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Pathfinder (Pathfinder #1)

3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 · rating details · 7,879 ratings · 1,349 reviews

A powerful secret. A dangerous path. Rigg is well trained at keeping secrets. Only his father knows the truth about Rigg's strange talent for seeing the paths of people's pasts. But when his father dies, Rigg is stunned to learn just how many secrets Father had kept from him--secrets about Rigg's own past, his identity, and his destiny. And when Rigg discovers that he has...more

Paperback, 662 pages

Published October 4th 2011 by Simon Pulse (first published September 1st 2010)

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Nov 30, 2012 Synesthesia rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Book readers, you know that feeling of reading a book and falling in love from the first few pages, gazing lovingly at a books words. Holding the book to your chest as you exclaim: THIS IS SUCH A GOOD BOOK, IT IS ONE OF THE BEST I'VE READ, IT'S GREAT and you just want to keep reading it and devouring it?

Yeah, this isn't that book. I'm trying, but I just can't do it. It's too dull. The characters are not interesting. They are flat, 2 dimentional. All they do is banter. OSC goes on about bodily fu...more

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Jan 21, 2011 Morgan F rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of Ender's Game

Shelves: young-adult, sci-fi, 2010, pulse-it, series, ginormo, its-a-boy, read-2011, terrible-parents, e-book

Pathfinder is centered on Rigg, a thirteen year old boy who lives an isolated life hunting and poaching with his enigmatic father. Rigg has a strange ability; he can see paths, tracks in time that are remnants of every living thing ever to have lived. The only person whose path he cannot see is his father's, who dies one day in an accident. His father's last wish is for Rigg to find the sister he never knew he had. This leads Rigg to undergo a fascinating journey, with every step of the way lead...more Pathfinder is centered on Rigg, a thirteen year old boy who lives an isolated life hunting and poaching with his enigmatic father. Rigg has a strange ability; he can see paths, tracks in time that are remnants of every living thing ever to have lived. The only person whose path he cannot see is his father's, who dies one day in an accident. His father's last wish is for Rigg to find the sister he never knew he had. This leads Rigg to undergo a fascinating journey, with every step of the way leading him to uncover more secrets about his father and his own special abilities. Meanwhile, in a parallel story, there is Ram, another young man with mysterious abilities, who is responsible for a time-traveling ship searching for a new home in the universe.

Owww. This book made my brain hurt. There is time-traveling, parallel time lines, paradoxes, and all other sorts of sci-fi fun. In order to get the full effect of the story, you have to work with it, actively putting pieces together as you go along. I loved that. I was able to crack the mystery about how the two stories come together half-way through the book, but it took a lot of deduction on my part. Also, nothing is ever as simple as "magic". There is a specific convoluted scientific reasons for all the special abilities in the book, which Card does not hesitate to dive into. Dude, books like this make me feel stupid. How do people think of this stuff! It did not help that the main characters were geniuses in their own right. My favorite part of this book was easily the story itself. It was well-concieved and quite epic. Although the book is over 600 pages long, the pages flip by relatively quickly if you don't get too hung up on trying to figure out the finer point of the space-time continuum.

I've only read one other book by Orson Scott Card, the famous Ender's Game, and I saw some definite similarities. They both had adolescent main characters with a genius IQ and intense responsibilities, and the writing was quite the same. The dialogue was witty, and the characters were fun, but I never really felt connected with the story. This happens to me often with third-person narration. The characters can be perfectly well-developed and complex, but if its in 3rd-person, I just don't feel emotionally invested. Card's writing was also cool and calculating, much like his characters, and didn't lend much to descriptions. I still don't have any idea what the characters look like except for the vaguest notions, and the scenery was pretty much left entirely to the imagination.

