About the Book
Three thousand planet-bound years have fled while Ender the star-traveller remains young. In that time his name has become anathema, for he is the one who killed an entire race of thinking, feeling beings. No other has been found – until Lusitania is discovered.
The young race there is a chance for mankind to redeem the previous destruction. The only humans allowed near them are trained xenobiologists. But once again there are tragic misunderstandings. And when Ender, as Andrew Wiggins, is called to Lusitania to speak the terrible deaths of men killed by the aliens, he walks into a maelstrom of fear and hatred.
The Long Story
In the second of the Ender books, Card brings us to a whole new world filled with wonderful creatures the reader wants to learn more about and human characters that are easy to love. As they are easy to love, it is also easy to get caught up in their lives and emotions.
Which I, of course, did.
From the beginning, this story presented a mystery – the mystery of the piggies – I was as eager to solve as the characters were. Overshadowing all the smaller mysteries was the large mystery of exactly who and what the piggies are which was revealed at the end and went above all my highest expectations.
Ender’s words and reactions struck hard with me at some points. Even I was wondered how to make the piggies fit into human terms instead of making the humans fit into piggy terms. That is, until Ender made it clear how he felt about things.
Card does a very good job of presenting not just a different culture but a different life form. He teaches us in story form how to appreciate and learn from each others differences instead of following the assimilation instinct.
He also makes use of using the plant-bound versus light speed time to his advantage. He doesn’t make the reader feel ‘jostled’ or out of sorts with the time differences.
The Short Story
Spreaker for the Dead did not set my mind spinning like Ender’s Game did, but I still enjoyed thought-provoking storylines. As I expected, Card made me think long after reading the last page, which I believe is the mark of a good novel.
***
Rating: 4 ½ Stars
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Children of the Mind
Orson Scott Card
http://www.hatrack.com/
ISBN: 978-0812550757
Length: 416 Pages