A review by livelaughlesbian99
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

3.0

I liked this book. Ender’s Game was way better. Most of what I didn’t like was the characters. Most of the cast just didn’t interest me, which wasn’t the case in Ender’s Game. Aliens were cool, colony not as much.

So, is this book too dated to be read in modern day? I would say not necessarily. It has its issues; Ender is kind of a white saviour in an explicitly majority black Brazilian colony. Lusitania is portrayed as a little static, although I find humanity itself is portrayed as static in the Ender Saga. There is a character who experiences years of domestic abuse as ‘repentance’ for something they did and I found that a bit disrespectful to abuse survivors.
There is some ableist vibes near the end when a character sees their life as pretty much over and thinks they’re unlovable because they have become disabled.


My issue is more just that it kind of drags. The aliens are what’s interesting to me, and we spend all this time on drama in Lusitania. Ender’s tendency to walk in and just solve years of trauma and everyone’s issues is just kind of weird?

But if you like the series, press on. There is a certain vibe to the world of the Ender Saga which I will always love. Also, I love Valentine. Will probably continue reading just for Valentine.
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