Speaker for the Dead: Book 2 of the Ender Saga

Orson Scott Card

Sep 2011 · Hachette UK

About this ebook

'There aren't too many recent sf novels we can confidently call truly moral works, but Speaker for the Dead is one. It's a completely gripping story.' - The Toronto Star

'Achieves and delivers more than almost anything else within the science fiction genre, Ender's Game is a contemporary classic' - New York Times on Ender's Game

A FALLEN HERO - HAUNTED BY HIS PAST, BUT CAN HE CHANGE THE FUTURE?

Ender Wiggin was once considered a great military leader, a saviour for mankind.
But now history judges his destruction of an alien race as monstrous rather than heroic.

In the aftermath of the war, Ender disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: The Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story behind the battle with the aliens. Now, years later, a second alien race has been discovered. But again they are strange and frightening - and again, humans are dying.

It is only the Speaker for the Dead, secretly Ender Wiggin, who has the courage to confront the mystery . . . and the truth.

The Hugo and Nebula award-winning sequel to the classic science fiction novel ENDER'S GAME - soon to be released as a major motion picture starring Harrison Ford.

Books by Orson Scott Card:

Alvin Maker novels
Seventh Son
Red Prophet
Prentice Alvin
Alvin Journeyman
Heartfire
The Crystal City

Ender Wiggin Saga
Ender's Game
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind
Ender in Exile

Homecoming
The Memory of the Earth
The Call of the Earth
The Ships of the Earth
Earthfall
Earthborn

First Formic War (with Aaron Johnston)
Earth Unaware
Earth Afire
Earth Awakens

Ratings and reviews

It managed to be completely different to the first book, yet follow on so perfectly. I was so involved that every spare minute I had I was reading, it's not often I get so absorbed in a book that I finish in 4 days, but I felt that I belonged in the book. It made me feel whole when I was reading and reality became the dream (probably partially due to being on holiday in Cambodia while I was reading so wherever I was it wasn't ordinary life). This and Enders Game are my favourite 2 books. Never have I been able to relate to characters the way they allowed me to. Superb.

Will written and somewhat engaging but it is so tenuously linked to Enders Game that doesn't feel like a sequel at all unfortunately. From the first page Ender in this book has little resemblance to the first book, with too little explanation to make it truly believable they are the same character.

Most likely due to the gap between writing Ender's Game and this, Card has changed his formula completely. Instead of an action, 'save the world', narrative, Speaker for the Dead is very different, instead focusing on the relationships Ender develops with a family on Lusitania and his interpersonal skills instead of his military ones. A thoroughly excellent Science Fiction, Card retains the feel of the first book while going askew of everything the original was.

About the author

Orson Scott Card is the award-winning author of the Ender saga, the Alvin Maker series and the Homecoming series. He lives with his wife and children in the US.