Overall, this was a great read for lovers of YA sci-fi, and while this novel had some sense of closure, I can't wait to see what is next in the trilogy. Hopefully, Card remains in good enough health to finish it. (less)

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Nov 23, 2012 Libby rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

4th time editing my review.
This book had some really good parts. The very beginning was set up pretty well, and did make me want to read on. The beginnings of the chapter were also very good. They were like a bit of a sub-story that I found entertaining to read, mainly because it was very different from the main story line.
There were really two big things that I didn't like about this book. One was the characters. I didn't like any of them. I thought that they were all fairly dumb and made irra...more

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Dec 29, 2011 Eva Mitnick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is the sort of science fiction that will satisfy fantasy readers who particularly crave books that take place in pre-industrial societies. The main characters in Pathfinder - young teenagers Rigg and Umbo, plus their adult friend and protector Loaf - have adventures as they journey from village to town, occasionally eating or staying in smoky, atmospheric, dangerous inns. There are magical abilities galore, and even a plot involving a dethroned royal family and a long-lost prince.

But wait -...more

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Nov 20, 2012 April rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ereader, ya, sci-fi, for-review

Rigg, main character of Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card, has a special gift. He can see the path of all living things through time, but only the past. His ability to sense paths leads him to trouble, but also comes in handy to save him and his friends. Pathfinder opens on a note of tragedy. Rigg's father dies within the first chapter and with his last breath asks Rigg to find his long estranged sister. Thus begins this sci-fi journey fraught with peril, political intrigue, and new friends along t...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Jeffrey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

3.5 but I rounded up. Time travel gives me a headache though and Rigg is more like a 50 year old with a degree in astrophysics than a 14 year old boy, but I care enough about the characters to see what happens next. I have always been a fan of Card's work. This book is a little dry for my tastes. I'm also not sure that even though the main characters are children that this book is actually a young adult novel. I don't think Card's best work, Ender's Game, was originally meant to be a young adult...more

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May 15, 2013 Mi Camino Blanco rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviews

Rigg es un joven campesino de 13 años que tiene el don de ver los rastros del pasado de las personas. Al morir su padre, descubre secretos sobre su origen que le hacen embarcarse en una aventura en busca de la capital del Imperio. A lo largo de la historia somos testigos de como Rigg no sólo puede ver el pasado sino llegar a cambiarlo.

Una vuelta de tuerca más al tema de los viajes en el tiempo. Pero en este caso el autor embarca a los personajes en diálogos interminables acerca de las posibles p...more

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Jan 20, 2011 Jenelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, boy-book, read-in-2011, future, high-fantasy, tween-and-young-teen-level, time-travel

Hadn't even heard of it till I saw it at Costco and luckily this spontaneous purchase paid off. It was the perfect rebound book after the ultra disappointing end to the hunger games series. Pathfinder starts off feeling very similar, in fact, with a kind of futuristic/post-apocalyptic vibe. It wasn't as nail-biting or gruesome as hunger games, but the political intrigue is there and quite a bit of mystery--very much like Ender's Game. I read it just as fast those, too-- little more than a day. R...more

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Jan 09, 2011 Virginia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2011

Sometimes, the cleverness and incredible adeptness and genius of the main character, Rigg, surpasses my ability to suspend disbelief. Not the spaceships and spacetime-jumping folds creating duplicate persons. Not the ability to become invisible or see the paths of all beings or slowing down time. Not even a ridiculous confluence of events. However, if I were to be trained since birth on game theory, different languages, etc. I could be half as able. Ok, no joke. One third. I do so wish that I co...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Derek rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A fantastic sci-fi/fantasy time travelling romp. I loved it, and was engrossed by the disparate ideas and eager to learn how the two collided. It managed to be mysterious without being formulaic, have interesting insights into science and human nature, and a good set up for an epic series. I was heartbroken when I learned the second book isn't out yet. In addition to all of this, it seems that Card is revisiting the "genius child" that he explored in Ender's Game. Highly recommended.

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Mar 06, 2013 Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great YA dystopian adventure without the usual cruelty and pitting people against each other. Brilliant world creation, as usual, by Card.

