enders game - What is the Speaker for the Dead cover depicting?

To me, it seems that whatever is on the cover of Speaker for the Dead--it appears to be a docking location for starships--is entirely unrelated to the story.

Am I missing something?

Is it depicting something from one of the other stories? (This seems highly unlikely, considering that Speaker was the second book written in the Ender saga)

Or is it just a science-fictiony looking picture that the publishers thought would sell more books than an image of anything that is actually in the story?

Speaker for the Dead cover

Answer

The picture used as the cover for 'Speaker for the Dead' is called "The Age of Pussyfoot". It was drawn by monumental space artist Jon Harris in 1969 and the title very closely mirrors a book by Frederick Pohl called "The Age of the Pussyfoot".

The image was created as a bespoke image for the Pohl book, then simply re-used as a stock cover image for OSC's 'Speaker for the Dead' without bearing any particular relation to the actual plotline.

The same technique (e.g. placing unrelated cover images by John Harris) was used for the three other books in the original Ender Series. Ender's Game used a picture called "Drunkard's Walk" that was originally a bespoke picture created for another Frederick Pohl book of the same name. Xenocide and Children of the Mind also used untitled stock illustrations, several of which can be purchased on John Harris' website.

Age of the Pussyfoot cover

Drunkard's Walk cover

Comments

story identification - Animation: floating island, flying pests

At least 20 years ago I watched a short animated film which stuck in my mind. The whole thing was wordless, possibly European, and I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it... It featured a flying island which was inhabited by some creatures who (in my memory) reminded me of the Moomins. The island was frequently bothered by large winged animals who swooped around, although I don't think they did any actual damage. At the end one of the moomin creatures suddenly gets a weird feeling, feels forced to climb to the top of the island and then plunges down a shaft right through the centre - only to emerge at the bottom as one of the flyers. Answer Skywhales from 1983. The story begins with a man warning the tribe of approaching skywhales. The drummers then warn everybody of the hunt as everyone get prepared to set "sail". Except one man is found in his home sleeping as the noise wake him up. He then gets ready and is about to take his weapon as he hesitates then decides ...

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...

star wars - Why don't rebels take Stormtroopers' armor?

Admittedly, the armor of the stormtroopers is not the best, but it's better than nothing. Why don't the rebels strip the armor from dead stormtroopers to use with their best soldiers? I'd really like to understand why they don't do this.

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF

Blog

Search This Blog