Speaker for the Dead (Ender Wiggins Saga): Amazon.co.uk: Orson Scott Card: Books

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Review
"A great read!"--"UPI Reviews"
"Less brash than "Ender's Game," "Speaker for the Dead "may be a much better book. Don't miss it!--Analog
"Told with compassion and keen insight, this powerful sequel to" Ender's Game "is highly recommended."--"Library Journal"

NEW YORK TIMES
'Full of surprises...Intense is the word for Orson Scott Card's ENDER'S GAME' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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4.7 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent sequel and fascinating story, 2 Sep 2006

By	Clarence T. Henry "ct_henry" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Speaker for the Dead (The Ender saga) (Paperback)

This was a fascinating, generational story of life on Lusitania, where humans have come into contact with the second sentient beings--the piggies--since the xenocide of the buggers in Ender's Game. Feeling guilty, the Starways Congress decides to allow xenologers to study these aliens and live among the Catholic colony on Lusitania. When two xenologers die at the hands of the piggies, the old calls for war ring again but instead of an armada, the Speaker of the Dead is summoned. Andrew Wiggin, Speaker of the Dead, sets off for Lusitania where he hopes to repair the lives of two of families on Lusitania and solve the mystery of the piggies.

This story is VERY different from Ender's Game, and yet it succeeds in many ways. The very idea of a Speaker for the Dead is incredibly moving and to have Ender, the slayer of the buggers, fill this role proves even more powerful. The dramatic effect he has on Lusitania is enough to declare the book a triumph. However, the culture of the piggies is at the heart of the story, and the gripping mystery of the xenologer's deaths, when resolved, will not disappoint. Card really doesn't need to continue this series; I can't image a more fitting ending.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surpasses Ender's Game, 18 Jan 2005

By	Irikefe Okonedo (London, England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Speaker for the Dead (The Ender saga) (Paperback)

This book is the second part of the Ender saga (the first part being Ender's Game). In this, Ender Wiggin travels to the planet of Lusitania to find out why the aliens there (called `piggies') have murdered one of the human scientists assigned to study them. But he is also going as a Speaker for the Dead, to speak about the life of a deceased man called Marcao Ribeira, and to uncover what his intentions were in life (this is the job of a Speaker for the Dead). I found this book to be a much deeper read than Ender's Game, with many underlying themes: the nature of the difficult but worthy path towards unity between peoples, the importance of family, the choice between obeying authority and obeying conscience, the pain of the loss of friends, the nature of truth, the tragedy of alien misunderstanding man, to name a few. I also found the characters in this book to be superbly realised, especially the children of the character called Novinha. The character of Ender has developed too (he is no longer a child), and this mirrors the developing maturity of Card himself as a writer. Running as a theme throughout the book is the fact that Ender is looking for a place where the buggers can be reborn. This is Ender's penance for his destruction of the buggers at the end of Ender's Game. Profound and powerful writing from Orson Scott Card. I loved Ender's Game, and before reading this was sceptical that it would be as good. It is a tribute to Orson Scott Card that it is even better.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Evolution in a literal sense., 8 Mar 2002

By	Johnny Cockayne - See all my reviews

This review is from: Speaker for the Dead (The Ender saga) (Paperback)

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Card's original Ender's Game I was eager to get my hands on other copies of his work, however a friend of mine - the one who had introduced me to the Ender saga in fact - warned me that I would be disappointed with the sequels. Gladly I can say he was wrong.

The first thing to note is that this is not Ender's Game 2 - don't expect it to be the same as the first one, it's not. Instead this is an evolution of the storyline that devolops the character of Ender, mirroring the developing maturity of Card himself as a writer.

The luscious character descriptions remain, Card once more gives us characters we can emote to, and his main strength - the interaction and tension between those characters is amongst the best in the business.

The creation and realisation of alien societies reminds me of times of Asimov in The Gods Themselves (another underestimated work) and never at any time feels artificial or unbelievable.

Although you may guess some of the twists before hand this is a good book - it is not worse than Ender's Game, just different and deserves to be judged on its own merits.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars for anyone who knows SF and literature are not mutually exclusive
Genuinely one of the best books i have ever read. The depth of the multitude if characters and their web of relationships - the thing that really lies at the heart of this book -... Read more

Published 20 days ago by P. Perry

3.0 out of 5 stars NOTHING like Ender's Game
'Ender's Game', the first book in this series, is one of my favourite books, and I read 'Speaker for the Dead' on the basis of the author's remarks that he only wrote the novel... Read more

Published 23 months ago by A. Phillips

5.0 out of 5 stars This time more is better
Writing a sequal to as fine a book as Enders Game must be a nightmare, thankfully Scott Card has woken up in the middle of the night and turned to his wife with a happy but evil... Read more

Published 23 months ago by G. Bethune

5.0 out of 5 stars Genius
In this book the true genius of Orson Scott Card is revealed. 3000 years after Enders Game, Ender is still travelling the stars until he hears about the brutal murder of a... Read more

Published on 10 Dec 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars "When you walk on the face again, then I can be forgiven"
After I finished with "Ender's Game" I read an interview with Orson Scott Card in which the author said that the only reason for expanding the first book in the series from a... Read more

Published on 13 Jun 2005 by Sebastian Fernandez

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book I have ever read.
"Ender's game" is a great book, but it is a one trick pony compaired to "Speaker for the Dead". This is simply the most imaginitive, moving science fiction I have ever read, and I... Read more

Published on 1 April 2005 by Ian Stewart

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid
The Ender Saga is a magnificent piece of work, I have just concluded the series, literally closing part 4, 'Children of the Mind' just a few hours ago. Read more

Published on 28 Dec 2003 by Jon Reid

4.0 out of 5 stars Ender's Game? No. Impressive? Definitely!
I went through various stages of opinion while reading this book... First was, "Hey- why is this nothing like Ender's Game? Drats! Read more

Published on 8 Feb 2001 by Daniel Dean

4.0 out of 5 stars Good - but not that good
I was disappointed with this book - I guess that expecting another Ender's Game was getting my hopes a bit high. Read more

Published on 5 Dec 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Unputdownable!
This book expands upon the setting of Ender's Game, and surpasses it. Beautifully written Speaker for the Dead gives the reader something to sink into and be a part of. Read more

Published on 27 Sep 2000 by adr@sarcastic.co.uk

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Xenocide (The Ender saga)

Xenocide is Card's best-selling sequel to the Hugo Award-winning... Read more
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	83% buy the item featured on this page: Speaker for the Dead (Ender Wiggins Saga) 4.7 out of 5 stars (20)
	10% buy Ender's Game (The Ender saga) 4.8 out of 5 stars (96) �5.24
	2% buy Children of the Mind (The Ender saga) 3.0 out of 5 stars (8) �5.99
	2% buy Xenocide (The Ender saga) 3.6 out of 5 stars (14) �5.99


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Speaker for the Dead (Ender Wiggins Saga) (Mass Market Paperback)

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