Speaker for the Dead (Orson Scott Card)

Wow, what a powerful story! Seriously, you have no idea what's going on until near to the end and even then it punches you in the stomach with a big, "oomph." Fantastic book! Would read it over and over if I could.

I read Card's Ender's Game and was amazed and excited about the Universe Card had created and the many future story possibilities (and the number of additional books already published on the Ender and Bean characters). Speaker for the Dead occurs 3000 years in the future from Ender's Game. Ender is not only still alive, but since he's been star hopping and due to the relativistic effects of near light-speed travel, he has only aged about 15 years. He is now an official "Speaker for the Dead", a sort of official researcher/death recorder held in almost mystical esteem by the Human race, and of which there are very few. Nobody knows that he is the original Speaker who wrote "The Hemegon and the Hive Queen." The story centers around a religious (Portuguese Catholic) colony on one of the "100 planets" colonized by humans. The colonists call the planet Lusitania. The human race has sadly up to this point not found any additional advanced life forms, and therefore greatly regrets thei... Read more

Ender's Game (1985) is one of the all-time best SF books. It deservedly won the Hugo and Nebula awards. It's routinely read in schools and is a genuine classic. It's also a crowd pleaser- a book that nearly everyone likes. Speaker for the Dead (1987) is the direct sequel and also won the same awards. However, in tone and plot, it's a VERY different book. For the right reader, who likes thoughtful, slow-paced stories about culture and alien/human interaction (think Ursula LeGuin), this book is a gem. For everyone else, this book will be a huge disappointment. If you fall into the latter category, and haven't read Ender's Game yet, then don't let this (or Card's other work) discourage you at all from checking out Ender's Game. Which book is "better" is definitely debatable- but there's ZERO doubt that Ender's Game is the far more popular work.

Not that it should be a surprise but despite Amazon saying this is a first edition it is in no way close to a first. It came out 20 years ago, it would be a miracle if they had a new first edition for so cheap. Great book however. I highly recommend the series.

One of the best sci-fi books I've ever read. This book is the second of six in the 'Ender' series by Orsen Scott Card. It continues on with Ender's story, albeit some 3000 years after the first book. And although there is barely any resemblance between book 1 and book 2, you won't be able to make much sense of book 2 without having read and understood the ramification of book 1. The setting for this book is a far off distant planet; the tale is one of emerging discovery not only between individuals but also between species. i.e. humans and a new alien life form found there. I found that Card has done much more with his character development of people (and aliens as well) in this book, giving them a much broader depth of character, moral fiber and some individual weaknesses and shortcomings. This tale seemed to be more about the 'people' in the book, rather than solely about the circumstances they find themselves in (well, this statement is not completely accurate, but you'll... Read more

I was enthralled with Card's Ender's Game and was wondering where he would go with Ender and whether the sequel would be anywhere near as good as the first one. To my surprise and amazement Speaker For The Dead was not only just as good but quite possibly better than Ender's Game. What is even more amazing is to find that this was a much different style of science fiction, altogether different in everything but the writing style. It was great to see the dichotomy of Ender the Xenocide and the Speaker For The Dead. We were also treated to a wonderfully dysfunctional family stuck on a planet with no room to grow beyond the fence of their town under a Catholic Charter. Novinha, Pipo and Libo all deep and honorable characters, each with their own flaws. The realistic depiction of an alien race in the Piggies, who each have their own great characters such as Rooter, Leaf-Eater and Human. All of this is within the colorful interaction between alien races, between religion and to... Read more

Full of intelligence. Ender and Novinha are so convincing and sometimes I feel myself crying for them.... Anndddd Ender is my lover.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. It is very Sci-fi and deals with things from a VERY political view at the same time. It's not a space action novel, but that doesn't make it bad! It was very difficult for me to put down.

All I can say is Card must have really needed the money, or this subpar attempt to cash in on the popularity of "Ender Wiggin" would never have been written.

I enjoyed this book more than Ender's Game, which is the first book in the Ender series. I really like the concept of 'speaking for the dead' as a way of remembering some one's life. This is the best book in the Ender series, the last two of the original series are readable, but did not excite me and kind of tore the whole series down.

Even better than EG...it's more powerful and I don't know of anything better.

Before I read this book, I prepared myself to be let down. I thought that there was no way that Speaker for the Dead would measure up to Ender's Game. Not only did it measure up, but in my opinion this book slightly surpassed its predecessor. Once again, OSC proves himself the master of articulating what motivates people to act the way they do. The multicultural aspect of the book is fascinating, as are the federalism overtones, and the touches of religion. All that being said, I do not recommend this book until you have read Ender's Game - the character development of Ender is critical to understand the character of the Speaker.