The Swarm (Card and Johnston novel)

Last updated
The Swarm
The Swarm (Card and Johnston novel) cover.jpg
Author Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston
Cover artist John Harris
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Ender's Game series
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Tor Books
Publication date
August 2, 2016
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages462 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-7653-7562-9
OCLC 953833134
Preceded by Earth Awakens  
Followed by The Hive  

The Swarm is a 2016 science fiction novel by American writers Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston, and the first book of the Second Formic Wars trilogy of novels in the Ender's Game series. It was released on August 2, 2016. [1]

Contents

Plot

The first invasion of Earth was beaten back by a coalition of corporate and international military forces, and the Chinese army, but China has been devastated by the Formics' initial efforts to eradicate Earth life forms and prepare the ground for their own settlement. The Scouring of China struck fear into the other nations of the planet; that fear blossomed into drastic action when scientists determined that the single ship that wreaked such damage was merely a scout ship. Earth's government has been reorganized for defense; it now comprises a Hegemon, a planetary official responsible for keeping all the formerly warring nations in line, and a Polemarch, responsible for organizing all the military forces of the planet into the new International Fleet. But ambition and politics, greed and self-interest remain, as important members of the military continue to place their career prospects ahead of Earth's defense. It is up to Bingwen, Mazer Rackam, Victor Delgado and Lem Jukes to create a weapon that can effectively defend humanity.

Series

The book is the first of the Second Formic War trilogy by Card and Johnston. The projected titles for the second and third books are The Hive and The Queens respectively. [2] The Hive was released on June 11, 2019. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Speaker for the Dead</i> 1986 novel by Orson Scott Card

Speaker for the Dead is a 1986 science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, an indirect sequel to the 1985 novel Ender's Game. The book takes place around the year 5270, some 3,000 years after the events in Ender's Game. However because of relativistic space travel at near-light speed Ender himself is only about 35 years old.

<i>Enders Game</i> 1985 novel by Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they dub "the buggers". In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, Earth's international military force recruits young children, including the novel's protagonist, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, to be trained as elite officers. The children learn military strategy and leadership by playing increasingly difficult war games, including some in zero gravity, where Ender's tactical genius is revealed.

<i>Shadow of the Hegemon</i> 2000 novel by Orson Scott Card

Shadow of the Hegemon (2000) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, the second novel in the Ender's Shadow series. It is also the sixth novel in the Ender's Game series. It is told mostly from the point of view of Bean, a largely peripheral character in the original novel Ender's Game but the central protagonist of the parallel narrative Ender's Shadow.Shadow of the Hegemon was nominated for a Locus Award in 2002.

The Ender's Game series is a series of science fiction books written by American author Orson Scott Card. The series started with the novelette Ender's Game, which was later expanded into the novel of the same title. It currently consists of sixteen novels, thirteen short stories, 47 comic issues, an audioplay, and a film. The first two novels in the series, Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, each won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

<i>Earthfall</i> (novel) 1995 novel by Orson Scott Card

Earthfall (1995) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. It is the fourth book of the Homecoming Saga, a fictionalization of the first few hundred years recorded in the Book of Mormon.

A swarm is a group of animals that aggregate and travel in the same direction.

In both science fiction and utopia/dystopian fiction, authors have made frequent use of the age-old idea of a global state and, accordingly, of world government.

<i>Shadows in Flight</i> 2012 novel by Orson Scott Card

Shadows in Flight is a science fiction novella by American writer Orson Scott Card. When released in 2012, it became the twelfth book published in the Ender's Game series. The story follows on from where the original four "Shadow series" books left off. It is about Bean and his children discovering an ancient Formic "ark" during their journey in space. It was released in January of 2012. It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for science fiction.

<i>Lovelock</i> (novel) 1994 novel by Orson Scott Card and Kathryn H. Kidd

Lovelock is a 1994 science fiction novel by American writers Orson Scott Card and Kathryn H. Kidd. The novel's eponymous narrator, a sentient monkey, takes his name from James Lovelock, the scientist-inventor who formulated the Gaia hypothesis, which figures heavily in the book.

<i>Ender in Exile</i> 2008 novel by Orson Scott Card

Ender in Exile is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, part of the Ender's Game series, published on November 11, 2008. It takes place between the two award-winning novels Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead. It could also be considered a parallel novel to the first three sequels in the Shadow Saga, since the entirety of this trilogy takes place in the span of Ender in Exile. The novel concludes a dangling story line of the Shadow Saga, while it makes several references to events that take place during the Shadow Saga. From yet another perspective, the novel expands the last chapter of the original novel Ender's Game. On the one hand, it fills the gap right before the last chapter, and on the other hand, it fills the gap between the last chapter and the original (first) sequel. Ender in Exile begins one year after Ender has won the bugger war, and begins with the short story "Ender's Homecoming" from Card's webzine Intergalactic Medicine Show. Other short stories that were published elsewhere are included as chapters of the novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orson Scott Card</span> American science fiction novelist (born 1951)

Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is 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).

The Orson Scott Card bibliography contains a list of works published by Orson Scott Card.

The Swarm may refer to:

<i>Empire</i> (Card novel) 2006 novel by Orson Scott Card

Empire is a 2006 dystopian novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. It tells the story of a possible Second American Civil War, this time between the Right wing and Left wing in the near future. It is the first of the two books in the Empire duet, followed by Hidden Empire with the video game Shadow Complex bridging the two.

Ender's Game is a series of comic book adaptations of a series of science fiction novels of the same name written by Orson Scott Card and published by Marvel Comics that began in October 2008. However, some have new content not included in the novels. The series, like the novels they are based on, are set in a future where mankind is facing annihilation by an aggressive alien society, an insect-like race known colloquially as "Buggers" but more formally as "Formics". The central character, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, is one of the child soldiers trained at Battle School to be the future leaders of the protection of Earth. The year is never specified, although the ages of the Wiggin children are bound to change throughout space, taking in the relativity of space and time.

<i>Earth Unaware</i> 2012 novel by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston

Earth Unaware is a science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston in the Ender's Game series. Published in 2012, it is the first book of a prequel trilogy to Ender's Game. The novel is set before Ender Wiggin is born and tells the story of the first Formic War. Earth Afire, the second book in the trilogy, was released on June 4, 2013, and the conclusion, Earth Awakens, was released June 10, 2014.

<i>Earth Afire</i> 2013 novel by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston

Earth Afire is a science fiction novel by American writers Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston, and the second book of the Formic Wars novels in the Ender's Game series. It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for science fiction.

<i>Earth Awakens</i> 2014 novel by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston

Earth Awakens is a science fiction novel by American writers Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston, and the third book of the First Formic Wars trilogy of novels in the Ender's Game series. It was released on June 10, 2014. It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for science fiction.

Aaron Johnston is an American author, comics writer, and film producer.

<i>The Hive</i> (Card and Johnston novel) 2019 novel by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston

The Hive is a 2019 science fiction novel by American writers Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston, and the second book of the Second Formic Wars trilogy of novels in the Ender's Game series. It was released on June 11, 2019. It is the sequel to The Swarm and will be followed by a novel titled The Queens.

References

  1. "The Swarm (The Second Formic War, #1)". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  2. @orsonscottcard (April 3, 2014). "The Second Formic Wars trilogy titles released" (Tweet). Retrieved 2018-07-21 via Twitter.
  3. "The Hive (The Second Formic War #2)". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2019-09-04.