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May 20, 2013 Batman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was fantastic and had a very interesting plot. Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card was by far one of the best books I have ever read. I gave this book a four star review because this book is very interesting and fun. I was really excited to read this book before I got it because many friends had recommended it.The main character, Rigg, has special abilities in that he can see the past. Quite a ways into the beginning of an adventure he realizes his friend, Umbo, also has a unique ability. U...more

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May 09, 2013 Ungelic_is_us rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: annoying, funny, sci-fi, read-in-audiobook-only, ya

This book was straight-up terrible. If I hadn't read it in audiobook I probably would have dropped it (although many a time did I wish that it had it in dead tree form so I could skim the endless, boringly repetitive discussions of time-travel paradox.) The characters have the same conversations over and over again; when they're separated, they have to go through the same process of figuring out the same problems, and then talk about them again. Each time someone joins the party they have to exp...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Justin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book of pathfinder is about this boy who loses his father when his father dies going through this invisible killing force called the wall. The wall divides fourteen different areas of land and it is almost impossible to get through unless you are like the little kids in this book that have powers and when they combined them they where able to get through the wall without hurting themselves. Pathfinder is about these little kids who are trying to escape their wall because the military is tryi...more The book of pathfinder is about this boy who loses his father when his father dies going through this invisible killing force called the wall. The wall divides fourteen different areas of land and it is almost impossible to get through unless you are like the little kids in this book that have powers and when they combined them they where able to get through the wall without hurting themselves. Pathfinder is about these little kids who are trying to escape their wall because the military is trying to kill the little boy that saw his father die and the military doesn’t want the word getting around from the little boy. (spoiler alert)The little boy got these gems that he later found out that those gems are used to take down all fourteen walls and he found this out at the end of the book by an alien robot that know the past present and future.
This book would be great anyone because its suitable for anyone no matter what kind of genres he or she likes. This book is for young adults and adults than kids or young kids if they can read this book. this book is really good it’s a little long for me but it’s worth it because of the suspense that keeps the book going so from begging to end there is no dull moment. This book is has a combination of all genres which is what makes it appealing to all readers. The book pathfinder is a great book that could have more books because of how much suspense they leave in the story. this book should be read by a lot of people because its a all around great book.
I would rate this book a 4.5 out of 5. The reason I would rate this a 4.5 is because it’s still a little to long for me but it’s still a great book. This book is so good even after I read it mid summer it is still stuck in my head and I remember it like it was yesterday thats how much it is still stuck in my head. This book is probably the best book I have ever read. This book is great if they had a series I would read them all. this book can relate to all people in a way because it’s talks of a group of kids who are different in their own ways.(less)

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Apr 11, 2013 Evelyn Ink rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really wanted to love this book, I am a huge fan of Orson Scott Card, especially Ender's Game. I was sure he would write an amazing YA book ... and someday he might, this however, is not that book. At first I just kept believing it would get better, but soon I realized I was just forcing myself through the book page by page. At about page 300 I finally gave up and flipped to the end to read the last 10 pages. I shouldn't have bothered.
The problem: The character is completely unbelievable board...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Jeanne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Still processing this one. Long book that will feel familiar to Card fans. A lot going on, a LOT of talking, but still a good read.

Two stories proceed as one. Two ships leave Earth at the same time to found a colony on a far-off world. One ship will travel traditionally, with 35 generations passing before their reach their destination. Another ship will take a theoretical leap through time and space and, perhaps, reach the world faster. Some things go wrong, however. As the beginning of each cha...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Heidi Angell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Synposis: This is sort of two stories interwoven, but seemingly separate until the very end. The main story follows a young boy named Rigg who was raised as a trapper by his father. His father is his educator and teaches him much more than what Rigg thinks is important to be a trapper. When his father dies in the forest, Rigg's life is sent on a new journey in which he learns why his father taught him all the lessons he had taught. This part of the tale feels more like fantasy, taking place in t...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Jill rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Remember those math problems from school that gave so many of us nightmares? Like, “Two trains are on the same track a distance 100 km apart heading towards one another, each at a speed of 50 km/h. A fly starting out at the front of one train, flies towards the other at a speed of 75 km/h. Upon reaching the other train, the fly turns around and continues towards the first train. How many kilometers does the fly travel before getting squashed in the collision of the two trains?”

Now, imagine a who...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Ashley K rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While I really liked the premise and the story of Pathfinder, I found it to be WAY too long and in desperate need of an editor.

I don't need gigantic explanations about how the banking system works. I don't need to be told time and time again the rules of the special powers. And I especially don't want to sit through these lengthy, logical reasons for each of the characters' actions every time they do something.

Orson Scott Card has this obsession with creating characters who can navigate through...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

WARNING: CONTAINS SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS
A man stands alone in a forest staring intently at the world around him. He looks up, noting the beautiful array of white clouds through the tall green leaved trees. To his right, he sees a small gray squirrel running through the length of the forest over the soft, yet packed, dirt mixed with pebbles and rocks. Inching its way perpendicularly towards the squirrel is a snail, backed with a large brown shell. Yet, the man does not capture the full picture of t...more WARNING: CONTAINS SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS
A man stands alone in a forest staring intently at the world around him. He looks up, noting the beautiful array of white clouds through the tall green leaved trees. To his right, he sees a small gray squirrel running through the length of the forest over the soft, yet packed, dirt mixed with pebbles and rocks. Inching its way perpendicularly towards the squirrel is a snail, backed with a large brown shell. Yet, the man does not capture the full picture of the forest. He only sees in three dimensions; he misses out on the fourth, time.
Orson Scott Card’s novel, Pathfinder, centers on a young boy named Rigg who has the power to see and control the fourth dimension. The twist is that Rigg can only see and change the past. From the day of his birth, Rigg is able to sense paths marking where every living thing has traveled through its life. For example, he is able to master animal trapping because he can see each animal’s past paths and tell whether they are new or old, allowing him to set traps on the trails he knows animals have recently roamed. Rigg’s life is turned around when his father dies and he is suddenly forced to leave town. He meets up with a fellow time controller, Umbo, who can slow down people’s perception of time. The two combine their powers to change the past, creating a different future. As the two leave their home town, they are forced to find their own paths, becoming utterly different people by the end of the journey.
One must instantly commend Card on his originality with the creation of such supernatural powers. While other authors and film producers have explored the ability to bounce around through the fourth dimension, Card captures it in such a different and intricate way. Additionally, the characters learn and develop their abilities throughout the novel, allowing readers to follow each new development without getting bogged down with too many details at a single point in time.
Where Card succeeds in allowing the reader to comprehend each character’s ability, he does often leave the reader confused with the convoluted jumps through time. For example, at one point in the story, the characters bury a bag of jewels. Upon unburying it later, they find a single jewel is missing. Due to this, they know that one of them will in the future go to the exact spot and take the jewel with him, out of the past. In fact, later in the book, Umbo does journey back in time to steal the jewel. As anyone could see, trying to sum up this series of events simplistically is challenging due its complexities. Yet, the complexities are one of the appeals of the book. In his acknowledgements, Card writes, “I decided that I was not going to avoid paradox. I was going to embrace it…” In choosing to embrace paradox, Card provided an almost interactive read, forcing the reader to take breaks every so often and think over the time jumps.
Additionally, Card develops two converging stories through the course of the novel, again forcing the reader to think, pondering how the stories are connected. He begins each chapter with a short look at a character not known in the actual story, named Ram Odin, conversing with a robot, the only other conscious individual on his starship. The two characters are on a journey from Earth to colonize a new planet. They are the first to jump through a certain fold in the universe, which happens to create nineteen versions of their ship, all headed for the same planet. This tale presents the origin of the planet, Garden, on which the main characters of the novel live. The characters in the main story grow up living in a large plot of land surrounded by a vast mental-illness-inducing wall, known as a wallfold. At one point in the story, Rigg and Umbo reach a tourist-populated tower in which a giant sphere made up of nineteen pieces is located. Nobody puts together the fact that the sphere is the planet they are living on. Card allows the readers to gradually put together the recurrence of the number nineteen until it is explained that each starship’s colonists were placed in a different wallfold. Card intricately and beautifully weaves the tales together causing his readers to play a continuous guessing game about the relation of the two.
The writing of this novel offered a tough challenge due to its complex nature, so while Card effectively portrays the intricate details of time travel and of each character’s abilities, he fails to develop any of the characters or even the world around them, to the point where it makes the whole book feel rigid and bland. At the start, the man Rigg grew up knowing as his father dies. Rigg’s only response is to head back to town with the furs he collected from trapping. Once Rigg confirms his father is dead, he “turns resolutely and walks back, retracing his own bright path among the trees and underbrush, along the deer path… (15)” While Rigg does cry while his father dies, he reaches acceptance in what seems like a matter of minutes. Rigg’s best friend Umbo similarly lacks character development. Umbo cries here and there after being banished from his house, but that is the deepest his character traits ever go. While an author may choose to develop a lack of emotion as a character trait, the characters’ emotionless nature in Pathfinder instead comes across as a lazy lack of character development on Card’s part.
The same comes across in the world, Garden, in which the story takes place. While I commend Card on his detailed tale of the world’s origin, the world itself seems very linear and bland. He creates some differences between the different parts of the wallfold, but, as with the characters, does little to actually develop them. For example, as the characters journey down river, they begin to hear the word privick pop up now and again. They find out that the word privick is a stereotypical slur towards upriver folk. Card uses this word often, though the only actual differences shown between the upriver and downriver folks are their names for currency. As even Orson Scott Card, himself, advocates in Elements of Fiction Writing: Characters & Viewpoint, despite apparently not using it in Pathfinder, writers must “show, not tell.”
Overall, despite such faults, Pathfinder is a great read. Card succeeds in providing readers not only momentary entertainment, but also a different view of the world around them. The novel’s thought provoking nature is what truly makes it stand out over other novels in its genre. Very few writers could accomplish such a captivating story with such bland characters, but Orson Scott Card pulled it off.
(less)

