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Pathfinder #3
Visitors
From the internationally bestselling author of Ender’s Game comes the riveting finale to the story of Rigg, a teenager who possesses a secret talent that allows him to see the paths of people’s pasts.
In Pathfinder , Rigg joined forces with another teen with special talents on a quest to find Rigg’s sister and discover the true depth and significance of their powers. Then Rigg’s story continued in Ruins as he was tasked to decipher the paths of the past before the arrival of a destructive force with deadly intentions. Now, in Visitors , Rigg’s journey comes to an epic and explosive conclusion as everything that has been building up finally comes to pass, and Rigg is forced to put his powers to the test in order to save his world and end the war once and for all.
In Pathfinder , Rigg joined forces with another teen with special talents on a quest to find Rigg’s sister and discover the true depth and significance of their powers. Then Rigg’s story continued in Ruins as he was tasked to decipher the paths of the past before the arrival of a destructive force with deadly intentions. Now, in Visitors , Rigg’s journey comes to an epic and explosive conclusion as everything that has been building up finally comes to pass, and Rigg is forced to put his powers to the test in order to save his world and end the war once and for all.
608 pages, Hardcover
First published November 4, 2014
337 people are currently reading
4815 people want to read
About the author
Orson Scott Card
910 books20.5k followersOrson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 451 reviews
January 4, 2015
PG-13 for some language, some graphic images, and some sexual references.
I'm not smart enough to:
a) have read this book.
b) rate this book 5 stars.
c) understand this book.
However, I liked it. Problems arose, problems were solved, questions were asked and answered, and lots of stuff happened.
I'm not smart enough to:
a) have read this book.
b) rate this book 5 stars.
c) understand this book.
However, I liked it. Problems arose, problems were solved, questions were asked and answered, and lots of stuff happened.
November 14, 2014
This is definitely not Card's best work. There was more retelling of the story from the previous two books than I care for. I read the previous books and do not want to go over it again, I want new story.
As in the previous book, the dialogue between the characters got old. They spend a lot of time bickering over pointless things that have nothing to do with the story. After we meet Wheaton and his daughter, the characters all degenerate to the same personality. Almost every character makes snide and childish comments about whatever someone else says. I couldn't tell them apart by the end of the book.
The first 3/4 of the book basically goes nowhere. Some new characters are introduced that end up being just like the other characters. But the plot goes nowhere. (Do we really need to do all that business with Wheaton's evolutionary theories and travelling back in time to validate them?) Then in the last 100 pages all the loose ends are quickly and neatly tied up and the story comes to an abrupt end. If the extraneous characters, pointless dialogue, and most of the Wheaton plot were removed, the book would be about 200 pages and probably better for it.
The editing was much better than the previous book. I did not notice any glaring inconsistencies, and they even corrected one of them from the second book.
I liked Pathfinder a lot. The unusual spins on time travel are very interesting. The sequels were very disappointing. I still enjoyed them because I wanted to find out what happened to the characters from Pathfinder. They could have been SO much better.
November 23, 2014
I wish I could go back in time and keep myself from reading this series.
It really needed editing. 3/4 of the book was pointless filler and endless monotonous conversation where everyone had the same voice.
Even the conclusion felt lacking. By the end I didn't care if the destroyers succeeded or not.
It really needed editing. 3/4 of the book was pointless filler and endless monotonous conversation where everyone had the same voice.
Even the conclusion felt lacking. By the end I didn't care if the destroyers succeeded or not.
November 14, 2014
I was attending Orson Scott Card's Writing Workshop this year when I heard him mentioning how difficult it was for him to wrap up writing this book. Seems that he had this inspiring idea to write a new series, one that he truly thought was one of his best, and then had only one, big problem: he had no idea how to end the story.
I was shocked to hear this. The Pathfinder series was easily my favorite of his since the original Ender's Game. Yet ss creative as this project was - and he had written a killer beginning and a good middle - he had been working on the project without actually knowing how it was all going to turn out. This process is typically known as free-writing, or letting the story tell itself as you write and lose yourself within it. However, the style has its drawbacks, one of which is that endings can be kind of weak and unsatisfying.
Then, at the workshop, Scott said that he had recently had an epiphany of sorts and that he finally knew how to end it up. He then proceeded to finish this novel while his students were working on the rough drafts of their assignment stories. This greatly relieved me, who had been waiting for this novel with much anticipation for the last couple of years.
