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

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• 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? No

4.5

“Every person is defined by the communities she belongs to and the ones she doesn’t belong to. A person that believes they don’t belong to any community at all invariably kill themselves, either by killing her body or by giving up her identity and going mad.”

I loved it. I read Ender’s game first, and when I heard about this book, I disregarded it. I didn’t like the idea of a tonal shift. I’m glad I finally did read it though. I think it stands above Ender’s game.  

Ender is right that humans don’t have multiple physical transformations in life, but I think there are life transitions that partially simulate the piggies’ three lives (infant/teenager/adult/old age).