tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post5576963193772081595..comments2023-11-05T04:09:53.857-05:00Comments on Something Short and Snappy: Speaker for the Dead, chapter eight, in which we genre shift to thriller-horrorErika The Over Queenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03649072707709302370noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-54435377297632963762014-05-29T18:14:26.193-04:002014-05-29T18:14:26.193-04:00Laughing. So. Hard.Laughing. So. Hard.Ana Mardollhttp://www.anamardoll.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-61215586347727344772014-03-07T12:32:31.449-05:002014-03-07T12:32:31.449-05:00I know, RIGHT?!?!?! GRAAAH!I know, RIGHT?!?!?! GRAAAH!chromesthesianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-61038252609314198282014-03-03T06:11:01.087-05:002014-03-03T06:11:01.087-05:00Hey, that could work. Although they're appare...Hey, that could work. Although they're apparently making cups, and sun-fired pottery doesn't work that well for holding liquids...but maybe they're just decorative.Anton_Matesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-7488248306544824082014-03-02T14:28:34.653-05:002014-03-02T14:28:34.653-05:00"Pottery has to be fired, which a) raises the..."<i>Pottery has to be fired, which a) raises the risk of forest fires, and b) requires at least some slow-burning fuel like wood or manure. That doesn’t seem like it would be super-suitable for a people who have no livestock and consider every tree to be massively precious and sacred.</i>"<br /><br /><br /><br />Good point, but it sounds like Lusitania is hot and sunny. So if the <i>pequeninos</i> make any pottery, maybe they can sun-fire it. "Yes, but they live in the woods." But, maybe if they have any clearings, they could sun-fire their pottery in those.bekabotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-84582290619092204872014-03-02T13:57:05.278-05:002014-03-02T13:57:05.278-05:00If any of this speculation is true then it proves ...If any of this speculation is true then it proves that Ender takes after the Catholic and not the Mormon side of his heritage. He drinks.bekabotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-85199469275923983712014-03-02T12:46:32.249-05:002014-03-02T12:46:32.249-05:00Eight firkins is not nearly enough Kessel Rum to m...Eight firkins is not nearly enough Kessel Rum to make this book acceptable.Ledasmomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-44494891552137113532014-03-01T20:58:41.024-05:002014-03-01T20:58:41.024-05:00Spoiler: Qb Raqre naq Abivaun npghnyyl unir nal pu...Spoiler: Qb Raqre naq Abivaun npghnyyl unir nal puvyqera gbtrgure? V qba’g unir n pbcl bs <i>Krabpvqr</i> unaql naq unira’g ernq vg sbe gjragl lrnef be fb, ohg V qba’g erzrzore gurve zneevntr npghnyyl erfhygvat va puvyqera.Steve Morrisonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-47494266489008857542014-03-01T11:37:02.419-05:002014-03-01T11:37:02.419-05:00Right. And then those almosts are always mysteriou...Right. And then those almosts are always mysteriously women or people of color, just shy of the Straight White Cismale Savior. I don't think I've seen a competent woman character who isn't second-fiddled.Silver Adeptnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-55746957737630982752014-03-01T01:15:27.094-05:002014-03-01T01:15:27.094-05:00Yep. I don't say it makes sense, just that it&...Yep. I don't say it makes sense, just that it's the explanation I remember being there. <br />I get a feeling that the colony people are so boring because Card thinks that most people just -are- that boring. Looking at his presentation of people who aren't super genius babies and thinking back to his intro to Game, I'm really getting a feeling that he thinks people are either hyper-competent super-humans or inane, mindless drones (with a special class of almost-competent but not quite good enough without a leader).boutetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-57386558458302734962014-03-01T00:16:38.392-05:002014-03-01T00:16:38.392-05:00Fear to the point that we don't even have day-...Fear to the point that we don't even have day-trippers that pack their lunch, skip outside, and then come back for dinner with the xenologers? The propaganda must be really good. I'm still skeptical, though, that everyone just huddles inside the town walls, afraid of everything outside the walls, especially with ansible things and satellites. If we can come up with drones that can fly high and still provide targeting, surely there is something else the Lusitania colony has that can be used to spy on the Little Ones and the xenologers.Silver Adeptnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-65581452927290304382014-02-28T22:23:07.046-05:002014-02-28T22:23:07.046-05:00He makes the Kessel Rum in less than eight firkins...He makes the Kessel Rum in less than eight firkinsboutetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-4841789374972387642014-02-28T22:20:48.922-05:002014-02-28T22:20:48.922-05:00I think the lack of a Katniss-type is explained as...I think the lack of a Katniss-type is explained as fear. The people are scared they'll get murdered and spread out for trees too. There's also that I don't think the people have been able to eat any of the naturally occurring life on the planet. I can see a government feeding those fears and making everyone very aware of the non-edible stuff on the sly to make people uninterested in leaving, the same way governments now feed fears of different race or nationality.boutetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-29142798885083091062014-02-28T20:46:46.615-05:002014-02-28T20:46:46.615-05:00Isn't a firkin a measure of alcohol?Isn't a firkin a measure of alcohol?AlexSeanchainoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-41831762287195494482014-02-28T20:42:01.419-05:002014-02-28T20:42:01.419-05:00Ender can make the Kessel Run in less than eight f...Ender can make the Kessel Run in less than eight firkins.Anton_Matesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-79813170062670138812014-02-28T13:34:55.757-05:002014-02-28T13:34:55.757-05:00"And for every framling scientist who is long..."And for every framling scientist who is longing for the truth, there are ten petty-minded descabeçados [headless ones] who despise knowledge, who never think of an original hypothesis, whose only labor is to prey on the writings of the true scientists in order to catch tiny errors or contradictions or lapses in method."