Ultimately, this novel pulls off the ending that it promised. But boy, does it go in a lot of unexpected directions on the way there. At times, I felt like I could see exactly where Card was struggling. The story itself meanders in places, seeming to get lost within itself. It goes off on tangents and I can't seem to figure out WHY Card even wrote those parts, or left them in the final novel. I hope to ask him about them at his upcoming signing.
So yes, there are frustrations at times, but in the end I feel generous enough to give it 4 stars. It's not perfect, and it's not really the ending that I was expecting (or perhaps, hoping for). But let me tell you that this book crams a LOT into its pages. This story goes way, way far away from its humble fantasy novel roots that were begun in "Pathfinder". It goes to some very odd places that left me flabbergasted. There are tons of philosophical examples and conversations that I could have done without. Without spoiling too much, let me say that the whole arc on Earth was not something that I had really wanted to read about. And after that things even become stranger. But I have to commend Card for being able to pull this one off. I really enjoyed the characters, most of which felt so alive to me that I know I'll remember them for a long time. It's actually kind of sad to see this series end. I could see it having legs beyond even the Ender saga, perhaps.
I would definitely recommend this series to any Card fans, even if you've just read Ender's Game. This remains my favorite series of his right beside the title that gave him his fame.
I was shocked to hear this. The Pathfinder series was easily my favorite of his since the original Ender's Game. Yet ss creative as this project was - and he had written a killer beginning and a good middle - he had been working on the project without actually knowing how it was all going to turn out. This process is typically known as free-writing, or letting the story tell itself as you write and lose yourself within it. However, the style has its drawbacks, one of which is that endings can be kind of weak and unsatisfying.
Then, at the workshop, Scott said that he had recently had an epiphany of sorts and that he finally knew how to end it up. He then proceeded to finish this novel while his students were working on the rough drafts of their assignment stories. This greatly relieved me, who had been waiting for this novel with much anticipation for the last couple of years.
Ultimately, this novel pulls off the ending that it promised. But boy, does it go in a lot of unexpected directions on the way there. At times, I felt like I could see exactly where Card was struggling. The story itself meanders in places, seeming to get lost within itself. It goes off on tangents and I can't seem to figure out WHY Card even wrote those parts, or left them in the final novel. I hope to ask him about them at his upcoming signing.
So yes, there are frustrations at times, but in the end I feel generous enough to give it 4 stars. It's not perfect, and it's not really the ending that I was expecting (or perhaps, hoping for). But let me tell you that this book crams a LOT into its pages. This story goes way, way far away from its humble fantasy novel roots that were begun in "Pathfinder". It goes to some very odd places that left me flabbergasted. There are tons of philosophical examples and conversations that I could have done without. Without spoiling too much, let me say that the whole arc on Earth was not something that I had really wanted to read about. And after that things even become stranger. But I have to commend Card for being able to pull this one off. I really enjoyed the characters, most of which felt so alive to me that I know I'll remember them for a long time. It's actually kind of sad to see this series end. I could see it having legs beyond even the Ender saga, perhaps.
I would definitely recommend this series to any Card fans, even if you've just read Ender's Game. This remains my favorite series of his right beside the title that gave him his fame.
September 11, 2015
Meh. I finished this book because I felt like I had to finish up the series.
My conclusion after reading this and several other of Card's recent books is that he is wonderful at inventing compelling worlds, but terrible at finishing stories. All of the series of his I've read (Alvin Maker, Ender's Game/shadow, pathfinder, gatekeeper) have started out really well, but at some point in each of these, I have found myself really disappointed. I think he maybe just needs to learn when to leave something alone.
This book started out pretty poorly, kind of tried to pick up here and there, but overall was a disappointment. He continued to do what he did in the previous book (ruins, I think?) where he got too excited about pontificating on the physics and theory of time travel. You can definitely tell that he lost his way writing this. I was not only unimpressed by the writing, the story also left me wanting. I have heard that he sort of got stuck with how to end this book, and it definitely shows.
I think I've finally learned my lesson and will give Mr. Card a break for a while. I guess I'll Always have Ender's Game.
My conclusion after reading this and several other of Card's recent books is that he is wonderful at inventing compelling worlds, but terrible at finishing stories. All of the series of his I've read (Alvin Maker, Ender's Game/shadow, pathfinder, gatekeeper) have started out really well, but at some point in each of these, I have found myself really disappointed. I think he maybe just needs to learn when to leave something alone.
