Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
Not anything like Ender's Game. This is a complete genre shift and is quite surprising as a reader. It seems like Orscon Scott Card didn't expect to write a second book about Ender.
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book absolutely transcends Ender's Game. I found it thought provoking and insightful. It was refreshing to read because the concept of war and hatred is largely denounced and themes of peace and coexistence run front and center to the plot. There are definitely religious themes but those themes don't dominate or direct the narrative morally. They are a part of the reality of the narrative. Again, I loved reading this book even though the plot was a bit slow and there is not a lot of action. It was the conversations between characters and the philosophy regarding contact between different worlds that really enthralled me.
Very different than Ender's game. Great story that really carried me along. I gave it 4 star instead of 5 because of some annoying perspective shifts and the fact that the xenologists could have been more imaginative - as a reader you'll probably figure things out about 100 pages before they do.
I remember picking up “Ender’s Game” randomly, almost halfheartedly, in the summer of 2019, and immediately being gripped by the story. What it left me with was a tragic and telling story, which left the reader wanting and wondering more—wondering about what would and could come next. So, when I picked up “Speaker for the Dead” at the end of 2019, I went in with the expectation of picking up the story where it left off. Instead of simply wrapping up the story of “Ender’s Game,” or of only serving as a sort of addendum or epilogue to that initial classic work, “Speaker for the Dead” expands the world, the lore, and the heart behind the Ender Series, and it introduces new and unique characters, whom interact with and carry on the legacy of the characters that went before them.
Ultimately, this story has much to say about human history, in light of the human’s insatiable desire for expansion. What humans have been doing since the dawn of time has been multiplying across the globe, for better or for worse, and extending their borders farther and farther. Whether it is to the Far East, or to the “New World,” or to the “Wild West,” or to the “Last Frontier,” or even to the “Final Frontier,” humans have had a desire to grow and flourish and expand, which is not inherently evil or wrong, but can have and has had some of the most heinous, evil, and inhumane results in history. What “Speaker for the Dead” does is to show this human problem of expansion at the expense of the “other” or of the “neighbor,” and applies it to a non-human, alien race. It allows for the book and the characters to figure it out along the way, without anyone knowing how it will end up, because it is not historical fiction, but science fiction, with historical irony and truth interwoven throughout. Thus, this hypothetical and fictional tale does more than entertain; it also critiques and convicts, forcing us to make the difficult decisions of confronting our pasts (or for some of us who have been the victims of human expansion, the mourning of our pasts) and of shaping and creating a healthy and beautiful future.
Ultimately, this story has much to say about human history, in light of the human’s insatiable desire for expansion. What humans have been doing since the dawn of time has been multiplying across the globe, for better or for worse, and extending their borders farther and farther. Whether it is to the Far East, or to the “New World,” or to the “Wild West,” or to the “Last Frontier,” or even to the “Final Frontier,” humans have had a desire to grow and flourish and expand, which is not inherently evil or wrong, but can have and has had some of the most heinous, evil, and inhumane results in history. What “Speaker for the Dead” does is to show this human problem of expansion at the expense of the “other” or of the “neighbor,” and applies it to a non-human, alien race. It allows for the book and the characters to figure it out along the way, without anyone knowing how it will end up, because it is not historical fiction, but science fiction, with historical irony and truth interwoven throughout. Thus, this hypothetical and fictional tale does more than entertain; it also critiques and convicts, forcing us to make the difficult decisions of confronting our pasts (or for some of us who have been the victims of human expansion, the mourning of our pasts) and of shaping and creating a healthy and beautiful future.
A worthy successor to Ender's Game. FANTASTIC. I need to reread every few years.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Love these books as audible. This one did not disappoint.