Rating: 
Summary: Wow. Simply Incredible. The Work of a Genius.
Review: I didn't know there was a whole Ender's series when I picked up 'Ender's Game' a few months ago. I had no intention of reading any book other than that one. But than I got to the end, and I just wanted to know what happened so much. So I picked up 'Speaker for the Dead'.As Card says in his introduction, 'Speaker' was originally supposed to be the story, and 'Ender's' was just this long first chapter that set out the ground for 'Speaker'. But Ender's story was just too big for that, so 'Ender's Game' as a novel was born. Like 'Ender's Game', I had to read 'Speaker' twice before I completely understood it. But, b/c I HAD read 'Ender's Game', it was much easier to understand 'Speaker' the first time around. And I just love it when I know all the little background details in a novel - it makes me happy, which in turn makes the novel much much better. I love how Card always starts out chapters with little scientific reports - you really get to learn things that you would not be able to learn through dialogue or the narration. And I love how the make so much more sense when you go back with all of the knowledge after reading 'Speaker' - it really gives a reason to want to read it again and again. Wonderful, wonderful. I cannot say enough good things about this novel. But make sure you read 'Ender's Game' first - it makes it much more enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Best in the series
Review: Speaker for the Dead is the best book in the Ender Wiggins series. You can't even put it in with Ender's Game because you can probably get away with reading either book as seperate stories. That's the brilliance of these two books: Just as in real life a man's lifestory cannot be told in one volume. He changes in the interveining years. I loved the theme and premise for this book so much that I ran right out and read Xenocide and Children of the mind. I regretted that decision. Both were long, boring and intolerable. By the end of Children I cared little except having time to read another more worthwhile book. Even though Speaker for the Dead continues I would recomend you stop with that one and read Orson Scott Card's other works instead.
Rating:
Summary: review
Review: I thought this book was great even though it was a 180 degree turn-around from Ender's Game.
Rating:
Summary: As Exceptional as the First, Though Infinitely Different
Review: Speaker for the Dead is not Ender's Game. This is a fact which cannot be emphasized enough to people looking to buy it to get a mere 'sequel' to the first. What it is, however, is another stunning example of Card's complexity through simplicity, and his incredible insight into human nature. While Ender's Game dealt with the issue of how we treat those 'different' than us, on some level, it did not begin to touch upon it with the depth that Speaker for the Dead does. Speaker for the Dead is a sociological study. In it, a third species (aside from humans, and the now eradicated buggers) is discovered on a far off distant planet thousands of years after Ender wiped out the last threat to mankind. The story centers around a group of anthropologists studying this alien race, since mankind is determined not to make the same mistake it did with the bug race. Eventually, Ender is summoned to aid, though his true identity is not known. We see the strange habits of the piggies grow stranger and stranger still, and see our own mores almost mocked in the reactions of the humans to these cultural behaviors. All in all, it is a gripping story, a strong mystery (an element that was all but lacking from Ender's game), and another biting commentary (critique?) at human behavior and social beliefs. It is not Ender's Game, no. It is as different as Ender's Game as hot is from cold. But it is a brilliant work of fiction, and an even more brilliant work of discussion.
Rating:
Summary: Wordy but excellent
Review: Speaker is an amazing book. I think that it is highly intelligent and fascinating, with a kind of depth and detail that I have rarely seen. I can sympathize with people who say it is too slow and wordy, but though I agree that it is a lot of OSC talking it is so interesting and well-written that I never minded. Unlike Ender's Game, however, this one I only read two or three times. Although I love the book, the story/subplots, and especially the extremely vivid and developed characters, once you have the story memorized the philosophy is a little heavy for weekend reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as Ender's Game
Review: Well, I read Ender's Game and was definitely looking forward to reading the second book in the series...Speaker For The Dead. Let's just say I was quite disappointed. This book was definitely a hard read. The first 200 pages had me wondering if anything was ever going to happen. Card spent way to much time setting up the ending of this book. The concept of a "Speaker for the Dead" wasn't exactly the idea I would have built a novel around. Quite frankly it was rather dull. The begining of the book started out exciting...then one of the xenologers was killed and he spent the next 150 pages telling us how terrible Novinha's and Marcao's marriage was...the problems with their children and so on. We learned very little about the alien species until the end of the book. Why the need for the use of the portuguese language? For a scifi book, there sure seemed to be a lot more talk about the catholic church than the alien species. Card should have entertwined the mystery of the "descolada" much earlier in this book. So, to make it short, he spent to much time telling us about dysfunctional families and not enough time on the aliens or the "Descolada". If you can stand to be bored through the first half of the book, the last 100 pages gets you turning the pages.
