Aliens have landed on Earth! At least they have in Earth Afire, the second book in the First Formic War series (a prequel series for Ender’s Game). These aliens are your worst nightmare, which makes them more fun to read about. They are large bug-looking things, and they have a system to effectively destroy planet life. So go ahead, pick up this exciting science fiction book and read about the intense, frightening stuff that could never happen. (We hope!)

This series is exciting for both adults and teens, so don’t be put off by the recommended age group of 16+.

In case you missed it, we have a review on Compass Book Ratings for the first book, Earth Unaware, so be sure to check that out first. And the third book of the First Formic War trilogy is also now available (Earth Awakens), so the trilogy is complete–right in time. Because Orson Scott Card is putting out the first book of the Second Formic War on August 2nd, 2016. So get reading! Exciting things are coming!

(If that last paragraph confused you, look at the “Ender’s Game: Series” article on Wikipedia. The Enderverse chronology is explained there.)

Reviewer Note on Audiobook;  The audiobook for this book was decent and has multiple readers, each narrating a different character’s point of view. I liked one of the narrators, and the others were okay. 

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  1 religious exclamation; 3 mild obscenities; 2 derogatory names; 2 anatomical terms.

Violence/Gore:  A child pushes another child; a child attempts to choke another child to death; two children fight viciously, almost to death; a speech about a genocide that happened; a character recalls the violent deaths of many people; a lengthy video recording of a genocide, sad but not gory; a character makes a gruesome comment; many spacecrafts full of people are shot down; mob mentality injures an old man; many people are implied to be killed; a boy breaks his arm; an adult threatens other adults; many aircraft are shot down; an aircraft is shot down, three killed and one brutally injured, and the survivor shoots down an aircraft; a child sees death and destruction all around him; a violent and lengthy war scene, not very graphic; people discuss a war and the brutality enacted; a few creatures and humans fight to the death, slightly graphic; a pilot is shot down and killed; a child talks about the people he saw die; a bunch of aliens and humans fight to the death, not graphic; humans destroy a spaceship full of aliens with a nuclear device.

Sex/Nudity:  Sex is mentioned; sexual innuendo.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death of children, death of family members, death of friends, war, genocide, separation of family members.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None