tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post4399985518090342016..comments2023-11-05T04:09:53.857-05:00Comments on Something Short and Snappy: Speaker for the Dead, chapter eighteen, in which Card hurriedly scrawls To Be Continued across the pageErika The Over Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03649072707709302370noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-2599059918958591412015-04-11T14:40:18.780-04:002015-04-11T14:40:18.780-04:00Here's a thought, after three thousand years y...Here's a thought, after three thousand years you'd think living to a hundred wouldn't even be particularly remarkable.The Wizard of Woah!http://wizard-of-woah.deviantart.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-89251336604769479232014-06-26T16:53:51.571-04:002014-06-26T16:53:51.571-04:00I maintain that Game had to be written so that Car...I maintain that Game had to be written so that Card could use the smart-bullied-kid-becomes-hero narrative trap to get people to care about Ender as a character. He doesn't do anything to make us care about him in Speaker. He's just riding on any previously accrued affection.boutetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-88588972714597708992014-06-26T08:52:48.554-04:002014-06-26T08:52:48.554-04:00I have to object to the notion of "To be cont...I have to object to the notion of "To be continued." That implies the story will continue, and that in turn implies we had a story in the first place.GeniusLemurnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-88037852250781492712014-06-26T08:42:23.369-04:002014-06-26T08:42:23.369-04:00But her children aren't frustrating anymore! E...But her children aren't frustrating anymore! Ender visited for five minutes and fixed them all, remember? And that's perfectly realistic, because Ender's <i>just that wonderful</i>.GeniusLemurnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-3465386551768665892014-06-26T01:56:58.939-04:002014-06-26T01:56:58.939-04:00Good point.Good point.depizannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-42106098698587466282014-06-26T01:28:59.093-04:002014-06-26T01:28:59.093-04:00But then I remember that not all of the colonists ...But then I remember that not all of the colonists are horrible, not to mention the matter of the Hive Queen.<br /><br />In fairness, pretty much the only reason the Hive Queen is less horrible than most characters in this book is that she's currently an inanimate object. Considering that the rest of the Formics almost oops'ed humanity to death and then lost a pointless war of extinction to a preteen, I don't have high hopes for her post-hatching future.Anton_Matesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-21233525863846709552014-06-26T00:54:46.590-04:002014-06-26T00:54:46.590-04:00"I would rather tell you that your body would...<i>"I would rather tell you that your body would be as it was before you climbed the fence, that you would have all the vigor and control of a twenty-year-old. But I'm very glad that I don't have to tell you that you will be bedridden all your life, diapered and catheterized, able to do nothing more than listen to soft music and wonder where your body went."</i><br /><br />Is that for real the dialogue from the book? Because it sounds like something out of a parody soap opera. That's absurd! And horrible! I have had doctors tell me shitty, shitty things, but that's just too ludicrous to put in a serious book. When people come in for check ups, does he tell them "Hey, good news, we don't have to amputate all your limbs! :D" or "Your blood work came back, I'm afraid you're diabetic. But, hey, good news, at least you're not terminally ill with cancer, leprosy, and Bothan Nether Rot, and doomed to slowly dissolve into a pile of cancerous goo! :D"<br /><br /><i>Card seems to believe that getting old is equivalent to contracting motor neuron disease, for some reason.</i><br /><br /><i>Incidentally, I don't think Card knows the difference between taming and domestication.</i><br /><br />Card may be aware of the word "research," but all evidence strongly suggests he doesn't know what it means.<br /><br /><i>Forget the ecosystem; this is a suicidal move for humans themselves. If you cover the planet with organisms that synthesize Descolada blockers, you create a perfect environment for Descolada to evolve blocker resistance. After which it will resume wiping out everything non-native again, humans included.