Rating:
Summary: Curse you, Orson Scott Card!
Review: Until tonight I thought JRR Tolkien was the greatest author of now time. Now I think that he might be second best. This book has changed the entire perspective of my life. The only bad part is the cover.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of epic proportions
Review: Think about your life. What do you see when you close your eyes? Your childhood? Your first kiss? Your high school graduation? The first time you ever won a prize? But at closer inspection, you would see secrets kept, disappointments, pain, and sadness, too. How have all of those things affected you? A lot more than you would be willing to believe, I'll bet. Orson Scott Card's amazingly philosophical tale of REAL life, "Speaker for the Dead" probes into your mind and pulls these feelings out of you, whether you want it to or not... but only if you're a truly serious reader. A reader who not only visualizes the world that he/she reads, but becomes a part of it, feelings the characters' feelings, and being there when the bad news is broken. I was there, I felt it all, and at many points, I wanted to cry, but I didn't want to inflict water damage to this truly magnificent piece of literature I held in my hands. "Speaker" picks up over 3000 years after "Ender's Game," but Ender is only in his thirties, and so is his sister Valentine. His brother, Hegemon Peter Wiggin, has long since past into the sweet hereafter, and we are left with a completely new plot and a completely new way of looking at Ender's life. Since his discovery of the Hive Queen back on the first planet he helped colonize, Ender has been on a seemingly eternal mission to find a resting place for the cocoon he carries around in his knapsack, so the Formic race can thrive again. But it looks as if his 3000 year quest may be coming to an end when a story of two murders reaches his newest temporary home, Trondheim. The Pequeninos on the colony of Lusitania have killed a human scientist, and a Speaker for the Dead (a sort of spiritual following of people who have read Ender's books, "The Hive Queen" and "The Hegemon") has been requested by a young girl named Novinha. Ender answers the call, and ends up tangled in a web of deceit and secrets that he has to unravel, no matter what the consequences. It is the ultimate test of that age-old theory, "Will the truth set you free?" It set me free as I read this book, page after page filling me with emotions that had never been triggered by a book before. "Speaker for the Dead" is no doubt, an equal to if not a better novel than "Ender's Game." It's impossible to not be taken in by this amazing story. Please read it. And if you already have, read it again. It's even better the second time.
Rating:
Summary: Context & Motivation
Review: It's almost hard to believe this is the sequel to Ender's Game, because it is so different. But without the first book, we could never understand Andrew with the depth we do here. Card weaves in themes of religion and family relatedness throughout the book. And he has us explore how we define those are similar to us and those who are different. But at the core of this book is understanding the Context and Motivation of others. Acts of seeming atrocity are understood when we discover the purpose behind them. Choices made to protect others can in fact result in incredible suffering. The Speaker simply brings the Truth with him and leaves behind understanding. But he doesn't try to excuse the responsibility. He knows people for who they are, not for what he wants them to be. His truth is so penetrating that others are able to see themselves as they really are and the consequences of their choices. And, in that clearing, they find the freedom to live a life of their choosing. They can be what they choose to be. Imagine how different our world could be if we had Speakers for the Dead to tell the true and complete story of our lives. Or if more of simply lived true to ourselves.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book Indeed!
Review: First off, it seems many who have read Ender's Game and read other books by Orson seem disappointed. Well, to me, it seems they are setting themselves up for disappointment. What many people do is immediately compare it to Ender's Game! This book as well as many others, sorry to say, is nothing like Ender's Game. So I believe by reading a book by Orson we should not be trying to expect the same eagerness as we did in Ender's Game and set ourselves up for disappointment. Orson begans this story 3,000 years after where Ender's Game left off. The setting is on the planet of Lusitania, where another species called the "piggies" exist. The Starways Congress tries in every right to preserve their habitat and natural course of history for the "piggies". Yet, people are killed, and Ender is called to speak for the dead. This is where the story unfolds........ In this book, Ender is looking for redemption for the genocide of the buggers, as well in the meantime, help a family grow together and solve the mystery of the killings. Though, with less action, this book is more emotional than Ender's Game. The book touches more on moral issues, and we get to know more of Ender. In my opinion, this book is a great story and sequel and if you truly enjoyed Ender's Game, you should NEVER pass out on this one.
| 
