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The Formic Wars

by Orson Scott Card

The Formic Wars series by Orson Scott Card has 5 known books (5 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Earth Unaware (2012). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Hive.

Books
5 known books (5 novels)
Published
5
First published
2012
Status
hiatus
Shelved under
Science Fiction
Last checked

Start here: Earth Unaware (2012) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of Earth Unaware

Earth Unaware (2012)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. Earth Unaware

    Novel

    Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston opened the Formic Wars trilogy-turned-longer-series on 17 July 2012 with Earth Unaware , a 392-page co-authored debut.

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  2. Earth Afire

    Novel

    Earth Afire (January 2013, 528 pages) -- over 130 pages longer than the series opener -- is the second book in the First Formic War trilogy, continuing to track mining-ship crews, military officers, and the young Mazer Rackham as Earth scrambles to survive a catastrophic first contact with the insectoid Formics.

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  3. Earth Awakens

    Novel

    Earth Awakens (June 2014, 395 pages) closes the First Formic War trilogy, close in length to the first book, bringing Earth's desperate, losing fight against the Formics -- the aliens Ender's Game calls the Buggers -- to its resolution.

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  4. The Swarm

    Novel

    The Swarm (August 2016, 528 pages) opens the Second Formic War duology, jumping forward to the buildup of the massive counter-invasion fleet and International Fleet command structure that Ender's Game takes for granted.

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  5. The Hive

    Novel

    The Hive (June 2019, 400 pages), the fifth Card-Johnston novel, closes the Second Formic War duology by following the political maneuvering and military desperation that produces the Battle School program Ender is eventually recruited into.

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About The Formic Wars

Co-written with Aaron Johnston, the Formic Wars novels are prequels to Ender's Game dramatizing the two alien invasions -- referred to throughout the original saga only in hindsight -- that shaped the world Ender is born into. The First Formic War trilogy (Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, Earth Awakens) follows the initial, catastrophic contact between humanity and the insectoid Formics (the 'Buggers' of Ender's Game), tracking mining-ship crews, military officers, and the young Mazer Rackham -- later Ender's own mentor -- as Earth scrambles to survive a war it doesn't understand and is comprehensively losing.

The Second Formic War duology (The Swarm, The Hive) jumps forward to the buildup of the massive counter-invasion fleet and International Fleet command structure that Ender's Game takes for granted, following the political maneuvering and military desperation that produces the Battle School program Ender is eventually recruited into. Read together, the five novels function as an origin story for everything Ender's Game treats as pre-existing background.

Frequently asked questions

How many Formic Wars books are there?

Five: the First Formic War trilogy (Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, Earth Awakens) and the Second Formic War duology (The Swarm, The Hive), all co-written by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston.

What order should I read the Formic Wars books in?

Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, Earth Awakens, then The Swarm and The Hive -- publication order matches internal chronology across both sub-trilogies.

Do I need to read the Formic Wars before Ender's Game?

No -- they're prequels written well after Ender's Game (2012 onward vs. 1985) and work either as background before it or as added context afterward.

Are the Formic Wars books written entirely by Orson Scott Card?

No -- all five are co-written with Aaron Johnston, who is credited as full co-author throughout the sequence.

How do the Formic Wars connect to Ender's Game?

They dramatize the two alien invasions that Ender's Game only references in passing, including the war that made Mazer Rackham a hero and established the Battle School and International Fleet that shape Ender's own story.

Reading order last verified .