Speaker for the Dead (1986) Signed First Edition Reference

Speaker for the Dead won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in consecutive years with Ender’s Game — an unprecedented achievement. Published by Tor Books in 1986, the novel follows an adult Ender Wiggin who has become a Speaker for the Dead, traveling between worlds to truthfully eulogize the recently deceased. On the planet Lusitania, he encounters a species of aliens called the pequeninos and must understand their culture before humanity destroys them.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Tor Books, New York Publication date: 1986 Format: Hardcover in dust jacket

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed first edition, fine/fine: $100–$250
• Unsigned first edition: $20–$50

Card has consistently stated that Speaker for the Dead is the novel he is most proud of — the one he wrote Ender’s Game to make possible. Critically, it is a more ambitious and mature work, though it has never achieved Ender’s Game’s commercial reach. For collectors who value literary ambition, this is the more interesting acquisition.