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psydneigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Infertility, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, and Death of parent
lebolt's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Ok, begin actual review:
Why do we suffer? What does it mean to be human? Who deserves love? This book asks big questions; this book gives sincere answers.
I think this book Speaks into the part of me that wants to know redemption. I think this book lets me see a little bit of an author who, in a story about the stars, is himself sharing a bit of heartfelt humanity despite the divisions of the world - both around us and inside us.
Also, super rad sci fi concepts like relativistic interstellar travel, instantaneous communication, AI, genetic modification, terraforming, etc etc. Good stuff.
Beware: this sequel is a strong departure from the child-focused and relatively childish Ender's Game. As the author says in his foreword, this book was originally meant to be a standalone, and it shows. Ender's Game is basically (very well executed) exposition and backstory for this more profound work.
Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Grief, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Religious bigotry
bits_and_pieces_odds_and_ends's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Incest, Murder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, War, and Cancer
Minor: Child abuse
juliatsang's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Incest, Infidelity, Pandemic/Epidemic, Domestic abuse, and War
nrogers_1030's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Infidelity, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Incest
olliereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse
Minor: Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, and Body horror
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism
Minor: Infertility, War, Religious bigotry, and Body horror
runitsthepopo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Speaker for the Dead: 4.75/5 stars
My few criticisms are that it took a long while for things to pick up, and I still don't understand why Miro was given the story that he was, unless there's a sequel involving him that I'm not aware of. At the end, it seemed everyone was given a happy ending aside from him.
"They're afraid of the same thing you fear, when you look up and see the stars fill up with humans They're afraid that someday they'll come to a world and find that you have got there first."
"We don't want to be there first," said Human. We want to be there too."
And that's when I stared at the page for a good half-minute, struck by how much I was feeling. It didn't stop there. I continued tearing up when the piggies learned that Libo and Pipo were in pain as they died, when they cried out in grief because they realized that their honored friends had spent their last moments in fear, when Ender is told that he'll have to kill again, that he'll have to kill Human, when Human embraces the gift Ender gives him, consoling Ender with the fact that he'll be living his third life, the life of light. When Ender admits to himself that Human will still be dead to him, no matter the facts.
The piggies are so undoubtedly alien. The mystery of their culture and biology was the biggest driving force for my reading the early parts of the book. But during their first meeting with Ender, they come alive. They are still alien, but so painfully human too.
And that's the point, I suppose. The narrative keeps coming at you with the Hierarchy of Foreignness, with the question of "Are the piggies ramen or varelse?" You continue to ask yourself, at what point do the piggies become sentient, mature creatures? But in one chapter, you realize that it was never a question of how advanced their society was, but a question of "At what point will humans see themselves in the piggies?"
Graphic: Animal death and Colonisation
Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Genocide, Infertility, Pregnancy, Racism, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship