Speaker for the Dead, By Orson Scott Card

I was confused in the beginning of this book. The author seemed critical of organized religion, specifically Catholicism. The way he describes the Bishop, actually every time he refers to the Bishop, he shows how self-important the man is, how much he cares about power over his people, how he is of lower intelligence than the other characters. Knowing as I read this of Mr. Card’s comments on homosexuals, these things confused me. But, then I noticed how the author treated the people who ran the school: The Children of the Mind of Christ. These people were wise and kind and understanding, and much more likable. So my theory now is that Card is a religious man, he just doesn’t like the Catholic church. Okay, I just checked and according to the internet he’s a Mormon.

Now on to the actual book: I really enjoyed reading this. It’s been a few weeks since I finished Ender’s Game, and I was missing Ender a little bit. In this book Ender unwraps the mystery of an alien race, heals a broken family, and starts another war—he’s a very busy 2000-year-old man.

I was wowed by the science-y stuff in here, like relativistic travel. Here’s the deal: when you set out for a planet that’s 20 light-years away, you will not reach that planet for 20 years. But, because your ship is traveling at “relativistic speeds” to you only a few weeks or days have passed. Ender and his sister have been planet-hopping, with Ender acting as a Speaker for the Dead, and with Valentine continuing her writing, usually writing histories of the planets they encounter. At the book’s opening, Ender and Valentine are only in their 30s, while back on Earth 2000 years have passed since they left. I just think that’s cool and confusing at the same time.
I don’t think that this series is going to make me suddenly interested in the science fiction genre, but I am very eager to see what happens to Ender and gang next