Speaker for the Dead

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent Sequel
Review: Speaker for the Dead has made Orson Scott Card the first author ever to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in consecutive years...Card more than deserves the honor. Due to the effects of relativity, Speaker for the Dead takes place 3,000 years after Ender's Game. Speaker for the Dead's main plot device is the interaction between human colonists on the planet Lusitania and the planet's indigenous, sentient but primitive, species the Pequininos...more commonly referred to as the Piggies. Card's depiction of the Piggies and the human colonists is equally deep...it doesn't take very long for the reader to develop strong emotional ties to the characters...in my view that's the mark of a great writer. Of course, the book has to have a hook to keep the reader going...in this case it is that the Piggies harbor a very unusual secret that is, of course, not revealed until the end of the book. But like it's predecessor (and indeed all Card books...at least the ones I've read...and I've read about half of the novels he's written) Speaker for the Dead does not rely so much on the plot hook to keep the readers going...but relies more on the incredibly strong character development of which Card seems to have a knack which no other author I've yet discovered has.

Rating:
Summary: Not for everyone, but fantastic nonetheless
Review: Okay, so everyone who has read Ender's Game expects this sequel to include the same action, same tension, same overall feel of that book. The thing is, you'll have to spend more time with this book, accept that nothing really remains from the original book, then love this one for what it is.

Ender's found a way to stay in hyperspace and time passes...3000 years, to be exact. In that time, a lot has changed, except Ender. He is not a hero anymore, he is Ender the Xenocide, the killer of the buggers, and everything humans do not want to be. Or so they think.

He is also the Speaker for the Dead, someone who tells the story of a dead person's real life. This book is deep, covers a lot about humanity, and it really goes forward on a pace that is quite addictive once you get into it.

If you've read Ender's Game, this is a must-have. Even if you haven't, this book opens doors to the human condition many writers stay away from. I think, if you can cast aside expectations, you will love this.

Rating:
Summary: Speaker for the Dumb
Review: Where is the hero of the war against the buggers... why bouncing around the universe giving eulogies 3,000+ years later of course! Set against the bizarre backdrop of a Portugese speaking Catholic colony planet with tree hugging aliens called "piggies", Ender appears as a renegade eulogist with a massive bankroll. Gone are Valentine and Peter, battle schools and bugger wars. In their place... well... preachy weirdness.

The author admits that Speaker was in the works well before Ender's Game (and it shows). Card succedes in cashing in on Ender by brutally pounding a square peg into a round hole. After tossing out the idea of a space traveling singer in favor of a sassy eulogist, Card remarks in the introduction "It was obvious to me what I was doing -- if I can't do the music thing, I can still bring the-kid-who-saves-the-world back for another round!" Ca-ching! Money in the bank!

Unfortunately the author has a pretense for setting up this story to be a preachy diatribe on religion and humanity. Jam packed with bizarre remarks about Catholicism specifically. What makes it even more snotty is that the author is not a member of the religious group he gleefully tramples. I didn't see any mention of suppressive, intolerant, superstisious Mormons... only Portugese speaking Cathloics. Very un-PC to say the least.

That aside (which takes up more of the book than Ender himself), the story still sucks. It seems like a massive waste to have Ender flying around the universe at the speed of light twiddling his thumbs just so he can arvie three thousand years later as a morose shell of the character from the last novel. He hardly resembles the cocky win-at-all-costs genius of Ender's Game. Even many of the characters in the book don't believe he is Ender. My theory: take a story no publisher would buy, add a couple of chapters here and there, and do a little search and replace... viola! a new Ender novel.

Final Score: Enders Game = 5 stars, Speaker For the Dead = 1 star.

Rating:
Summary: A great sequel to "Ender's Game," but a different beast
Review: "Ender's Game," a fabulous novel, was rewritten from a novella specifically to allow the writing of "Speaker for the Dead," a considerably more complicated and challenging novel. Ender Wiggin has travelled from world to world, trying to find a new home for the Hive Queen whose race he eradicated, so that he can expiate his guilt. Along the way, he has become a Speaker for the Dead, a kind of professional eulogist who bares the soul of the corpse with all flaws revealed, so that we can come to truly know the dead. On the next world that Ender comes to, he becomes personally involved in the family of the deceased, and in the indigenous sentient species of this world, the Pequeninos. A far more difficult book to read than "Ender's Game," a very different narrative style drives the philosophical discussion of racism, family, love, and genocide. Readers searching for the same kind of adventure story as "Ender's Game" should read "Ender's Shadow"; anyone looking for a truly serious, marvelous philosophical novel that also moves with grace should read "Speaker for the Dead."

Rating:
Summary: Speaker for the Dead
Review: Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card is a sequel to the book, Ender's Game. In Speaker for the Dead, a new alien race is discovered on a small colony on the planet Lusitania. But after the new species make vicious attacks on the colonists, the entire galaxy is thrown into turmoil.
What I liked about this book was how the author described his characters. They were well written and had very distinguishing traits. The characters were also dynamic in that they changed very much in the story. I also liked the author's word

Rating:
Summary: Suck it, nerds.
Review: Did you like Ender's Game?

You did?

Well, then, skip right past this book and on to Ender's Shadow.

This book is a load of boring, preachy crap.

If I wanted boring, preachy crap, I'd read the bible.

People that like this book are crazy.

