Publishers Weekly
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Card and Johnston expand Card's near-future universe in this readable, if not notable, novel, which launches a prequel trilogy to the bestselling Ender's Game that will cover the same ground as the recent Formic War comics from Marvel. The residents of the mining spaceship El Cavador discover what appears to be an alien ship, and although young Victor advises alerting as many people as possible, he is overruled by the too cautious ship's council. Then a human corporate ship, under the guidance of Lem Jukes, a son attempting to crawl out from his father's shadow, attacks the El Cavador. Between the alien attacks and the intra-human warfare, there's plenty of action, but the story adds little to the space invasion subgenre, and even less to the Ender universe. Fans won't find anything to actively dislike, and they might appreciate the added development of characters who were one-dimensional in the comics, but there's little to love. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Those aboard the family-run mining ship El Cavador, stationed in the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto, depend on ore-rich asteroids for their livelihood. When a young girl operating the ship's powerful telescopes spots a distant unidentified object moving at an extremely high speed, she alerts family elders. However, the elders find more immediate concerns, including the theft of their current mining site by claim-jumping corporate miners, until a sudden attack by the "object" convinces them that they are witnessing the beginning of an alien invasion. VERDICT Card's gift for strong, memorable characters combined with screenwriter Johnston's (Invasive Procedures, with Card) flair for vivid scene-building results in a standout tale of sf adventure that gives "Ender" series fans fascinating backstory to the classic Ender's Game. It should also please readers of military sf. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

*Starred Review* In the 35 years since the original novella Ender's Game appeared, the universe of Ender Wiggins has continuously expanded in size without ceasing to display its creator's virtues, notably, literate prose and superlative characterization. It has even been adapted by Marvel Comics for both miniseries and single shots. Marvel then proceeded to broach the idea of doing some of the backstory of the Enderverse what the Buggers did that left earth willing to try turning six-year-old boys into Napoleon or Genghis Khan. This book provides at least part of the answer there are two Formic Wars. It begins aboard a classic space-mining ship, but far beyond the asteroids, and even beyond Pluto. The characters have a lot on their plate already: a deteriorating ship, miners from the asteroids claim jumping on a large and lethal scale, and a family feud (not being a TV show). The approach of an incredibly fast spaceship from interstellar space takes a lower priority until it slows enough to be boarded and turns out to contain alien, insectoid life-forms. They are warlike to the nth degree, and fast and bloody action follows on a grand and gripping scale. At the end, the surviving miners are high-tailing it for earth to bring warning of this new horror that the universe has spawned. Quite as grim as it is excellent.--Green, Roland Copyright 2010 Booklist