In the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender Wiggin disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: The Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story of the Bugger War.
Now, long years later, a second alien race has been discovered, but again the aliens' ways are strange and frightening...again, humans die. And it is only the Speaker for the Dead, who is also Ender Wiggin the Xenocide, who has the courage to confront the mystery...and the truth.
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Earlier this year I read Ender's Game. I loved it. I read it in one sitting (okay I was on 8hr watch but still). Enthralling action, character inte... (show more)
Earlier this year I read Ender's Game. I loved it. I read it in one sitting (okay I was on 8hr watch but still). Enthralling action, character interactions and strategy made it a new favorite. I picked up Speaker For the Dead as reading for waiting for/riding the subway on my recent vacation to New York. How much did I love it? I'd stop random parks to sit and read a chapter. I'm on vacation in New York and I stop to put my nose in a book - like I was at home. A completely different tale than Ender's Game but just as fascinating. To talk plot would ruin it for all who have yet to read it, so I shall not go into that. In fact, I'll cut myself off with the following. I love the Ender character and I cannot wait to read Xenocide and Children of the Mind (along with the concurrent/prequel series/short stories, etc). And I also love how Card deals with space travel and time. So many options and possibilities with that. (show less)
Forced myself to read on after a recommendation for Ender's Game. Clever ideas, certainly an ability to write new concepts in sci-fi, no small acco... (show more)
Forced myself to read on after a recommendation for Ender's Game. Clever ideas, certainly an ability to write new concepts in sci-fi, no small accomplishment there, but the writing itself is simple and plain with no art. (show less)
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
1987 Hugo Award Winner for Best Novel and 1986 Nebula Award Winner for Best Novel
More than a year after finishing Orson Scott Card’s famous Ender’s Game, I finally got around to reading (well listening to) its award-winning sequel Speaker for the Dead. The later novel concerns the discovery by humans of a second intelligent alien race, called the Pequeninos on the recently settled planet Lusitania. The Brazilian Portuguese settlers of the planet a... (show more)
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
1987 Hugo Award Winner for Best Novel and 1986 Nebula Award Winner for Best Novel
More than a year after finishing Orson Scott Card’s famous Ender’s Game, I finally got around to reading (well listening to) its award-winning sequel Speaker for the Dead. The later novel concerns the discovery by humans of a second intelligent alien race, called the Pequeninos on the recently settled planet Lusitania. The Brazilian Portuguese settlers of the planet are thereafter confined to a single city and their growth permanently limited by congressional order. The Pequeninos are a small, technologically primitive species with pig like features (earning them their other nickname, Piggies). Congress decides that the best thing for the Pequeninos is that they get as little contamination from humans as possible, and the only people allowed contact with them are specially trained xenologers (anthropologists for aliens) who have to work their hardest to learn about the Pequeninos while not letting the Pequeninos learn anything about them. I can’t really say much more about the plot without spoiling some very important parts of the story.
Speaker for the Dead is a fascinating book that explores important questions of personhood, religion and psychology. General consensus says that Ender’s Game is a far superior book to Speaker for the Dead, but I’ve heard at least two people disagree with this assessment. The first is my friend John Schiefer, and the second is Card himself, who thinks Speaker is the far more important book. In general, the former group are considered rather heretical by the science fiction community at large, but I’m afraid that I have to throw in with them. Not at all to diminish the quality of Ender’s Game, but I simply felt more invested in the world and characters of Speaker. Ultimately, the world felt more creative and the themes addressed are ones that seem more important to me.
The book is not entirely without its flaws, however. I really only have one minor complaint. This is that Speaker is very clearly written to have sequels, which means that while it addresses the major question of the book, it also leaves some things open so you’ll read the sequel. While I know that this is one way to do things, I’ve never been a particular fan of it.
Anyway, Speaker for the Dead is a great book and I highly recommend it. Of course, to read Speaker for the Dead, you first have to read Ender’s Game, so go pick up a copy and read it, and then treat yourself to Speaker (show less)
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While this doesnt equal the master piece that is Ender's Game, it is by far one of the best sequels to a outstanding first book that i have ever had the pleasure of reading. The main question of the book to me is what determines if something is human and at what level to we define humanity much less senitient beings.
The author does a wonderful job creating a whole new alien race and culture that is foreign for everything that we uinderstand to be our own culture to be that at first we ar... (show more)
While this doesnt equal the master piece that is Ender's Game, it is by far one of the best sequels to a outstanding first book that i have ever had the pleasure of reading. The main question of the book to me is what determines if something is human and at what level to we define humanity much less senitient beings.
The author does a wonderful job creating a whole new alien race and culture that is foreign for everything that we uinderstand to be our own culture to be that at first we are repelled. But slowly and surely we are drawn and begin to understand and empathize with the "piggies" and want ot see them prosper. The author also does a wonderful job of creating and introducing new characters that help to flesh out Ender's personality. These new characters help to redeem Ender and make him human again. Overall its a wonderful read, going into some philosophical depths and deep questions but nothing that a avid Sc fi fan should fear. (show less)
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