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)

A must listen to after Enders Game

Extremely good listen. The story was well written. you really empathise with the characters. The narrators were brilliant a must listen

Remarkable

No, this is not another Ender's Game. If that's what you want you won't find it here. But it is an absolutely brilliant and powerful book. So much so that at times it is difficult to continue reading so you have to shut it down and just think for a while. Could you ask for more?

Personally, I have never experienced a journey into an alternate reality which equals this. I am not sure whether I want to see the Piggies again or not. But I am sure glad I got to go there once ... without dying ;)

Superbly written story, Well narrated

I listened to Ender's Game by the same group of narrators. I watched the movie first. That story made me interested in Orson Scott Card and the other Ender stories. Speaker for the Dead confirmed my interest and I will continue reading/listening to these stories. Card is a very intelligent and insightful author. The narrators do a fine job telling the story and assisting the imagination! I only dislike the constant switching up of the different narrators. I creates inconsistency and confusion. After listening to about half of the book I was able to start making sense of the different characters and the storyline. One of the female narrators in particular gave me the impression that she was over-dramatizing the parts of the story that she narrated. Over all narrating a book is a very difficult job to do successfully and this group of narrators did a fine job. I recommend this book, both written and audio versions.

good but it could be better

Where does Speaker for the Dead rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

on a rank it would be 50/100

Would you recommend Speaker for the Dead to your friends? Why or why not?

yes but people who like fantasy would love this

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

i liked it pretty well i just liked the first better

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

no i listend to it in about a week

Any additional comments?

if you like fiction then you'll love this

incredible

Every chapter leaves me feeling speechless and humbled by his charters and world. I couldn't ask for a more full and beautiful style to a great plot.

Good book, good narration... with one issue

Any additional comments?

The woman reading makes all the women sound super over dramatic. Her style would fit in better with teen romance novels. At first I thought I hated how Card wrote women but I'm really thinking it's just her style that is making all the female characters completely repelling.

Moving

So far, I have listened to Ender's Game and this one, and so far, Orson Scott Card has been one of the very few authors to move me with his words. This book is as exciting as it is emotional. A great story told by a great author.

Slow Start

What made the experience of listening to Speaker for the Dead the most enjoyable?

The readers did a great job of giving the characters in the book a personality through their reading.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Speaker for the Dead?

For me the most memorable moment was the ending.

Which scene was your favorite?

When it was reveled how the piggies reproduced was my favorite seen.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There was nothing that I could say "Moved" me.

Any additional comments?

The book was very slow to start however about half way in I was glad I stuck with it.

Top ten!

I have read hundreds of books, this is among the ten best. If you read and liked Ender's Game, this one is more mature, better developed, just as engaging and just as satisfying. Worth the investment of time and money.

A truly wonderful story

What an adventure. If you enjoyed Enders game you must read this. The love between Valentine and Ender is very powerful.