventual third book of the trilogy. The first book lost me, and I don't really have any desire to come back.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Insert standard commentary here about how I'll read Orson Scott Card's books (from the library) because I'm invested in the Enderverse, but disapprove of his opinions and actions against gay people, which sometimes come out subtly (or less subtly) in the course of his stories.*

Read in less than 3 weeks! Due back to the library today for the next person with a hold, so quick review right after I finished it.

So long since the last book came out! When I stumbled upon Earth Unaware in 2012, I knew it was the first book in a new trilogy, but genuinely didn't think I'd still be waiting for the conclusion of the various character arcs SEVEN YEARS LATER. I've given everything in this new series (Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, Earth Awakens, The Swarm) 4 stars so far, but docking this one to 3 stars. It really felt like such a middle novel, and was stuffed with far too much political and corporate strategizing besides – not what I’m looking for in a Sci-Fi story! And why did this one come out almost 3 years after The Swarm, when I thought they were aiming to release them yearly? Is this the kind of gap we have to look forward to now before The Queens? :(

Also disappointing, Card and Johnston seem dead set on prioritizing their male characters over female characters at all turns. What happened to Kim? What happened to Edimar? Genuinely! I’m probably forgetting other female characters from the recent books, because they just disappear when the authors don’t need them anymore. What happened to Rena being anything other than a mother-in-law and grandmother? Why introduce a new female leader like Sharon Solomon, but only have people talk about her and give her zero seconds of screen time? Why get rid of Wila? Why introduce someone like Nyalok, have her speak like 10 words, let a male character spill her tragic backstory, and disappear her too? Why point out how little we know about Benyawe, and then move right on? I know these books are overstuffed with characters to begin with, but it really seems like the authors care to continue the story arcs for the male characters, and just chuck the female characters in the bin when they’ve served their purpose of motivating the men. Boo.

All that said, I enjoyed parts of this book! Basically whenever people were in space and doing stuff, which is, you know, why I pick up Enderverse books in the first place. Probably less than half the book. I could really do without the political and military strategic maneuvering and backroom conversations. I particularly enjoyed: the mission to the Kandahar (great tension), Victor going crazy and talking to his zipship, the kiddie heist at GravCamp, weirdly enough most of the pirate stuff because at least they were in space and taking action even if it was violent, and the Tik fighter sequence (other than Bingwen’s personal crisis). Did not need: Mazer in confinement for half the book, any of the nonsense on the moon, or any Hegemony wheelings and dealings.

And you can see so much of what they’re setting up for the next book – Eros, various other showdowns, etc. Plus we know more of what happens from the history mentioned in the original Ender books. And I think, so why not just write it already?! It’s hard to enjoy a book when so much is written as setup for the next book, which we may not see for another 3 years. Frustrating. Read it if you’re reading the series, but at this point I’d wait for The Queens to get published and then just read all 6 books in a run.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two bonus stars for the performances on the audio version. This book is strictly for Enderverse fans who feel they have to complete the series. This has the choppiest writing of any of them. Also, the dilemma set up in the previous volume of how Earth got from the total mess described there to the brilliant victories of the next Formic War is solved with a disappointing cliché McGuffin.

[Retired SOF · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read the Enderverse series since I first found it in the early 90s. Sad it has come to this, as the last few novels have gotten so bland and cookie cutter. This book should have been titled “All IF are incompetent and/or bad people.” Seriously, the whole “leadership are all hacks” got tedious, let alone having only non-professionals see a strategic picture. Perhaps the authors should read about Project Ultra in WW2 to understand why sometimes orders seem callous or wasteful or criminal to those without clearance and need to know. Perhaps he should learn how MacArthur and Patton came from wealthy families with important fathers. From the fiasco of the Antietam to the 2F debacle...uh, C2 and IFF are as common in any military as questionable chow. Rather than wail about how everyone but some kids, a Maori and some miners-turned-recruit are complete fools, why not spend those words with IF discussing hive queen v self-organizing behavior v mission order engineered drones as competing enemy makeup and how to combat each, or something similar. If you have started this trilogy, save yourself the disappointment. I’ll likely only read the next out of senses of morbid curiosity and to wrap it all up. What a disappointing missed opportunity.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually, not much is happening in this book, it is more about strategizing and assessing, but I really enjoyed it! It seems I have a thing for space warfare tactics!

