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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
the best part is ender relationship with his quirky lil AI
that weird monkey creature sacrifice was odd and i find them leas compelling than the bugs
that weird monkey creature sacrifice was odd and i find them leas compelling than the bugs
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another book I finished within 3 days, so I clearly enjoyed it. What a lot of people need to remember is that Ender needs to continue his life well beyond his years as a child. And this is where the book picks up and what bothers a lot of people. Ender is no longer a child, but an adult and learning to function after his xenocide. I personally loved seeing where Ender is now, how he has grown as a person, and how traveling the galaxy has put him in an interesting position of having lived his 35 years in 3,000 years by everyone else.
Fascinated by Ender 19s Game (Orson Scott Card), I started reading the second volume of the series, Speaker for the Dead. It has certainly not disappointed me, no, for it was even better. In fact, it was one of those books which 1Cspeak 1D directly to the reader 19s heart. What I think is the central idea around which the whole saga evolves is that 1Cyou can love anyone as long as you understand them 1D, which goes hand in hand with the idea of the first book, that 1Cafter you know someone, and understand their motifs, you can 19t help but love them 1D. I 19ve long thought so and finally I found a book in which this idea embraces a whole universe of diverse races, not to speak of cultures, trying to communicate.
The Speaker for the Dead is Ender Wiggin, trying to redeem himself for the war he lead. His story gets tied to the story of the Zenadors from Luisitania, a planet on which human discovered a second intelligent race, called the pequeninos. They are pig-like creatures with a mysterious culture on whose exploration the Stellar Congress has put severe limits. Because of those strict rules, terrible things happen, and the lives of all are tied together to tell a compelling story of love, family, community and understanding. I cannot say how many times tears burst out of my eyes while reading this book, or how many times I felt butterflies in my stomach, or got angry, or exclaimed all by myself. This story is real, it 19s great, it 19s heartfelt.
Now, I want to say a few words on something I discovered just before finishing Speaker of the Dead. It 19s related to some of Orson Scott Card 19s real opinions, publicly stated, on different subjects I will not go into, but some are opinions I strongly disagree with and consider anti-humanitarian. First, it surprised me very much to read something like this from an author who demonstrated such profound understanding of human psychology, emotions and sense. Ender is not only a genius trying 1Cto do good in the way he understands it 1D, but he is thoroughly humanitarian, or, in the case of the book, pro-equal rights and treatment for whatever culture/intelligent species. Having said that, it was somewhat incredible to believe that the author could not think in a similar manner. However, the real question here is whether the life of an author should interfere with his work. Of course part of the author is inside the book, but, when the book closes itself as a separate universe, with a narrator who belongs there, should we really change our judgement of the book because of the personal life of the father of ideas, one who breathes in a different world (even if that is our own)?
The Speaker for the Dead is Ender Wiggin, trying to redeem himself for the war he lead. His story gets tied to the story of the Zenadors from Luisitania, a planet on which human discovered a second intelligent race, called the pequeninos. They are pig-like creatures with a mysterious culture on whose exploration the Stellar Congress has put severe limits. Because of those strict rules, terrible things happen, and the lives of all are tied together to tell a compelling story of love, family, community and understanding. I cannot say how many times tears burst out of my eyes while reading this book, or how many times I felt butterflies in my stomach, or got angry, or exclaimed all by myself. This story is real, it 19s great, it 19s heartfelt.
Now, I want to say a few words on something I discovered just before finishing Speaker of the Dead. It 19s related to some of Orson Scott Card 19s real opinions, publicly stated, on different subjects I will not go into, but some are opinions I strongly disagree with and consider anti-humanitarian. First, it surprised me very much to read something like this from an author who demonstrated such profound understanding of human psychology, emotions and sense. Ender is not only a genius trying 1Cto do good in the way he understands it 1D, but he is thoroughly humanitarian, or, in the case of the book, pro-equal rights and treatment for whatever culture/intelligent species. Having said that, it was somewhat incredible to believe that the author could not think in a similar manner. However, the real question here is whether the life of an author should interfere with his work. Of course part of the author is inside the book, but, when the book closes itself as a separate universe, with a narrator who belongs there, should we really change our judgement of the book because of the personal life of the father of ideas, one who breathes in a different world (even if that is our own)?
