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im_basil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
unfortunately i really like the ender series, but i will be borrowing copies from my local library or buying books secondhand so card earns not even a cent from me :)
Graphic: Child abuse and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, and Infidelity
markguitar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Incest
lebolt's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Ok, begin actual review:
Why do we suffer? What does it mean to be human? Who deserves love? This book asks big questions; this book gives sincere answers.
I think this book Speaks into the part of me that wants to know redemption. I think this book lets me see a little bit of an author who, in a story about the stars, is himself sharing a bit of heartfelt humanity despite the divisions of the world - both around us and inside us.
Also, super rad sci fi concepts like relativistic interstellar travel, instantaneous communication, AI, genetic modification, terraforming, etc etc. Good stuff.
Beware: this sequel is a strong departure from the child-focused and relatively childish Ender's Game. As the author says in his foreword, this book was originally meant to be a standalone, and it shows. Ender's Game is basically (very well executed) exposition and backstory for this more profound work.
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder
bits_and_pieces_odds_and_ends's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse
nytephoenyx's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Speaker of the Dead, even more than Ender's Game, makes it abundantly clear exactly how highly Orson Scott Card thinks of himself. The slow-paced erudite reflections are haughty. In addition, there are too many things within the story that are far too convenient. The characters comment on this - "Surely this cannot be the SAME Speaker who spoke the Hive Queen and the Hegemon?" and so forth. There's a sense of over-importance to Ender's character that he has survived three-thousand years to create in a few days what generations of other humans were unable to accomplish.
I'm also a little perplexed about his take on women? On one had, he has female scientists and a female leader to the alien societies. However, all these women are easily overruled by their emotions and especially by the presence of Ender himself. Novinha, in particular, was a disappointment. Valentine, too, choses love over her intellectual pursuits. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but at times it feels like Card is building a commentary to say that women are unable to be true intellectuals because of their inability to resist emotional drives?
I dunno. On an intellectual level I liked this, even though it was really slow-paced. On an emotional level (oh the irony) I found the pretentiousness to be a bit much. I also can't see this story going anywhere exciting, so I'm done with the Ender Saga. Doubly so since Orson Scott Card is openly and aggressively homophobic and I deeply disagree with his personal views.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death and Dysphoria
Minor: Infertility
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Infertility, Religious bigotry, and War
runitsthepopo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Speaker for the Dead: 4.75/5 stars
My few criticisms are that it took a long while for things to pick up, and I still don't understand why Miro was given the story that he was, unless there's a sequel involving him that I'm not aware of. At the end, it seemed everyone was given a happy ending aside from him.
"They're afraid of the same thing you fear, when you look up and see the stars fill up with humans They're afraid that someday they'll come to a world and find that you have got there first."
"We don't want to be there first," said Human. We want to be there too."
And that's when I stared at the page for a good half-minute, struck by how much I was feeling. It didn't stop there. I continued tearing up when the piggies learned that Libo and Pipo were in pain as they died, when they cried out in grief because they realized that their honored friends had spent their last moments in fear, when Ender is told that he'll have to kill again, that he'll have to kill Human, when Human embraces the gift Ender gives him, consoling Ender with the fact that he'll be living his third life, the life of light. When Ender admits to himself that Human will still be dead to him, no matter the facts.
The piggies are so undoubtedly alien. The mystery of their culture and biology was the biggest driving force for my reading the early parts of the book. But during their first meeting with Ender, they come alive. They are still alien, but so painfully human too.
And that's the point, I suppose. The narrative keeps coming at you with the Hierarchy of Foreignness, with the question of "Are the piggies ramen or varelse?" You continue to ask yourself, at what point do the piggies become sentient, mature creatures? But in one chapter, you realize that it was never a question of how advanced their society was, but a question of "At what point will humans see themselves in the piggies?"
Graphic: Animal death and Colonisation
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Genocide, Infertility, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Pregnancy
bencaroline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Gore and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide