Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best.
Review: Very different from its predecessor, this novel has very little warfare or space action. However, it is just as absorbing and suspenseful and probably the better of the two. A story about redemption, forgiveness and the power of love, this was a moving and well-written novel. This (with Ender's Game right behind) is one of the best sci-fi books I have ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a worthy sequel.
Review: Like most people, after reading Ender's game, I rushed to get the next book of this series. Unfortunately this book does not do it's predecessor justice. I guess Orson Scott Card took a page out of the Dune series. He wrote a great initial book, and with that, trapped his readers into reading his philisophical writings.While the first book was outstanding with plenty of action, humanity and supsense, this second book concentrated on family, religion, and philosophy. There were times when this book dragged on and on with annoying side stories about a certain religous sect or a family squable. The book does start out well, and tries to present many questions after the discovery of a new intelligent species: the piggies. But before any of the questions could be answered, Card bulldozes the reader with family and religous stories and philosopies that the reader will probably never care about, thus separating the reader from the main story line for many pages. This book could have been condensed considerably, but Card probably wanted to stretch this series out to a few more books. Financially, who could have blamed him? Also note that this is not a typical sequel in that it's not a direct continuation. The action occurs three thousand years later, and with a few additions and alterations, it could have stood alone and not have been related to Ender's Game at all. This book does end nicely, and through the fluff there is an intelligent, well thought out plot. However, don't expect to flip through this book as quickly and as excitingly as Ender's Game.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow to start, but once it got going, it was great!
Review: The first 100 pages or so was a lot of information but not much was happening. But things do pick up and the book becomes really good. A good followup to Ender's Game.
Rating:
Summary: A landmark of sci-fi and humanism
Review: As he tells us in the introduction (which is, by the way, the best introduction I've ever read), this is the book Card intended to write when he began the ever-popular Ender series. Ender's Game was simply a prologue -- originally a short story. There are so many good things about this book. Card has a talent for writing deep, real characters that I've never seen in sci-fi and seldom in any modern literature. He is a master storyteller, and this book is wonderfully paced -- you will continually be twisting your brain trying to uncover what is up with the pequeninos before the scientists do. But most of all, this book is a eloquent manifesto of humanism. As Speaker for the Dead, it is our hero Ender's lifelong task to understand people and tell the truth about them -- a truth that will reveal their good, bad, and ugly, but most importantly, their inherent worth and um, goodness. This truth-seeking carries from the individual to the entire races, as Card (and Ender) examine how we relate to those we don't understand, even those we can't understand. So what is it? It's a page-turner, crazy idea-filled(as all sci-fi should be) thrilling, thoughtful, powerful, funny, poignant novel. It is an excellent piece of writing that I would love to see taught in high school classrooms. My only problems with it are that terrible cover(who designed these covers? They have nothing to do with the story -- not even the tone of the story) and the sometimes indecipherable use of portuguese. But those are both minor. An excerpt: "We know you now. That makes all the difference, doesn't it? Even Quim doesn't hate you now. When you really know somebody, you can't hate them." "Or maybe it's just that you can't really know them until you stop hating them." "Is that a circular paradox? Dom Cristao says that most truth can be only expressed in circular paradoxes." "I don't think it has anything to do with truth, Olhado. It's just cause and effect. We can never sort them out. Science refuses to admit any cause except first cause-- knock down one domino, the one next to it also falls. But when it comes to human beings, the only type of cause that matters is final cause, the purpose. What a person had in mind. Once you understand what people really want, you can't hate them anymore. You can fear them, but you can't hate them, because you can always find the same desires in your own heart." If you'd like to discuss this novel, e-mail me at krischwe@whitman.edu
Rating:
Summary: MOT AS GOOD AS ENDERS GAME
Review: I LIKED THIS BOOK. HOWEVER I FEEL IT WAS NOT AS GOOD AS THE FRISTONE. THIS SEEMED MORE CLASSIC SI--FI. IT WAS STILL GOOD HOWEVER. AT FRIST I WAS GOING TO STOP READ IT BUT THEN I STUCK WITH AND I GLAD I DID.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the Ender series (so far)
Review: Of the 4 books in the original Ender Wiggen saga, this is by far (empatically!) the best of the lot. I don't know if this Speaker for the Dead idea is taken or adapted from some existing ritual, but it was new to me, and I have been quite taken with it. The new alien race is a fascinating creation, and feels alien, as opposed to those creatures you encounter in Star Trek. All in all, I have to rate this in my top 5 list of all time, and I highly recommend it (read Ender's Game first, though, as I think it would be difficult to follow otherwise).
Rating:
Summary: Better than Ender's Game?
Review: For as much as I loved Ender's game, Speaker for the Dead is a far better book, imho. People complain about the "lack of action" in Speaker, but what action is missing in Speaker is more than made up for in human drama. Card excels in characterization and no where else have I found such compelling and real characters. My heart ached for Novinha and her children. For Miro after the surprise revelation, for Marcao whose life was wasted away. These are real people with real problems. They were problems that any one of us could be faced with. I rooted for them to succeed. I cheered when they did and ached when they did not. It's a wonderful study in family dynamics. We are introduced to the pequininos and their seemingly barbaric ways, only later to find out the truth. The relationship between the citizens of Milagro and the Pequininos is compelling and handled masterfully. Card exposes the paranoia and prejudice that seems to hide in each one of us. Ender's game it's not, but in my opinion, it's a far better read. Simply for the human element. I recommend you read Ender's game first, obviously, and quickly move on to Ender's game. Speaker for the Dead is probably the my favorite book. I can't wait to read it again. On to XENOCIDE!
Rating:
Summary: OK. Not ender's game
Review: And the obsession I found extremely annoying. Oh well. VASTLY better than the 3rd one, though. Stay away from it!
Rating:
Summary: Human Insight Unveiled
Review: In Speaker, Card gives uncanny insight into humans and human pain though Ender's arrival on Lusitania. Ender's way of understanding and healing the complex situation of complete strangers is mindboggling. Simply by stating the truth, he both opens and heals the deep wounds of Novinha's family . If you have never felt that it is possible to "know" a situation or a person or to change the past, this is a great book to read. You will never think the same of raw honesty again.
Rating:
Summary: a good book but ...
Review: this was a great book but i think enders game was better . this book you are wondering about why the " piggies " are doing what they do and you don't find out till the very very end . i think this book would have been better if you were given just one of the problems of the piggies at a time but that is all right cause the book is still good . i highy recommend this book , expecally if you read enders game .
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