Speaker For the Dead
Eulogies for the fallen
Author: Orson Scott Card
Year first published: 1986
Original Language: English
Genre: Science Fiction
I originally found Ender's Game (the first book in the series) in a box of free sci-fi paperbacks on the side of the road in my neighborhood. I had never heard of it, despite its fame, but read it all the same, and loved it.
I then learned that there was a sequel! So I checked the library and sure enough, they had it!
Speaker for the Dead stars the titular main character of the first book, now older and going by the name Andrew, with the last egg of the Formics in tow. Though millenia had passed, he and his sister spent most of it in stasis during interstellar travel.
I thought the concept of the Speaker was very interesting and honorable, a person who speaks of the life of someone in detail with full truths, good or bad, without judgment of the actions, only the facts and information. Sometimes the people we know and love are not the people we thought they were, but that's okay.
What I really enjoyed from the world building is the peculiar life cycle of the porcine Pequeninos, as well as the slowly unfolding mystery behind them. I don't particularly care how "realistic" their life cycle is, it's fiction. I'm just here for a good time. Plus, interesting and strange life forms are always fun. Aliens are, well, alien to us. Even some of our own earth creatures are incredibly odd.
I found the book very engaging, and I really liked Andrew's characterization. There was, however, a very large amount of fairly graphic violence, including domestic abuse, and I didn't enjoy it as much as I did Ender's Game, but it was a solid read, even if Card can't really keep his own character info straight through the series.
That said, it has been over a decade since I’ve read it, and some of the details are a bit fuzzy, but I don’t feel like I will reread this book, or this series. I wasn’t that impressed with Xenocide, and I remember having trouble getting through Children of the Mind, so much that it felt like a chore to read before I had reached the end.
I also couldn’t really get through the Bean saga either, a.k.a. Ender’s Shadow. I just didn’t find it quite as compelling as Ender’s Game and Speaker. That said, Ender and Speaker for the Dead are well worth checking out, and you can decide from there if you want to finish the series and read more.
Review posted 2023/09/13