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)

Great story but hugely different from Ender's Game

Would you consider the audio edition of Speaker for the Dead to be better than the print version?

I did not read the print version.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the philosophical and social problems that are presented in encountering an alien race, changing perceptions in society on what is heroic and what is horrific, and determining/predicting rebellions and revolutions.

Just for those of you who are like me and haven't read any of this series... this story is VERY different from Ender's Game. I think I may have expected some more battles like Ender fought before. While still an excellent plot, it's very philosophical.

What aspect of David Birney and Stefan Rudnicki ’s performance would you have changed?

Their performances were excellent. However, there is a woman narrator who voices Ender's sister, Valentine... her voice tended to become somewhat annoying and overly dramatic at times.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Maybe not in one sitting but I found myself waiting for a chapter to finish while sitting in my car in the parking lot.

Loved the story.

Great story. Wish story was all one volume. Was kinda anoying turning it up and down so i could hear it or not hurt my ears.

A Man for all Time and All Places

Would you consider the audio edition of Speaker for the Dead to be better than the print version?

Not better, simply a different experience. When I read the book, I created the sounds of the humans, the piggies and the Hive Queen. I liked doing that and got a great deal out of it.

In listening to the narrators, some of the intonations and emphases were very different from mine, but were nevertheless, creative and made the story come alive.

What did you like best about this story?

Oh, this is wonderful story about acceptance of difference, forgiveness, faith, the limits of understanding, and star flight, alien planets and their life forms, the power of instantaneous communication and love.

I liked the mystery of the death of Pipo and Libo and Marcao being unfolded. I liked the development of and collapse of relationships between all the living beings on Lusitania. I liked the consistency of how star travel affects the age of the traveller and their relationship with those who remain land based.

I liked Ender and Jane, I liked Human and the Hive Queen, my heart reached out to Miro and Novinha.

It was such a good story just in itself, and the issues that come to the surface enriched my reading/listening

Did David Birney and Stefan Rudnicki do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

The slight alterations used to represent the various significant characters was easy to follow. I was impressed with their Portuguese too.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If only I could have stayed awake that long!

Any additional comments?

OSC says in his comments after the story that this was his idea of the original Ender book and that all the others (and I think there are 15) are simple pre- or se- quels to it. I can understand what he means by this - it is a beautifully crafted story that is very cleverly and closely developed. It works as a stand alone book, but is better when read/listened to in sequence.

Thought Provoking

What did you love best about Speaker for the Dead?

The character development was great. It really sets the stage of the ethical thought experiment tht Card lays out.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Nothing. Aside from Ender's Game, this is the best book of the series.

Very Inspirational

I found this story to be quite enthralling the narration was excellent the storyline and writing style was quite engaging...made for a great and warming story..

You won't want to turn it off!

Everything about this book is amazing!!! The voice actors couldn't have been better! I found myself doing chores around the house as an excuse to keep listening.

The reason I started reading sci-fi

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I purchased the audio versions of Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide to help survive a long flight and am glad I did. The audio books are quite good in terms of the voices although they can be a little slow in my opinion. I've read the books before...a long time ago in high school... but was reminded just how brilliant OSC is and how amazing these books are. I'm in the middle of Xenocide now and I also like it but sometimes the voices they use for the Hive Queen and the Piggies can be annoying. Still the audible versions are more than satisfying and I'm wishing I good give a huge hug to that kid in high school who shoved Ender's Game into my hands.

Good performance, needed coordination

The performance of each reader was very good, but there seemed to lack coordination between readers, with voices changing within chapters sometimes, and not reflecting different characters in the story (as far as I could tell).

outstanding story and delivery

a deep story far more intricate than its face value would imply with far deeper meaning than expected. The delivery was also outstanding with multiple performers leaving it riveting and hard to break away.

Couldn't Stop Listening

I wasn't sure when I first started listening. This book is definetly different than Ender's Game, but after listening to this a second time, in many ways I find this to be far better. If your a fan of Ender's Game, then I highly encourage you to continue listening to his adventure.