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Dec 23, 2012 Dijay rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I couldn't find a way to insult this book if I tried. Maybe other readers are jaded by OSC's writing style, but I'm not exactly sure what they're comparing it to; this is the best book I've read in years, at least. To complain about this would be to complain that cake is too sweet, that a bejeweled dagger is too fancy. I for one wouldn't allow another's tastes to push me away from a wonderfully-written tale about a gifted boy and his interesting friends experiencing the world one superpower at a...more I couldn't find a way to insult this book if I tried. Maybe other readers are jaded by OSC's writing style, but I'm not exactly sure what they're comparing it to; this is the best book I've read in years, at least. To complain about this would be to complain that cake is too sweet, that a bejeweled dagger is too fancy. I for one wouldn't allow another's tastes to push me away from a wonderfully-written tale about a gifted boy and his interesting friends experiencing the world one superpower at a time.

I won't bore/spoil you with details from the story, because if you wanted them you'd read it yourself. I found all the characters rational and fair, though one of the later-introduced ones (Olivenko) didn't have quite as distinct a voice as the others, beside the also-soldier also-adult-male Loaf, though to call them the same would be to call an apple and an orange the same when comparing fruits.

I found the prose to be spot-on, all the time. It never dragged, and always accentuated or toned the atmosphere perfectly. His descriptions never left me lacking for background definition, but it wouldn't have hurt to have some of the scenes fleshed out more, such as during the long travel at the end.

The only break from reality, besides some fuzzy science on the technical end (I'm sure it's there, I just didn't look for it) was that all the characters are quite witty; but this is one of the acceptable things we've grown to love from fiction. The rest of it was rational, and extremely so, compared to much of (science) fiction both recent and past.

As a general quip, this story didn't really follow the general procedure for books, from my experience; I found that new and interesting things happened from nearly the very beginning, and the plot continued to develop right up to the last page. The effects of introduction/buildup/climax/conclusion were lightly seen here, perhaps best in the refreshing interludes between chapters.

If you've read the popular Ender's Game series, you can predict how you'll like this book from a bit of knowledge of it. If you liked the dabbling in political maneuvering and faction-based conflict, then you will like it just as much here; if you enjoyed youths who nonetheless acted almost completely rationally, you will also experience that here; and if you liked pseudo-scifi that was more about the characters and their problems than the technology that allowed it, then you'll like Pathfinder just the same.(less)

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Dec 13, 2012 Evan Wondrasek rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow, I didn't even add this book to my Goodreads until I finished it. Not sure how that happened.

I've read a lot of Orson Scott Card as it turns out: The whole "original" Ender/Shadow saga (8 books), the first of his Mithermages book "The Lost Gate", Wyrms (a standalone fantasy novel), and Enchantment (another standalone fantasy novel). I've never thought of myself as a huge fan of OSC's works, but when I look at my reading history, it turns out I am. So keep that in mind when you read this revi...more

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Dec 10, 2012 Terry Barker rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Science fiction bordering on fantasy. The concept is very unique, and is what makes the book such an interesting read. It's about three characters who all have unique abilities--not as superheroes, but powerful nonetheless. They're all centered around time travel: One can see where people have traveled in the past; one can actually travel into the past; and one can move forward in time. These are all important traits, as they're being chased by a truly evil Queen.

