Review by Booklist Review
Earth survived the attack of the first Formic scoutship. But can the heroes of that first invasion save humanity from the full fleet that's on its way? The Swarm picks up a few years after the conclusion of the First Formic War series. Earth has begun preparing a desperate defense. The Hegemon, Polemarch, and Strategos are in place, and the newly minted International Fleet is working with corporate forces to build an armada and weapons as fast as possible. Will it be enough? And can humanity overcome the dangers posed by political machinations, careerism, international squabbles, and petty bureaucracy? The greatest threat may be ourselves. This is a solid outing, well-paced and exciting with a mounting sense of crisis, grand in scope yet human in perspective. Fans of the Ender Universe and the First Formic War series will be eager for this one readers will find the same central characters as well as some new faces. It will be particularly satisfying for longtime fans to finally see the creation of the Battle School.--Keogh, John Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Card and Johnston continue to flesh out the early years leading up to the events of Ender's Game with this first installment of the Second Formic War trilogy. Following 2014's Earth Awakens, humans have beaten back one invasion from the alien Formics and are preparing for the larger onslaught yet to come. A sprawling cast works on numerous fronts to develop the weapons, technology, and tactics to defend Earth, but they're often stymied by bureaucracy, corruption, and self-serving, ambitious leaders. The real mystery, however, is what exactly the Formics are attempting to accomplish in the asteroid belt, and whether humankind's best and brightest, including Mazer Rackham and Victor Delgado, can figure it out in time. The authors carefully construct their story on a solar system-wide scale, the numerous plot threads unspooling at a leisurely speed while still maintaining tension. Despite this being a military piece at heart, the action is often overshadowed by long explorations of scientific developments, discussions of morality and philosophy, and bureaucratic obstructions, such as Mazer's court-martial at the hands of a hostile superior officer. It's a solid continuation of the ongoing epic, moving all the pieces into place for the next entry. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