[Thomas Everest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Except for the original series, the rest should just be single books. All the interesting ideas and development in the later books are super diluted. Well now I've read everything in the series that's on Libby.

[John Strange · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finished the book last week and I can barely remember it. The Second Formic War is mostly a backdrop to a meandering plot that appears to be in motion because of its numerous scene changes. I had to force myself not to abandon the book as so little of interest took place. This is a book written in unmemorable parts which don't add up to much.

I can't believe The Hive makes the previous book (The Swarm) seem action packed. The Swarm was a dreary, tedious "the court martial of Mazer Rackham", and associated boring stories. Every now and then, a Formic would appear (" Remember us? ") but otherwise, like The Hive, the book was on autodrive.

I don't recommend this trilogy at all.

[Jānis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Salīdzinājumā ar citām sērijas grāmatām, šī nav tā labākā, bet, ja salīdzina ar citām zinātniskās fantastikas grāmatām, bet vienalga bija ļoti forša.
Stāsts joprojām ir par Meizeru Rakhamu, Bingwenu, Viktoru Idalgo, Imalu un Lemu Jūku, kuri cenšas darīt visu, lai nezaudētu karā pret stropa karalieni neskatoties uz to, ka lielākā daļa IF (international fleet) komandieru ir stulbi, neizlēmīgi un bailīgi karjeristi, kuri savā vietā nokļuvuši korupcijas ceļā.
Tajā laikā "formiki" parāda ne tikai savas tehnoloģiskās iespējas, bet arī taktisko domāšanu...
Un vispār - kāpēc viņi ņem gūstā cilvēkus?
Tagad vien atliek sagaidīt sērijas beigas, kas, cik noprotu, iznāks kaut kad oktobrī.

[Lesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the prequel. (On audio book) BUT it does not really get us to the start of Enders game. Wished it had. There is a gap that needs filling.

[Jeff Go · Rating 4 out of 5]

Other reviewers have bemoaned this book. Whether it's a bias against the author or they really didn't like the book, you'll have to be the judge.

For me, however, this book has a decent story. It does suffer the fate of many middle books in that it doesn't really resolve anything. It spends most of the time getting all the "pieces" into position for the final book. Yes, we learn more and more that political and military positions are fraught with power hungry people who are trying to save a "job" rather than act in the best interest of humanity - it really is overbearing on this point. The sad thing is, it is a reflection of the world we live in. So, I guess we do need to have this bashed over our heads.

However, there are some good action sequences in it. Victor seems to be super human. It is difficult to rectify realism and the need to not kill off a main character. (I don't consider this a spoiler... But who knows what the 3rd book will bring.) I do like the interactions between Lee, Bingwin and Rat army, and Mazer.


I do like the ideas that are presented for the Hive Queen and how she is creating "cloaking" shields and forming ships that mimic the human ships. Nothing like the fog of war.


I am interested in the 3rd book and how this 2nd Formic War will conclude. I know how the movie showed Mazer "winning" the battle in Earth's atmosphere and that it claims he did so by seeing the pattern that others did not. The original book, Ender's Game, I think touched on that same point. I wonder how that will be rectified, if at all, in the final book. Or will that bit just be ret-conned and explained away?

[Greg Nuttle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Ender prequels are becoming tiresome. No, not becoming... they have always been tiresome. This book is just a whole lot more fluff and unnecessary detail building to a climax about which we have always known the details. Aaron Johnston's juvenile and amateur writing is painfully exposed by the lack of an interesting story from Card. Having finished five of the six prequels, I'm sure that I will knock out the sixth book when it is released, but it's just a slog at this point.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most similar to Ender's Game.