</i><br /><br />I'm tempted to call that a happy ending. But then I remember that not all of the colonists are horrible, not to mention the matter of the Hive Queen.<br /><br /><i>Um, anti-Little-One propaganda from where? Who's capable of distributing propaganda around the galaxy, against Jane's will, and why would they want to? I thought Congress wanted to evacuate the colony quietly?</i><br /><br /><br /><br />Clearly, it's coming from...er... um... Yeah, I got nothin'.<br /><br /><br />Card seems to have forgotten that Jane <i>is</i> the internet.depizannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-31354293442667930012014-06-25T23:57:18.438-04:002014-06-25T23:57:18.438-04:00Oh, I should probably note that the graphic novel ...Oh, I should probably note that the graphic novel skips pretty much ALL of this. It jumps from Ender planting Human to Ender and Olhado burying the Hive Queen egg. We do see Little Ones tending fields, there's a line of dialogue that Jane is helping Miro, and a line of dialogue about Novinha possibly being in love with Ender, but that's all that remains of this terribly creepy chapter.depizannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-78635062374586057392014-06-25T17:38:04.302-04:002014-06-25T17:38:04.302-04:00I'd say the problem is that Ouanda doesn't...I'd say the problem is that Ouanda <i>doesn't want to</i>, and Miro can't accept this as being a free and eminently understandable choice on her part. Not a healthy response to a breakup, really.Anton_Matesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-17822394397205609742014-06-25T12:11:02.898-04:002014-06-25T12:11:02.898-04:00Two things of many will I refute from this chapter...Two things of many will I refute from this chapter: the uselessness of cripples [Word used deliberately--<br />keep reading] and the 'understanding someone means you love them".<br /><br />There is a really good blog called "Smart Ass Cripple" out there. The eponymous cripple (he calls himself that) talks about his life as a quadriplegic. He uses humour, satire, and (occasionally) rage to make his point: Cripples are Humans.<br /><br /><br /><br />As for 'understanding someone means you love them', I suggest you read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/HHhH-Novel-Laurent-Binet/dp/1250033349" rel="nofollow">HHhH</a>, which is about Reinhart Heydrich (Himmler's right-hand man, and architect of the Final Solution) and his assassins. At the end of the book, you have a good understanding as to what made Heydrich tick, but he remains one of the most evil men the twentieth century produced. And he wasn't born evil! He <i>chose</i> evil of his own will.<br /><br /><br />In the words of the philosopher Wildman, "This is just such a big steaming pile of WTF.JReynoldsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-60827720776704356782014-06-24T15:34:58.299-04:002014-06-24T15:34:58.299-04:00Pretty much. And everyone is trying to manipulate ...Pretty much. And everyone is trying to manipulate each other while trying to act like they are not manipulating each other. Such good values. Such fun. -_-<br /><br /><br />Also I dislike retconning. BE CONSISTENT!chromesthesianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-69999609457940018872014-06-24T15:05:52.986-04:002014-06-24T15:05:52.986-04:00Ew.Ew.chromesthesianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-37325665693896597032014-06-24T13:44:18.244-04:002014-06-24T13:44:18.244-04:00In Card World? Better infertile than (gasp) being ...In Card World? Better infertile than (gasp) being able to have children and deliberately choosing not to.<br /><br />'sides, it could always be Novinha's issue. Past success in the fertility department doesn't mean someone can't develop problems later. I like to think her ovaries went on strike after Ender made his remarks about "plowing her fields" or what the hell ever.cinderkeysnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-68487246166218854452014-06-24T13:24:07.461-04:002014-06-24T13:24:07.461-04:00Should read: Miro's mother.Should read: Miro's mother.hfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-71461710543625938192014-06-24T13:22:56.064-04:002014-06-24T13:22:56.064-04:00I am deeply distressed that Miro casts 'not wa...<i>I am deeply distressed that Miro casts 'not wanting to bone your sibling' as the product only of bowing to popular belief</i><br /><br /><br />Really? If not for the inconsistent technology* and the implied Catholic restrictions, seems like they would have no trouble at all guaranteeing healthy children (supposing they still want to have children). And they weren't raised as siblings** - what's the problem here?