This quote will give you a taste...more Science fiction bordering on fantasy. The concept is very unique, and is what makes the book such an interesting read. It's about three characters who all have unique abilities--not as superheroes, but powerful nonetheless. They're all centered around time travel: One can see where people have traveled in the past; one can actually travel into the past; and one can move forward in time. These are all important traits, as they're being chased by a truly evil Queen.

This quote will give you a taste of what they're escaping:
“She likes us,” said Umbo. “I know, I could feel it too,” said Rigg. “She’s really glad to have us here. I think she loves us like her own children.” “Whom she murdered and cut up into the stew.” “They were delicious.”

Unknown to the characters, but necessary for the plot, they also have a distant forefather who gave them all their abilities. This is where the story really gets interesting--there are two stories, and the book switches between the two. Ram, their progenitor, has been sent on a mission from Earth to seed another planet, in order to save the human race from extinction.

The colony on the ship is in suspended animation, except for Ram and some robots, called expendables (maybe that name is what made them so devious). In order to avoid spending centuries in space, humans have discovered how to pass through a fold in space and make the trip in only a few decades. Unfortunately, Ram's hidden and unknown abilities to transform time, wreak havoc with the time jump.

When I mentioned fantasy at the beginning of this review, I was talking about the time jumping events that all the characters display. I dislike fantasy because you can make the rules up as you go (hence the term, fantasy), and make things appear and disappear at will. Including character actions. All this time jumping borders on that, because when the characters run into trouble, they just jump around in time and warn themselves not to do certain things. But, because Card actually tries to explain how the time travel could actually happen, and makes it logical, I can live with it. And it makes the story work.

Rigg, the main character, reminds me very much of Ender, from Ender's Game (the book that made Card famous). He is very logical, and can see things others can't, like a young version of Sherlock Holmes.

So, in summary, we've got a mission in space assisted by expendables who in dialog with humans, are programmed to inject humor and irony into their conversations (that leads to some funny stuff), an evil Queen who will stop at nothing to kill our heroes, a wall that surrounds the towns that will drive you insane if you go near it, time travel puzzles that will make your head hurt, and a story that will leave you hungry for more.(less)

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Nov 30, 2012 NVHS LMC rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, sci-fi

I happen to be fascinated by science fiction. I love the abstract nature of it, with space cruisers, teleporters, mutants, aliens. I just love it. And today’s subject is a perfect example of Sci-Fi done right. So buckle up and let’s blast off into Orson Scott Card’s Pathfinder.

Pathfinder is a novel by renowned author Orson Scott Card, who wrote books such as Ender’s Shadow series and Speaker for the Dead. He’s basically a master of science fiction novels, and the same skill shines through in Pa...more I happen to be fascinated by science fiction. I love the abstract nature of it, with space cruisers, teleporters, mutants, aliens. I just love it. And today’s subject is a perfect example of Sci-Fi done right. So buckle up and let’s blast off into Orson Scott Card’s Pathfinder.

Pathfinder is a novel by renowned author Orson Scott Card, who wrote books such as Ender’s Shadow series and Speaker for the Dead. He’s basically a master of science fiction novels, and the same skill shines through in Pathfinder. In the book, our hero, a young boy in the far future named Rigg, has a secret gift. He can see paths. Wherever a living creature has stood, no matter how long ago or for how short a period, he can see it. He quickly discovers that his friend Umbo has a similar gift. After Rigg’s father dies and leaves him with nineteen priceless jewels and a note pertaining to Rigg’s long lost sister, the pair begin to travel to the capital city of Arressa Sessamo. On their way, they collect a band of loyal followers, including Loaf, a former soldier turned barkeep, his wife Leaky, and former princess Parim Sessaminka. The group discovers the true secret of the origins of the human race and just what lies beyond the walls of the kingdom. This book follows a style similar to the Ender’s Game books, showing an excerpt of another event happening at about the same time and relevant to the main story at the beginning of each chapter. Both stories are extremely complex, with abstract physics, complicated scientific paradoxes, and a whole lot of fancy words. I’ll say right now that if you’re just getting into novels, this is probably not the book for you. If you’re a long time reader, however, you’ll enjoy the story.

