Review: Speaker for the Dead
Orson Scott Card is among the best contemporary sci-fi authors out there. Ender’s Game sits near the top of my top 10 all-time favorites list. Like the masters before him, he knows good science fiction is more than just creating cool futuristic gadgets or weird aliens. Card has a deep understanding of human nature. Not only does he present a “what-if” in his stories, he tries to explore how the thing will impact society, his characters, and what it means for the future.
The sequel to Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead, was published and received almost equal critical acclaim as its predecessor. With sky-high expectations and the inevitable comparisons with the first novel, the book faced serious headwinds. Despite the obstacles, Speaker for the Dead triumphed, taking on new themes while connecting with the characters and events of the first novel.
While I would agree Ender’s Game is the better of the two, it is a marvel Card was able to follow up with such a strong unplanned sequel.
Three thousand years after Ender’s victory over the buggers, humanity has colonizes one hundred worlds across the galaxy. On the planet of Lusitania, humanity lives side-by-side with an intelligent yet primitive species of pig-like aliens. In what appears to be a cultural misunderstanding, a leading scientist on Lusitania is murdered by the alien piggies.
On the nearby world of Trondheim, Ender Wiggin, his life extended thanks to time dilation from near light speed travel, is a teacher and prominent spiritual leader known as a “Speaker for the Dead.” No one knows his true identity except for his beloved sister Valentine. He is called to Lusitania to speak of the dead scientist. With him he carries the dormant cocoon of a hive queen, still searching for a world for her and rebuild the bugger race.
Card moves on from the military aspect of Ender’s life and places him in a new diplomatic role. Ender wants to atone for his role in the near annihilation of the buggers, but also ensure that humanity as a whole doesn’t make the same mistake again. He fears another inter-species misunderstanding.
Ender also fulfills a new religious role as the “speaker for the dead.” The new human government gives the speaker a specialized role, with certain legal authorities that give him access to Lusitania. His authority is in direct opposition to the Catholic Church, which is still an influential religious institution in the future. As a result, Ender is met with suspicion when he arrives on Lusitania. Just as with aliens, he understands the Catholic Church, and comes to appreciate them. His approach is disarming and allows him to overcome.
The biggest challenge for Ender is the intransigence of Novinha, the woman who called him to Lusitania. She feels responsible for the death of the scientist, and now seeks to block human interaction and understanding of the piggies. As Ender arrives, her abusive husband dies as well, leaving her family drowning in conflicting feelings of pain but also relief. Her guilt weighs heavily, driving her to punish herself. Her children live in the shadow of her choices, unable to understand. Some love and adore her. Others hate her. Yet Novinha is the key to unlocking the mystery behind the piggies’ murderous acts and the Lusitanian ecosystem.
While battle school was a highly competitive environment filled with brilliant children, Lusitania is a provincial town dominated by its turbulent past, religious prejudices, and a collection of adult characters dealing with their past choices. It is an entirely new setting and new set of themes.
The anti-militaristic theme of loving your enemy is present, but is extended to understanding and loving the unknown, what is foreign or alien. Empathy is desperately needed not only between humans and piggies, but also within Novinha’s family. To be clear, Card is no hippy. This is not about blind love and compassion for others, it is about understanding. From understanding follows love, not the other way around.
As much as I loved the depth of the book, there were certain aspects of the older Ender I did not appreciate. He has grown into an almost omnipotent being, a new age messiah. He has an AI companion named Jane who is all powerful within the interstellar internet. In addition to Ender’s prominent status as an intellectual, a speaker, and a family therapist, it is all bit too much. Where he doesn’t have brilliant abilities, he has Jane, a powerful ally that is inexplicably awarded to him. It is sort of too good to be true.
Ender also has an instant and powerful impact on the inhabitants of Lusitania. People seem to drawn to him and melt in his arms. He is a prodigy, but for him to have such a tremendous aptitude in human relations and diplomacy is puzzling. In Ender’s Game, you learn a lot about the origin of his greatness. In Speaker for the Dead, it is inherent and unexplained.
The origins of the Lusitanian ecosystem is a little unrealistic. It is the result of a plague that killed off millions of species, leaving only a few symbiotic survivors. The theory of evolution doesn’t support the case for such an effective killer. Viruses tend not to thrive when they kill off their hosts with such proficiency. It’s a a small technical thing, but it sort of bothered me. The rest of the science is sound.
Ender’s Game is the superior of the two, but not by much. Speaker for the Dead is an excellent sci-fi novel in its own right. The flaws are minor and are overshadowed by Card’s impressive imagination, thematic depth, and understanding of human psychology.
J
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