Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

We question all our beliefs, except for the ones we really believe, and those we never think to question.

As a contrast to Ender's Game, I finished Speaker for the Dead in days (and took me days only because of my current working schedule). This is the real book behind the first story - even Card says in his introduction that the book he really wanted to write was Speaker for the Dead - only it required the context of Ender's Game so he had to write that first. So where Ender's game is two dimensional, Speaker for the Dead comes alive with depth in story and characters, especially Ender and piggies were pretty complete (although I still think he should give up writing children). Where Ender's game was predictable, I didn't have any idea where Speaker for the Dead was going, and I love that.

Although in many ways (maybe all) Ender is a perfect example of a Mary Sue, surprisingly for me he wasn't irritating, in any way. I like his wisdom and his understanding, but still there's enough pain and humility that make him a good character. This book was intelligent and surprisingly emotional as I even cried in the end. And if that's not a sign of a good book, I don't know what is.

Loved it - but it also left the story very open. Henri said that rest of the books in the saga are really not very good - anyone else who's read them want to tell me if they are worth buying?

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