Book Review: The Swarm by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston

This review was first published by Booklist in July, 2016.

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.