Not as good as Ender's Game, but still very much like it and still quite good. Read Ender's Game first.
I'm so glad I decided to continue on with this series as I enjoyed this book so much more than Ender's Game. Military stuff, especially strategy, is just not my jam. This one focus a lot more on biology, anthropology, religion, trauma and family dynamics. I also found adult Ender a much more enjoyable and relatable character than kid Ender. I thought the new world and aliens introduced in this book were really great and the story really hooked me, especially the second half.
I did still have some issues with it. The first is something not to do with the novel itself but with the introduction included in the author's definitive edition. THERE IS A FREAKING HUGE SPOILER IN IT!!!! I was spoiled for the twist in Ender's Game having watched the film adaptation when it came out and then the introduction spoiled the twist for this one..... So maybe for book 3, I'll get to experience a Card ending without being spoiled.
I also still have some issues with the world building in this book. For a society that regularly has young genius (and not very child like) children and lets kids apprentice (or occasionally work) as biologists and geneticists as young as 13, why do they have to give such childish names to sentient alien species. First, we had buggers and now piggies. Such an odd choice! I also wish there had been more physical descriptions of the piggies. I never felt like I quite knew what they looked like.
There's also a lot of religious digs in this book about actual real world religions. Normally, I like when sci-fi and fantasy novels explore religious ideas, but this book felt more like the author just wanted a chance to insult real world religions that he disagreed with. I much prefer made up religions rather than just plopping in our own with no real evolution (even though 3000 years had passed since book 1 and we know from history how much Christianity has evolved and splintered over the last 2000 years.)
I also wish there had been more discussion about the sort of "time travel" involved with space travel at near light speed. Granted, I think the concept is much more well known now but I can't imagine reading this when the book first came out and being able to make sense of what was going on. The idea that traveling near light speed means that time passes much more slowly for you so that what may be years/decades for the rest of the universe may be only days/weeks for you is just sort of thrown out there without much explanation. Just a few sentences would have really helped out here.
I did still have some issues with it. The first is something not to do with the novel itself but with the introduction included in the author's definitive edition. THERE IS A FREAKING HUGE SPOILER IN IT!!!!
Spoiler
Card just casually mentions that he had always wanted to write a book about an alien species that killed each other to reproduce. We aren't supposed to find this out until the end of the book. Why didn't the someone involved with publishing this book think to turn the introduction into an afterward?!?!I also still have some issues with the world building in this book. For a society that regularly has young genius (and not very child like) children and lets kids apprentice (or occasionally work) as biologists and geneticists as young as 13, why do they have to give such childish names to sentient alien species. First, we had buggers and now piggies. Such an odd choice! I also wish there had been more physical descriptions of the piggies. I never felt like I quite knew what they looked like.
There's also a lot of religious digs in this book about actual real world religions. Normally, I like when sci-fi and fantasy novels explore religious ideas, but this book felt more like the author just wanted a chance to insult real world religions that he disagreed with. I much prefer made up religions rather than just plopping in our own with no real evolution (even though 3000 years had passed since book 1 and we know from history how much Christianity has evolved and splintered over the last 2000 years.)
I also wish there had been more discussion about the sort of "time travel" involved with space travel at near light speed. Granted, I think the concept is much more well known now but I can't imagine reading this when the book first came out and being able to make sense of what was going on. The idea that traveling near light speed means that time passes much more slowly for you so that what may be years/decades for the rest of the universe may be only days/weeks for you is just sort of thrown out there without much explanation. Just a few sentences would have really helped out here.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
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
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Speaker for the Dead really spoke to me in a way that Ender’s Game never did. I don’t think it would work nearly as well without Ender’s Game as a prequel, but I found this touching and human. The flaws of the characters and of the institutions they build drive the story forward through a decades-long plot.
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
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