[Rachel Shallenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good continuation. On my last review for the first book, I noted how I wasn't sure if there was a First Formic War series that I was supposed to have read first... it's true, there is. So, that explains my confusion and excuses the lack of character development! lol. I thought this was slightly better than the last, but one thing I didn't like was the CONSTANT speculating. The characters are always trying to present possible scenarios without any real reason to, and without having any ability to confirm whether their guesses are accurate. It's just a little obnoxious, and feels like the author is bragging here, though he is really good at coming up with them, I'll admit. Ingenious. Overall, that was my only real annoyance. I thought the story was interesting, flowed well between the different subplots, and was interesting enough to keep reading (though not one of those that you just "can't put down"). Overall, B+.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, this is no Ender's Game. How could it be? We know all the important stuff already. But it fills a big hole in the universe Card has created. And the writing is fine, and the characters are good. Still, it is cruel that I had to wait 3 years for this second book, and will likely have to wait many more years for book 3. And Card has Aaron Johston doing the heavy lifting so he should be able to crank these out. But if I'm still alive when book 3 comes out, I will read it. Gotta see how those dirty Formics get beat down this time.

[Keith Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great entry into the universe of Rackham and Ender. I didn’t even realize that this book was written recently so now I will impatiently be awaiting its sequel to wrap up the story of the Second Formic war and Mazer’s arc. This book follows the same characters that were introduced in Earth Unaware and has introduced a few new ones as well. There are a lot of interesting concepts thrown around through character beliefs and dialogue, so I’m definitely enjoying these books still.

[Chris Bumgardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite loving this literary world, I have to admit that this trilogy really tapers off in quality. It's a prequel trilogy, written *after* the original series, which can be done well. In this case, the tropes in the book that are supposed to connect with the original series just feel like overused author's favorites, as opposed to foreshadowing.

[Rolena Weber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite of Card's novels, his prequels often get a little long in the description and endless dialogue about the science and politics behind the war. The characters in this particular novel often fell flat because they were super predictable. However, I'm all set on the background of how we get to Enders Game which I'm stoked about reading again.

[Chris Haak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast read! I enjoyed the book, but it was clearly just setting the table for the final book, yet to be published.

[ROHIT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. The hive queen repeatedly proves how easily she can use deceive and how planned her actions are.

Ukko and Lem are back to being not cool with each other. And Lem, this time, takes that as a mature adult.

There's wreckage everywhere. Formics winning everything.

Waiting for the next iteration to be published.

[Kevin Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting characters!!

[Bob Pitman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good installment in the series. I am looking forward to "the Queens" and discovering the answers to the ongoing arc threads.
I'm still struggling a bit with the portrayal of IF command as riddled with corruption and self-serving careerist officers, I'm not particularly looking forward to the reappearance of Vaganov who I thought was a somewhat unbelievable over-the-top characterisation. Mazer seems to be very sidelined with his only relief being a trip to a wreck, Li characterised almost as a Bingwen hating psychopath has had a miraculous (and pressing at the envelope of fictional believability) start on the road to being rehabilitated. I am finding the characters a bit 2 dimensional in Formic War 2. Either very very dedicated, very very self-absorbed, very very dumb or very very Machiavellan. And a lot of them are not greatly developed beyond sketches of villians.

