Title: Speaker for the Dead
Author: Orson Scott Card
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 382
The book I read this week was called "Speaker for the Dead". It sounds like it might be a really creepy book, but really, it's not. The Speaker for the Dead is a person who travels around the many planets to "speak" peoples' deaths. He/she will find the truth about the life of the deceased one and talk about it. Since it takes many years to travel between planets, a "speak" may not happen for a certain person until twenty years after their death. This book follows the path of the original Speaker for the Dead, who lived 3000 years ago. Back when he was a child, he had been a military genius, and had been responsible for the massacre of a whole planet of alien species. His name was Ender, and he was a hero, as it was believed that the aliens, known as "Buggers" had been trying to wipe out the human species. However, Ender had not completely eradicated the Buggers. There was one egg of a hive queen, with many more eggs inside of her. Ender found this egg, and the hive queen spoke to him. She taught him the desolation of having your entire species wiped out, and how the Buggers had never mean to kill humans. Ender felt true remorse for what he had done. He then wrote a book under the pseudonym, "Speaker for the Dead" called "The Hive Queen and the Hegemon", which talked about the differences between humans and Buggers, and helped people understand who the Buggers were. Ender became hated and was known as "Ender the Xenocide," whereas the "Speaker for the Dead" became a hero.
3000 years later, no one knew it, but Ender was still alive. He was only 35 years old, because he had spent his time traveling in light years between planets and doing "speakings". What was 20 years on Earth was only a week when he was traveling through space. He carried the egg of the hive queen with him, in the hopes of finding a new planet where the Buggers could safely begin to live again. He was called to speak at a planet called Lusitania, which contained the only other intelligent alien lifeforms encountered since the Buggers. Ender become deeply involved in the affairs of Lusitania, and, in the end, decides to stay there permanently.
This book is one of the best ones I have ever read. It is gripping, but not in a scary kind of way. It is interesting, and the author really develops his characters. You really get to bond with them and understand the way they feel. It is an excellent novel, and I would recommend it to anyone who is in eighth grade or older. The concepts and language in the book is a little difficult, and there were some parts that I still do not really understand, but overall, I would give it a 100/100.
Author: Orson Scott Card
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 382
The book I read this week was called "Speaker for the Dead". It sounds like it might be a really creepy book, but really, it's not. The Speaker for the Dead is a person who travels around the many planets to "speak" peoples' deaths. He/she will find the truth about the life of the deceased one and talk about it. Since it takes many years to travel between planets, a "speak" may not happen for a certain person until twenty years after their death. This book follows the path of the original Speaker for the Dead, who lived 3000 years ago. Back when he was a child, he had been a military genius, and had been responsible for the massacre of a whole planet of alien species. His name was Ender, and he was a hero, as it was believed that the aliens, known as "Buggers" had been trying to wipe out the human species. However, Ender had not completely eradicated the Buggers. There was one egg of a hive queen, with many more eggs inside of her. Ender found this egg, and the hive queen spoke to him. She taught him the desolation of having your entire species wiped out, and how the Buggers had never mean to kill humans. Ender felt true remorse for what he had done. He then wrote a book under the pseudonym, "Speaker for the Dead" called "The Hive Queen and the Hegemon", which talked about the differences between humans and Buggers, and helped people understand who the Buggers were. Ender became hated and was known as "Ender the Xenocide," whereas the "Speaker for the Dead" became a hero. 3000 years later, no one knew it, but Ender was still alive. He was only 35 years old, because he had spent his time traveling in light years between planets and doing "speakings". What was 20 years on Earth was only a week when he was traveling through space. He carried the egg of the hive queen with him, in the hopes of finding a new planet where the Buggers could safely begin to live again. He was called to speak at a planet called Lusitania, which contained the only other intelligent alien lifeforms encountered since the Buggers. Ender become deeply involved in the affairs of Lusitania, and, in the end, decides to stay there permanently.
This book is one of the best ones I have ever read. It is gripping, but not in a scary kind of way. It is interesting, and the author really develops his characters. You really get to bond with them and understand the way they feel. It is an excellent novel, and I would recommend it to anyone who is in eighth grade or older. The concepts and language in the book is a little difficult, and there were some parts that I still do not really understand, but overall, I would give it a 100/100.
I remember when you were telling me about it :) I would love to try reading that book, seems very exciting and mysterious.
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