Speaker for the Dead (63/81)

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
Category: Audiobooks (CATEGORY COMPLETE 5/25/09)

If you haven't read the first book in this series, Ender's Game, this is a **spoiler alert** for that story.

Three thousand years after Ender defeated the Buggers, another alien group is in danger of being eradicated due to a similar misunderstanding. On Lusitania, the "piggies" are kept separate from people, except those few privileged to study their way of life while never giving away anything about human culture or technology. The peace on Lusitania is threatened, however, when one of these humans is brutally killed by the piggies. No one exactly knows why, but one of his apprentices, Novenha, knows it has something to do with information she learned. She calls for a Speaker of the Dead and Ender (who has been traveling a lot at near-light-speed and has only aged to about 29 due to the relativity of time) answers the call.

Perhaps this was not the best book to choose as an audiobook to listen to as I fell asleep, and this certainly had an impact on my enjoyment of the story. First, the particular audio version I listened to had 3 narrators, who switched off based on the point of view the narrative was coming from (it was always third person, but we see events from several different perspectives). So I had to get used to about 3 different interpretations of different people's voices. Secondly, it's a complicated story that took me about three weeks to listen to, long enough that I didn't always remember exactly what happened and didn't have the ability to flip back a few chapters and refresh my memory. Still, I would recommend it to those who had enjoyed Ender's Game and didn't mind something a little meatier. Speaker for the Dead raises ethical questions about leaving different cultures alone to preserve them, and has a lot to say about the power of speaking the truth. 4 stars.

The Bar Code Tattoo - 78/81

The Bar Code Tattoo, by Suzanne Weyn, teen category

The government knows everything about you. Where you live, where you work, your entire genetic code. And they keep track of you. But only for your own protection, of course. You have no reason to complain - unless you have something to hide. Right?

Kayla is a high school student with a talent for art, but when she refuses to get the bar code tattoo, her defiance starts making trouble for her in all kinds of unexpected ways. Who can she trust? Where can she hide?

This dystopian novel for teens is so close to reality on so many levels, that it makes for a slightly uncomfortable read. Could this really happen? I like to hope not, but I may of course be wrong.

I enjoyed the world in this one. The setting was very well done, and the ramifications well imagined in their chilling consequences. But the characters were not as well done, so I'm only giving it 4 stars. Still, a quick read that will still have me thinking for days to come.

Dune - 69/81

Dune by Frank Herbert, new author category

Paul Atreides is only 15 when his father is killed and he and his mother escape to the deep desert, in hopes of finding a new life. But he is destined for great things.

This is such a huge book - and I'm not talking about size. I mean in scope. Herbert creates political system, religion, myth, ecology, and whole races of people. It took me a couple of chapters to get into the world of this book, but once there, I found it compelling reading. When I wasn't reading the book, I was thinking about it. I felt that he left several loose ends, but I'm sure that's because there are several more books to answer some of those questions.

I'm not sure why I never read this until now. Maybe because I knew it was 'sci-fi' and I had some preconceived idea of how it would be. It sounded dry and boring. I was completely wrong there. Maybe I thought it would be too technical or hard to read, but that wasn't the case either.

Overall, I'm really glad I picked this one on impulse to fill a slot in the new author category. I think I will have to read the next one in the series and see what happens next.