<br /><br />Oh, tiny errors like say,<br /><br />"We don't measure starflight in kilometers, Dona Ivanova. We measure it in years."Aashyma Never Wouldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-34885540791194873332014-02-28T13:23:01.023-05:002014-02-28T13:23:01.023-05:00Fairly badly, too. I think my 13-year-old runs a m...Fairly badly, too. I think my 13-year-old runs a much more sensible Dwarf Fortress. Aside from the random mass killings because he thinks they're hilarious, of course.Tapetumnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-84784676818027525482014-02-27T16:05:32.745-05:002014-02-27T16:05:32.745-05:00So, wait, I'm supposed to believe the incompet...So, wait, I'm supposed to believe the incompetence of the scientists here is because they are phat kid a conspiracy to convert up that they've been violating the Prime Directive (or whatever passes for that here in the Enderverse). Which would entail making sure that only xenologists go outside, which the fence can help, but that requires the involvement of the civic government of Lusitania, who have been conspicuously absent to this point. It also requires no Katniss Everdeen in the colony, who goes outside for curiosity or supplementary food. The village is painted as people who are so uninterested in each other that they will let someone drink and abuse their family (no, wait, that is plausible), but Lusitania seems designed more like an internment camp, or perhaps, Botany Bay. It doesn't run right that this colony is so... boring.<br /><br />Also, the is the curious lack of technology here again. Probes, instruments, robots, all of these things should be in use for the scientists and the villagers. Plenty of ansible-connected entertainment devices, but no technology apparently for doing work. I almost wonder if this is spared to be a bad parody of Space Amish, with as little tech in use in this universe.Silver Adeptnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-79635964806449667082014-02-27T14:21:03.249-05:002014-02-27T14:21:03.249-05:00You know, that makes much more sense than the actu...You know, that makes much more sense than the actual book, and at least there's the possibility of everyone dying by lava.Ledasmomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-6563136096057956642014-02-27T12:40:35.055-05:002014-02-27T12:40:35.055-05:00That would be a much more interesting book than th...That would be a much more interesting book than this one.Noranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-25865927868690352502014-02-27T12:39:06.483-05:002014-02-27T12:39:06.483-05:00If you think of the Speakers for the Dead as some ...If you think of the Speakers for the Dead as some kind of priests/spiritual advisors, isn't it doubly creepy to have someone you called in that capacity to come to you and hit on you? Even if he's doing it in pseudo Biblical language, and even if it isn't meant to sound like a rape threat (which it does), the fact is, you have someone who's ostensibly there as a priest or equivalent, and one of the first things he says is that he's going to impregnate her. One of the first things that's not critical/passive-aggressive, that is. Oh, Ender, what a guy! How many different ways can he be an asshole?Noranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-68289246180513300212014-02-26T22:26:12.308-05:002014-02-26T22:26:12.308-05:00They're playing Dwarf Fortress on Lusitania!They're playing Dwarf Fortress on Lusitania!JReynoldsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-42397504092711420132014-02-26T18:12:29.826-05:002014-02-26T18:12:29.826-05:00An abused woman who's been introverted and ant...An abused woman who's been introverted and antisocial since childhood, and whose husband just died a couple of months ago, and whose old flame was murdered a few years ago and she's obviously still not over that.<br /><br /><br /><br />Novinha doesn't exactly seem prepared to jump back into the dating game, you know? Even if Ender was a trusted and familiar friend, as opposed to a creepy, strongly-disliked, children-manhandling home invader.Anton_Matesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-44277651627671736342014-02-26T17:59:31.004-05:002014-02-26T17:59:31.004-05:00Yeah, I'm probably just underestimating it bec...Yeah, I'm probably just underestimating it because 3000 people was about the size of my high school. If lots of people are getting wasted, it's probably "better" to have a bar within a few blocks of anyone's house.Anton_Matesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-61832808276413465812014-02-26T17:55:31.952-05:002014-02-26T17:55:31.952-05:00Ender is so special and magical and empathetic bec...Ender is so special and magical and empathetic because he managed to understand that his personal bugbear wasn't Satan (...after his death) <br /><br />Which becomes even more hilarious in a subsequent book, when Peter is sortakinda resurrected and Ender's like "OK, but <i>this</i> version of Peter is Satan, right? <i>One</i> of them has to be absolute evil, dammit!"Anton_Matesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2946534773407276339.post-52570220687313900222014-02-26T16:50:02.341-05:002014-02-26T16:50:02.341-05:00I think it'd be more interesting if it turned ...I think it'd be more interesting if it turned out that <i>Marcos</i> killed Libo, and maybe Pipo too (he would have been young then, but probably still big and strong enough to overpower a weedy xenologer), and tried to frame the Little Ones for it. The other xenologers and the Little Ones were his main competitors for Novinha's emotional attention, so it would make sense if a jealous and obsessive Marcos decided to target them all.<br /><br />(He would have to get past the fence, but there are various ways he could manage that--and as a crazy strong guy who endures chronic pain and numbs himself with alcohol, he might be able to just hop it.)Anton_Matesnoreply@blogger.com