A brief disclaimer: While I recommend this book wholeheartedly, the author has shown himself to be a severe bigot and homophobe. If you wish to read this book, buy it used or don't buy it at all; I cannot endorse supporting the author in any respect.

This is a book of - duality, of forgiveness, of understanding of those outside yourself and love for people despite and because of their flaws. The opening quotation from Demosthenes, about the varelse and raman, about how when a species is judged as raman and not varelse, it is not an advancement in that species' maturity but in that of the judges -- this quotation is relevant throughout the book, particularly in at the end of the book, at the death that Andrew speaks. (I won't say much more than that, as it would spoil the story!)

I first read this book in late middle school, when I was a child, more Ender than Speaker or Andrew. I enjoyed it then; but now I am grown, now I have sinned, now I find my own guilt in Novinha, in Andrew. This tale speaks to me as much as Ender's Game ever did, and I will carry it with me as much as anything.

"For he loved her, as you can only love someone who is an echo of yourself at your time of deepest sorrow."

Five stars, and a permanent place on my shelf. No other review was ever a possibility. ( )

bello!!!! completamente diverso dal primo
uno di quei libri che puoi rileggere ad ogni lustro
Orson Scott Card entra a pieno titolo fra i miei autori del cuore ( )

Still love it! ( )

Sequel to Ender's Game, set three thousand years after its end. Ender is now a Speaker for the Dead, recounting the lives, motives, thoughts and actions of those he is called to speak.

Orson Scott Card wrote Ender's Game almost as an introduction to this book. Although it did not recieve as much recognition, it deals with many more complex issues - especially the treatment of strangers through Demosthenes' groupings of utlanning, framling, ramen and varelse. Much of the story focuses on recognising that the species known as piggies are ramen, the stranger that is human but not homo sapiens, rather than varelse, like the animals. Brings up ideas of how we judge others that we don't know. Neither the Xenocide nor minimal intervention is the right way.

Other characters include Novinha, a xenobiologist, and her children in the colony. They tell us something of fear and guilt, and the way that different people deal with different issues (Ender's speaking is masterful in its comprehension of the events, as well as the audience reaction.)

Enjoyable also due to the concepts of scifi technology introduced. The ansibles enable instantaneous communication, but the ideas behind starflight, protection, genetic engineering, and the unique biology of Lusitania are ideas worth revisiting.

Definitely looking forward to Xenocide, the next book. ( )

Might currently be my favorite book (circa 2020).

Significantly better than Ender's Game; the ending of the first book was simply worthless. ( )