Bits I am looking forward to in Queens:
Tidying up the IF... where is that going
Captured Humans... I think I could make a guess at the "why" and it would lead directly into the Fantasy Game in Enders Game.
The war... we all know the end of this war but the journey there is the fun part.
The Queens, we have to get a better meeting and understanding of these creatures dont we... what brings them to the acceptance of victimhood of Enders Game, that has to be in Queens doesnt it?
Eros - at the moment just a Juke :-) but if its the key element that is hinted at in Enders Game and in the future excerpts from Demosthenes writings... its got to take more than a Juke, a ship and some Mercs doesnt it (unless Deadpool is to make a surprise appearance with Lems dirty dozen), its looking like a major objective that wont just fall like a ripened plum.
I am hoping that the end isnt a gentle thing where the Formics feel our pain for our home and just curl up and let us win in a gesture that says they were wrong... or that it isnt a "kill lthe queen" and it all stops as we have read that there are some "Princesses" in system who could take over so it cant be that simple. We've also seen that they can be an cunning and aggressive enemy so a positive Victory has to be written into "The Queens" doesnt it?

So I am enjoying the series, I like space operas, its no "Gap" series or even the Ender original series but its OK. The writing, explanation of motivations and characterisation, especially of the formics, better buck its ideas up quite a lot for the final instalment! Or maybe theres too much to tie up in a nice bow that leaves Enders Game as the natural follow on... or maybe theres a book 4 because theres just too much to cover and result in a satisfactory end.
Anyway I've started so I'll finish...

[Isaac LeCompte · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little slower than the previous few.

[Fr. Peter Calabrese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly I picked it up off a bargain rack not realizing it was number 5 in a series. So my reading may have been a little impeded. It moved slow at first but picked up. Liked the intrigue Smau consider the next in the series if and when it comes out. I enjoyed the moral dilemmas as well as the action.

[Karen A. Wyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caution: cliffhanger. This won't surprise anyone who read Book 1 first -- which I strongly recommend.

This book reads very much like good, well-researched historical fiction, or the particularly readable sort of historical account. It's striking how much it resembles those historical works that go behind the scenes of some crucial period, often a war, and show how close people came to making a catastrophic mess of things through shortsightedness, corruption, stubbornness, jockeying for status, and just plain idiocy. It's just doing it for a fictional future conflict, one that could have been the end of the human race.

There are multiple POVs, and the authors switch frequently between them. This is occasionally frustrating, but in general, they pull it off well, and all the POV characters are interesting folks. The multiple POVs also help give the reader a broader idea of what's going on than most of these characters (and others in this fictional future setting) can have.

[Lyle Blosser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suppose I should have expected the abrupt ending (obviously to be resolved in book 3) as I neared the end of the book, but still it left me a little disappointed. That was the only downside to an otherwise excellent book. And I'm glad the decision was made to continue things into the third book rather than leave things out in this book to try to get everything in. The world building is wonderful and the characters are worth either (a) rooting for, if they're the "good ones" or (b) booing and hissing if they're not. Lots of twists and turns as well. Nicely done!

[Matthew Woo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read it because it's an Ender book. I really hate to say it, but it fell very flat on me. The pacing was slow, the characters unremarkable, the writing stale, and the story nonexistent.

Let's start with the last part; I don't mean that characters didn't do anything, but the whole book was a build up for the next book! There was no rising action, no climax, no resolution! The only time the book picked up (2/3 through), the conflict wasn't a result of the previous parts of the book, but another building block to say "something needs to happen."

Pacing: I was halfway though the book realizing we're still in the introduction. The point of the book isn't made clear that far in, and I nearly gave up on the book before it picked up its place. I've read LotR where people complain it's slow, but that's beautiful to read whereas I felt I was reading an essay filled with fluff.

Characters: I don't remember what I thought in the first 4 books of these trilogies, but somehow all the characters sound the same. They all think the same and argue in the same manner. Discussions between the characters sound like they're talking to themselves. I understand that discussion is necessary since the series is focusing on the work of humanity as a whole vs. an individual (Ender), but arguments felt pointless. They all have the same dry humor.

Writing: stale is the best description. I felt like things constantly need to be explained (history, how space works, technology, etc.) which gets old.

I understand what the book is trying to get at in the scheme of the war, but it felt poorly executed. "Most like Ender's Game" is wrong. I got so tired of the book 1/3 of the way through, I went and reread Ender's Game and some of War of Gifts.