The writing style is excellent, but I think fans of Card’s work would already know that. Words flow smoothly together in a way I’ve not seen in many novels, and Card brings out the abstract concepts of his novel quite well. And most importantly, he never goes beyond the bounds of the believable. He explains it so well that even the most ludicrous ideas seem plausible. The characters are also made to seem not only realistic, but real, in the way only Card can do. Overall, the book is excellent. It manages to bring the magic of Ender’s Game back, and that is definitely a good thing. I’d recommend it to lovers of science fiction, fans of Orson Scott Card, and even people who don’t like those things but enjoy a good, complex novel. Pathfinder is an amazing book that you won’t want to put down.

Addendum: For those wondering, I am aware that Orson Scott Card has expressed anti-gay beliefs in the past, and that despite my respect for him as an author and my enjoyment of his books, I do not share or agree with these beliefs. I judge books by the quality of their content, not the actions of their author. Thank you.

Review by Kevin S. (less)

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Nov 02, 2012 Jilliane Marai rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My notes are scattered between thick and thin and electronic notebooks. And the last book I read has outdone my university courses in teaching me quantum mechanics and theory of relativity, as well as rhetoric and discourse. Which makes for a slightly disappointing Romance novel in terms of pacing, flow, and form, if not an excellent reference for time travelling and debunking the Grandfather Paradox.

TLDR;
First 200 pages - interesting; a contained setting that slowly expanded and exploded so yo...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Clark rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What if you could see the paths of animals and humans, past and present? In Pathfinder Rigg, a 13 year old boy can. Orson Scott Card really out did himself again in this great book. It was very interesting and so fast paced. It’s a page turner (and there are a lot of pages.) Don’t let the page count of 657 alarm you because it is worth it.
Rigg can see paths of animals and humans from all time periods. He uses this with Father to find animals and turn their fur to pelts. One day Father is pierc...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: didn-t-finish

I am AT TIMES an Orson Scott Card fan....AT TIMES. This isn't one of those times. I'm forced to a one star rating here because that's the default rating when I can't make myself finish a book without threats...."keep reading or else". What I'd do to myself I'm not sure. To keep me interested in this thing it would have to be something pretty terrible.

Mr. Card is capable of writing an excellent book. I'm waiting for him to go on with one series and picked this one up as I waited. As has happened...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Debbie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: teen boys 12yrs and up; younger YA boys.

Shelves: finished

What would you do if the man you thought was your father (trusted teacher and guide) died suddenly, only to find out you might be the son of the royal family? In this story of adventure, secrets and time travel, thirteen year old Rig and his childhood friend Umbo use their very special abilities to discover Rig’s true heritage. Rig can see paths taken by humans, and other animals of the near and distant past. Umbo can slow time with his mind. When used together, these abilities can give Rig insi...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Loralee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

What do you do when you have a long car trip through some very boring countryside? You listen to an audiobook of course! I spontaneously picked this title up at the library because:

1. It was featured.

2. My husband enjoys science fiction and I knew that I wanted to find a book that he would enjoy.

There are two story lines in this book. The beginning of each chapter deals with spaceships, colonization, and human like computer creatures. It left us very confused but as the story progressed, we coul...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Leah R rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: good-fun-ya-reads, mind-blowing-in-awesome-way, time-travel-good-kind

Best way to explain the mind-blowing-ness of this awesome book is to refer you to a comment in the author's note, in which Card explains that he decided not to follow the standard scifi conventions of time travel, but instead to embrace paradox. So many scientific principles, used and abused for the story, things get pretty complicated. (if a person can slow themselves in time and something goes through them, their cells will be damaged by radioactivity as their atoms collide- this is not a worl...more

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About Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools.
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th...more

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“For children love is a feeling; for adults, it is a decision. Children wait to learn if their love is true by seeing how long it lasts; adults make their love true by never wavering from their commitment.” — 54 people liked it

“A regime that wraps itself in the flag of truth fears truth most of all, for if its story is falsified to the slightest degree, its authority is gone” — 11 people liked it

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