<br /><br /><br /><br />*Given the inconsistency, maybe they already expected many of their children to die.<br />**Actually, did Libo agree with this reasoning? He encouraged them to imitate their biological father and mother.hfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-78893405539074053992014-06-24T12:10:26.543-04:002014-06-24T12:10:26.543-04:00Oh noes! You made an analogy involving Sargon I, s...Oh noes! You made an analogy involving Sargon I, so now we have automatically lost the argument with Card! (Or do threads about Ender the Xenocide come pre-Godwinned?)Steve Morrisonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-87700370202223539372014-06-24T11:50:49.415-04:002014-06-24T11:50:49.415-04:00Maybe we'd actually have a coherent plot and p...Maybe we'd actually have a coherent plot and people not being artificially and unbelievably incompetent. In other words, not tying this book to Ender's Game could only improve it. Yay. *cries*depizannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-11032280665093396372014-06-24T11:49:49.493-04:002014-06-24T11:49:49.493-04:00*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
Man, I'm gl...*headdesk*<br />*headdesk*<br />*headdesk*<br /><br /><br />Man, I'm glad his super power isn't supposed to be empathy or anything.depizannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-61896827786783142732014-06-24T11:49:08.677-04:002014-06-24T11:49:08.677-04:00Yeah, the sainted disabled person is a problematic...Yeah, the sainted disabled person is a problematic trope all on it's own. It rather sounds as though Card is trying to have it both ways with Miro. Miro's all "woe is me, I am no longer human" and everyone else is "He's The Best of Us (TM)!" I may barf.depizannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-27310525716782569392014-06-24T11:45:05.353-04:002014-06-24T11:45:05.353-04:00Well, of course. You think Card, with his bizarre...Well, of course. You think Card, with his bizarre attitudes toward having children, would risk implying that Ender the Perfect Specimen of Humanity is <i>infertile</i>? Ahahahahaha.depizannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-28907033881983657932014-06-24T11:33:28.838-04:002014-06-24T11:33:28.838-04:00I really can't wait to hear about the introduc...I really can't wait to hear about the introduction. This book couldn't have been written without Ender's Game preceding it we have been told, and I can't for the life of me figure why. I ask myself what if the main character had not been Ender, and what if the Hive Queen and Jane were not in this book at all. How materially would those things have affected the narrative?Phil Pottsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-50225881397985853272014-06-24T11:05:32.457-04:002014-06-24T11:05:32.457-04:00Stupid parents in Ender and Exile couldn't tak...Stupid parents in Ender and Exile couldn't take a month off to visit him. I can see where he is coming from, but to marry a woman you barely know and have to deal with her frustrating children for that is a bad idea.chromesthesianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-87462097248760039052014-06-24T09:43:26.824-04:002014-06-24T09:43:26.824-04:00It did. And Ender was like, I will totally rip Jan...It did. And Ender was like, I will totally rip Jane out of my ear even though she is "dying" and just hoe with my wife at a nunnery/ monastery.chromesthesianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-50662516638855022822014-06-24T09:42:33.701-04:002014-06-24T09:42:33.701-04:00All OSC does is tell and not show! It makes me cra...All OSC does is tell and not show! It makes me crazy! GRRRR!chromesthesianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-73981184159216476392014-06-24T07:19:50.634-04:002014-06-24T07:19:50.634-04:00There's a fair bit of dialogue given over to e...There's a fair bit of dialogue given over to explaining how Miro is "the best of us" as well, despite his massive failures of science, problem-solving, foresight, and not-wanting-to-bang-his-sister. That would be a problem if Card cared about showing instead of telling, but he could maybe try harder rather than just "He's disabled and he's The Best Of Us, job done, A+ representation of quality characters with disabilities".Will Wildmanhttp://somethingshortandsnappy.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com