Rating:
Summary: Unexpected treasure!
Review: Somehow I missed Ender series and when I started to read it now, the first book, 'Ender's Game', didn't impress me so much (I am not saying it was a bad novel, it just wasn't up to the hype surrounding it). But 'Speaker for the Dead' was totally different. It's more a phylosophical book then just sci-fi (many present sci-fi attributes notwithstanding). It covers many interesting aspects of religion, ethics, etc. The planet and aliens living there are just a background for this book. The only shortcoming for me originate in its advantage - I didn't feel good coonnection with the first book, both in the plot and novel structure and in character development. I would think that Ender in the second book is a totally different person, even taking into the account the age difference. Some plot developments looks unsubstantiated (such as travel to different planets that allowed Ender to stay young), but since that is not a main point in this book (at least for me) it didn't bother me.
I am moving to the next Ender' book.

Rating:
Summary: Necessary Reading for Lovers of Sci Fi
Review: Orson Scott Card is by far my favorite author of any kind of genre. I fell in love with his books when I was about eleven years old and read Ender's Game, the prequel to this book which tells the story of child prodigies who are forced to train for war at a very early age with the hope of destroying an alien menace. This book rang so true to me that I have read it more times than any other novel. Yet, while Ender's Game is still probably my favorite book of all time, it is quite a bit less mature than Speaker for the Dead, which tells the story of what happens to the protagonist of the first book, Ender, after he leaves the armed services at the tender age of fifteen as a hardened soldier. Speaker for the Dead explores what I feel to be one of the most poignant of all human emotions, regret, and provides a rare glimpse in fiction of the effects of a dysfunctional family on children. Equally impressive is the ability of Card to create two distinct alien species that the reader cares for but cannot relate to. The book itself is comprised of so many twists and turns that revealing anything else would almost ruin the story, but suffice it to say that Card has never disappointed me yet (except in his books about Mormonism - oh well, we can't all be perfect...).

It seems that most people's problem with this book is that it is not a repeat of Ender's Game. It's a completely different kind of novel; it answers the question of what somebody can do after saving the world. Some seem to think that Ender's attempt to turn around his destruction of an entire sentient species is unrealistic or preachy or something, but I think that it's totally life-like. I've known plenty of remarkable, smart, charismatic people who chose to give their lives to God or humanity or something like that; Ender was the most remarkable, intelligent, and charismatic boy who ever lived. Why shouldn't he want to put right the wrongs of the world?

At any rate, if you want to read Ender's Game, then by all means buy that book and read it as many times as you want. This book is much more complex and philosophical than Ender's Game, and it certainly isn't action-packed; if that's not the kind of book you want to read, don't get it.

On the other hand, if you want an amazing novel full of surprises, joy, and pain, Speaker for the Dead is an excellent novel; highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: The average reader's review guide....report......thing
Review: Ok I dont read a huge amount of books so for anyone that just casually reads like me then maybe my review will be more relevent to you. Ok im a pretty huge fantasy setting kind of guy Lord of the rings,Terry Pratchett, that sort of thing. But im actually a closet trekker from the 80's and a huge star wars fan so science fiction is an interest of mine but not so much in the book format. When i read Ender's Game i was totally converted into it and Orson Scott Card was a new god to me. Enders game is truly one of if not the best stories i have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Because you dont read it you experience it. I read the book in three days and for a person who takes maybe a good month and reads a little here and there its an amazing thing. So i finished it and read Ender's Shadow which takes place at the same time as Enders game. And is also a book to be experienced. Then I read Speaker for the dead. It confused me because it was almost written by a different person. It takes place almost 20 years after the very end of Enders game. Ender is almost forty and only a few times in the book actullay makes reference too the one before it. It doesent give as much info on what has happened since either. We are not told what has happened to anybody else he has met with the exception of Valentine who is only in the story for a couple of chapters. Card rambles about the catholic religion and the language of Portugal for long spaces of paper. Now for the good stuff because there is alot. Ender is still cool. Hes cool and in control of most situations like in Enders game. The new aliens are so bizarre in how they reproduce and their very morals. They truly are alien aliens. Unlike in movies where its just a few pieces of rubber on their face. This book makes you think about morals and how we treat others who are different as well. The mystery will most likely make you want too flip straight too the end too find out about it. But this isnt a sequel too Enders Game so dont let it fool you. This book is the beginings of hard science fiction and religion. It is not the pick up whenever for some light reading. Its more accurate too say that Enders Game is the prologue and this is the begining of the real fact's story. The End of this book finally gets exciting as the mysteries of the story finally come bobbinh too the surface. But for most readers its alot too ask too wait that long for the story too progress. I am going too read the next one if for no other reason than too see what happens. But by no means is this book very similar too Enders Game. It is not an adventure in the traditional sense.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing novel
Review: Speaker for the Dead is the second book Ihave read by Orson Scott Card, and I have to say I don't care much for his style. How he starts every chapter with something relevant, but from a different point of view is cool. But on the whole, he has much writing the bores me. The first novel was really good. This novel also had a really good plot. There were points where I could not put the book down. But then there were times I was wondering why I was reading. Then again, I am not the interested in science fiction novels, and look more for excitement. There were interesting topics that simply lacked excitement.

What happens. Ender has survived many years by space travel. He leaves his sister Valentine to go to a new planet where they have discovered a new race of beings with intelligence similar to humans. He wants to keep the human race from destroying the pequennos and he wants to help a young girl whose role model was murdered by the piggies. He arrives twenty two years after the murder took place to discover another murder had taken place and that the people of Lusitania were breaking the rules. Rebellion or submission to the Starways council are the peoples choices. Ender is the Speaker for the Dead.

An okay novel, but one I will probably never read again.