A review by rachelcdm
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

3.0

Spoiler

3.5? Maybe?

I don't know, I think I preferred this book over Ender's Game but only slightly.

Many people have said that they didn't like the pacing of the book, I didn't mind it so much. What I can't get over is how much Orson Scott Card preached tolerance and understanding in his book yet is such an arse-face in real life.

Moving on....This book was different from Ender's Game both in setting and characters and pace.

PROS:

- I liked the mystery that surrounded the "piggies."
- Jane, she was pretty cool.
- I liked some of the dram with the Ribeira family but thought it dragged out
- The idea behind a Speaker was nice if slightly over-simplified
- The idea of space travel and the time difference between worlds was really good
- I like that people thought that Ender the Xenocide was a different person to Speaker for the Dead

CONS:

- Some of the characters just didn't seem real, Novhina being the one I had most touble with
- Ender was almost too infallible at points
- Why the hell was Ender celibate? What reason was there?
- Bit preachy at points
- They got married with little to no chemistry between them not long after the love of her life died...WTF?
- I struggle to believe that the Catholic church stays so similar to how it is now in thousands of years time

Does anyone else think that Card has a weird thing with incest? Ender and Valentine describe themselves almost as soul mates but without the physical element, and in this book a brother and sister unknowingly almost got married....just food for thought.

Overall, I did enjoy the book and I do still have the last two to read but don't think I will for a few weeks, this book took a lot out of me. There was a lot I liked, the general message of speaking the truth and tolerance and understanding is a message I love and identify with despite the authors personal views outside his books. I also do generally love Ender's character, but I can't tell if that's more because of the first book than this one...either way I did enjoy this book although the ending was bittersweet. Poor Miro!