Speaker for the Dead (Ender, Book 2)
by Orson Scott Card
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Book Summary Information
Author: Orson Scott CardEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Published: 1994-08-15
ISBN: 0812550757
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Tor Books
Book Reviews of Speaker for the Dead (Ender, Book 2)
Book Review: 4.5 stars
Summary: 5 Stars
I had been warned that even though Speaker for the Dead continues the story of Ender's life, and is set in the same universe, that it's not that much of a sequel--that is, it's not the same kind of book. Which was a relief to me, to tell you the truth. Ender's Game was a complete story, and I'd been dreading the kind of sequel that would be Ender vs. a different kind of alien, which would just spoil the whole thing.
Instead, it's set 3000 years later, but due to a whole lot of light-speed travel, Ender's only in his 30s (I think--I'm not positive, and I'm not going to search for it. It's not that important. At any rate, he's an adult, in his prime.). He's become a Speaker for the Dead, the original Speaker for the Dead, but nobody realizes that. His purpose is to learn all about someone's life--not just the good things, like in a eulogy, but everything--their hopes, dreams, fears, and failings--and then Speak for them. It's what he did for the Buggers after destroying them, then published the book, earning for himself instead of the accolades he'd received, the title of "Ender the Xenocide," and his name is now reviled.
Humanity has learned a lesson, and now contact with alien races is strictly limited. On the planet Lusitania is the only other sentient race humanity has discovered: nicknamed the Piggies. The humans are required to stay within their fences and observe only, not give any information to the Piggies. But the Piggies learn anyway, from the questions they're asked, and then the anthropologist studying them is brutally slaughtered, and nobody knows why.
Ender is summoned to speak a death on the planet, and ends up bringing pain and healing. And, well, here's the whole point of the book: to know him is to love him that truly knowing a person, or an alien race, understanding them completely, is to love or at least care for them. The message got a little heavy-handed for me by the end, hence the half-star reduction.
Otherwise, the story was interesting, the characters compelling, the mystery intriguing. I'll be reading more. I've already got Xenocide (Ender, Book 3) (Ender Quartet) in my TBR pile.
Summary of Speaker for the Dead (Ender, Book 2)
Ender Wiggin, the hero and scapegoat of mass alien destruction in Ender's Game, receives a chance at redemption in this novel. Ender, who proclaimed as a mistake his success in wiping out an alien race, wins the opportunity to cope better with a second race, discovered by Portuguese colonists on the planet Lusitania. Orson Scott Card infuses this long, ambitious tale with intellect by casting his characters in social, religious and cultural contexts. Like its predecessor, this book won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.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.
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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