Speaker for the Dead

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: David Birney, Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

In the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender Wiggin disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: the Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story of the Bugger War. Now, long years later, a second alien race has been discovered by Portuguese colonists on the planet Lusitania. But again the aliens' ways are strange and frightening...again, humans die. And it is only the Speaker for the Dead, who is also Ender Wiggin the Xenocide, who has the courage to confront the mystery...and the truth. Orson Scott Card infuses this tale with intellect by casting his characters in social, religious, and cultural contexts.

This, the author's definitive edition of the sequel to Ender's Game, also includes an original postscript written and recorded by the author himself, Orson Scott Card!.

Browse more titles in the Ender Wiggin series.

©1986, 1990 Orson Scott Card (P)2002 Fantastic Audio, an Imprint of Audio Literature

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award Winner, Best Novel, 1987
• Nebula Award Winner, Best Novel, 1986

"The most powerful work Card has produced. Speaker not only completes Ender's Game, it transcends it." (Fantasy Review)

Beautiful deeper meaning

I loved this book. Ender's Game is a favorite childhood book of mine, and I wanted to delve deeper into Author Card's universe. As some has stated, this book is nothing like the first book. The first is built on strategy and seeing into the inner workings of a child's mind. This one, however, focuses on a full cast with Ender included, and it focuses more on their emotions and trials as a whole. Ender is a full grown adult now, and he should have the opportunity to view things in a different lens than he did as a child. Those who bash on this book seem to forget that characters can grow and change in their surroundings. Ender did just that. If you want to see Ender evolve into a terrific (but flawed) human being, definitely give this book a try!

Like the first book, this book focuses on an alien race that humankind has to learn to accept in order to live in peace.

Great story, complicated series order

The story is Superb, but the order of the series' is very hard to understand.

Masterful book

This is an Absolutely amazing book. Very deep. So many important meanings in the pages. Highly recommended !

Wraps your brain some in seeing how new life works

Understanding how new life ecosystems rely on each other and creating a religion and a belief around this is a beautiful ride to listen too.

Brilliant

Any additional comments?

There is a lot of controversy around Card but he still writes really interesting books that require the reader to think about the implications of each action and reaction. It is a wonderful masterpiece and deserves the reader to think critically about the ideas of Card.

It's NOT a Sequel...But It's GREAT!

Please, don't get this book if you are looking for the further adventures of Ender Wiggins and his buddies. It was never intended to be that kind of a book. It is a compelling, fascinating exploration into the concepts of human contact with other (very different) forms of sentient life. The aliens are alien! This book is the beginning of Orson Scott Card's finest work to date. You will need to get Xenocide and Children of the Mind to complete the story. I recommend all three.

This is an exceptionally good recording with wonderful performances. The use of several voices keeps the fact that the author is switching perspectives very clear. It is not an audio play. It's better.

Big improvement on Ender's Game

I found <i>Ender's Game</i> to be an okay novel at best. It was predictable and just not very interesting. <i>Speaker</i>, however, was much more engaging and interesting. The tragedy of the story is evident from the beginning, but the resolutions aren't quite as obvious. Some of the descriptions drag on - not uncommon in sci-fi or fantasy novels - but otherwise a much better done book.

From an audio perspective, this one was first-rate.

Great Storytelling

Great storytelling from Scott Card. A nicely woven story around the main character of Enders Game. Recommend. Personally I find the narration of different persons -with no apparent reason- a bit of a struggle. But it's a minor negative.

An emotional Sci-Fi book which is actually good

If you could sum up Speaker for the Dead in three words, what would they be?

Emotional, emotional, and engaging.

What other book might you compare Speaker for the Dead to and why?

None that I have read.

Any additional comments?

Piggies, Buggers and Human and the answer to the question, if we would ever be able to understand Aliens even if they have legs, arms and even if they speak our language. This is what The Speaker of the Dead deals with, and it does so by relating it to something as personal as funeral speeches. Alien and Personal, thats the number-one recipe for a success in Sci-Fi.

Good job OSC!

NB. Only thing that put me off was the sudden (and seeming random) places where music would cut in over the narration - never quite succeeding in what ever the point of that was.

Phenomenal

I enjoyed every minute of this book. 10/10 would recommend. The changing of readers was strange, but okay. Beside that, practically perfect in every way.