Speaker for the Dead

Orson Scott Card (author)

Legend Books, UK: 1992; 415pp

ISBN: 0099503204

Genres: science fiction

Issues: cultural differences, family, friendship, racism

advanced concepts

Three thousand years have passed since the young boy, Ender, managed to kill off an entire race of sentient beings by playing a computer game. His constant travels between the stars have kept him young while the worlds and societies around him age and change. In those millenia his name has become synonymous with destruction and he conceals himself behind a new role, that of Speaker for the Dead, humanist priest who reveals the truth, however unpalatable, to those who seek it.

In that three thousand years of guilt and grief, no other thinking, feeling, extra-terrestrial race has been found – until the discovery of the 'piggies' on Catholic Lusitania.Having learned from the destruction of the Buggers, humankind is now overly cautious in its approach to this new race, determined that the mistakes of the past will not be repeated on this world. Different difficulties arrive, however, and bloody and tragic misunderstandings.

It is only the arrival of Ender in his role as Andrew Wiggin, Speaker of the Dead, which reveals the true nature of the piggies' actions and the consequences of ignoring them. This is a remarkable novel with themes that reach far beyond its own world to challenge the reader to consider the motivations and thinking that lead to cultural conflict, genocide/xenocide and the breakdown of the family unit. Fascinating in the complexity of its characters, especially the integrity of the alien race, Speaker for the Dead, is a polished and sophisticated piece of writing.

Although the sequel to the award-winning Ender's Game, this outstanding novel stands alone despite using characters from the earlier novel.

Series: Ender's Game; Xenocide

Same Author: The Worthing Saga; Folk of the Fringe; Songmaster