Speaker for the Dead

Three thousand years after the war, Ender travels between worlds as the Speaker for the Dead, telling the truth about the lives of the dead. He's called to Lusitania, a Brazilian Catholic colony that is home to the pequeninos, the second intelligent species humanity has met. Two xenologers, Pipo and his son Libo, were killed in a ritual no one understands. Ender unravels the secrets of Novinha's family: her children are Libo's, not her husband's. He shows that the Descolada virus pairs every life form on the planet with another, and that for the pequeninos death becomes a tree and new life. The colony breaks with Congress. Ender marries Novinha, hands the AI Jane over to Miro and finally plants the Hive Queen's cocoon.

1. Behind the scenesTwo years, two Hugos

   Speaker for the Dead won the Nebula and the Hugo, just as Ender's Game had the year before.

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2. Behind the scenes"Unfilmable," says Card

   In 2013, the year of the film, Card said this book can't be filmed: it would be mostly talking heads. He also said readers had held real "Speakings" at funerals.

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