Speaker For The Dead by Orson Scott Card (published in 1986)
I had a lot of expectations when I started this book, following Ender's Game. Card wrote in the introduction that this book had been his original intention. Ender's Game was written so that he could write Speaker. That said, I was pleased with the story. It did not have the same feel as Ender's Game, but that was ok. Ender had grown up, changed, and so had Card's writing. Unlike Ender's Game, I would not consider this adolescent science fiction.
The book starts thousands of years after the bugger wars. Ender is asked to Speak the death of a scientist, who died mysteriously through the hands of a new alien species, on the planet Luistania. Ender, prompted by the Hive Queen, agrees to investigate the planet and see if he can make the final atonements for the Buggers.
This book has minimal scenes of violence. Ender, although isolated, is much more free to discover the relationships around him. Card plays around a lot with language and symbolism as well as focusing on anthropology and sociology.
Lynn
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