Ender's Game: Speaker for the Dead [Hardcover]

I've read all the graphic novel adaptations of Orson Scott Card's novels. This is by far the best one. While it's hard to condense a 300+ page novel into a 75-page comic book --some interesting elements have to be jettisoned--this adaptation flows very smoothly and I never felt like I was missing vital information or background on the characters. The script writer and artist avoided the problems that plagued adaptations of Wyrms (too much information rushed and glossed over), and Ender in Exile (whole subplots omitted). The artwork was clear and evocative, never confusing. If I had not already read the novel, if this was my first and only exposure to Speaker for the Dead, I would have certainly felt this was a complete and wholly realized story in comic form.

I've read most of the graphic novel adaptations of Card's work, and at first I was doubtful of how well the format could adapt a work as complex and nuanced as Speaker for the Dead, which is far less action-packed and more philosophical than Ender's Game and other works. I was a little bit let down by Formic Wars: Burning Earth as I felt it didn't have the sort of emotional impact that Card's Ender series always has, and I was concerned that this impact would be lessened in this new version of Speaker. My fears were quickly put to rest, though - this graphic novel does a remarkable job of conveying everything that's meaningful in the original book. I was very impressed by how well the incredibly lengthy dialogue of the book was condensed into the most bare-bones relevancy suited for a graphic novel. It didn't feel nearly as rushed as I was expecting, nor did it leave out any of the important plot elements. Jane, Marcos, and all of Novinha's children were present and all of their personalities were as distinct and memorable as they are in the book (and all of the human characters, especially Ender, were drawn perfectly and totally true to how I envisioned the characters). The story and the characters were all certainly streamlined, but it was about as good as I could have expected in a graphic novel.

My only real critique of the work is that Lusitania itself was too earth-like and the aliens too anthropomorphized. The planet's environments were not drawn in a way that came across as a convincing alien world, especially the trees, which looked basically indistinguishable from earth trees. The Pequeninos were somewhat better, as they didn't look exactly like pigs as I was worried they would, but their expressions and mannerisms still came across as far more humanlike than they did in the book. It's a very minor quibble, though, as I understand that a certain amount of familiarity in appearance is necessary for human readers to identify with the characters. All in all, this is definitely my favorite of Card's graphic novel adaptations so far, and is well deserving of five stars.

I purchased this for my grandson, and he absolutely loves the book. He read the first installation in high school English last year and really enjoyed it, so naturally, the second installment was a no-brainer. He has been reading it only a short time (like about 1 week) and has only 30 pages to go! He thinks it is a great book.