This book started out pretty poorly, kind of tried to pick up here and there, but overall was a disappointment. He continued to do what he did in the previous book (ruins, I think?) where he got too excited about pontificating on the physics and theory of time travel. You can definitely tell that he lost his way writing this. I was not only unimpressed by the writing, the story also left me wanting. I have heard that he sort of got stuck with how to end this book, and it definitely shows.
I think I've finally learned my lesson and will give Mr. Card a break for a while. I guess I'll Always have Ender's Game.
June 8, 2015
This is the worst book Card has ever written. Worse than Empire. That may be slightly unfair to this book, which is merely the culmination of the worst series he's ever written. While I didn't love book 1, there were a lot of possibilities. Book 2 seemed to be steering into terrible danger of there were a lot of red flags, but I had faith that Card had a vision for this story, and the redemption of the third book would be worth it.
Part of the problem is the YA label. Everything Card has ever written is YA by the standard of this book. This series is as intellectually difficult as anything he's ever written. The time travel rules are almost ridiculously complex (and often had a lazy, make it up as you go). Only very bright young adults would really enjoy the story. The dialog and characters, on the other hand, could only appeal to the under 9 crowd.
I don't know if Card fired his old editor, felt he couldn't listen to his editor anymore, felt required to make a deadline regardless of quality, or if the book was written by someone else and he just put his name on it, but it is bad.
I've never finished a book this bad. Only my obviously misplaced faith in Card as a storyteller compelled me to complete it. I have to go back and change my rating of the first two books in the wake of this abomination.
Part of the problem is the YA label. Everything Card has ever written is YA by the standard of this book. This series is as intellectually difficult as anything he's ever written. The time travel rules are almost ridiculously complex (and often had a lazy, make it up as you go). Only very bright young adults would really enjoy the story. The dialog and characters, on the other hand, could only appeal to the under 9 crowd.
I don't know if Card fired his old editor, felt he couldn't listen to his editor anymore, felt required to make a deadline regardless of quality, or if the book was written by someone else and he just put his name on it, but it is bad.
I've never finished a book this bad. Only my obviously misplaced faith in Card as a storyteller compelled me to complete it. I have to go back and change my rating of the first two books in the wake of this abomination.
November 7, 2014
Sigh....
First things first go back and reread the 2nd book before you read this one. The plot is extremely intricate and complex (but not really in a good way) and if there is longer than a month gap between the books you'll forget too much.
Actual Review:
So much potential, wasted. All the cool threads, concepts, and storylines don't really reslove themselves, or when they do its deus ex machina. I had my issues with the first two books, but the suspense, characters, and general sci-fi setting made up for the overly complex time travel bits and I was really looking forward to this book, but in the end none of it really mattered. OSC threw so much new stuff into the last half of the book and just kind of left them there. It really is a shame. Also when the characters fall in love, its about as believable as the clone wars. Its like OSC just got lazy and condensed 3 more books worth of stuff into the last 100 pages and paid an intern to finish it.
If you liked the first 2, then of course you have to finish the trilogy, but don't get your expectations up.
---SPOILER ALERT---
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Of course, ALIENS! Thats always the solution. Just like the ending of that movie Bolt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntJDi...). After that disappointment, I thought 'Cool! Aliens! I bet this will be really fleshed out and maybe a sequel!' Instead its Aliens "hack" all our defenses, Rigg goes back in time and stops them, blah blah blah.
First things first go back and reread the 2nd book before you read this one. The plot is extremely intricate and complex (but not really in a good way) and if there is longer than a month gap between the books you'll forget too much.
Actual Review:
So much potential, wasted. All the cool threads, concepts, and storylines don't really reslove themselves, or when they do its deus ex machina. I had my issues with the first two books, but the suspense, characters, and general sci-fi setting made up for the overly complex time travel bits and I was really looking forward to this book, but in the end none of it really mattered. OSC threw so much new stuff into the last half of the book and just kind of left them there. It really is a shame. Also when the characters fall in love, its about as believable as the clone wars. Its like OSC just got lazy and condensed 3 more books worth of stuff into the last 100 pages and paid an intern to finish it.
If you liked the first 2, then of course you have to finish the trilogy, but don't get your expectations up.
---SPOILER ALERT---
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
Of course, ALIENS! Thats always the solution. Just like the ending of that movie Bolt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntJDi...). After that disappointment, I thought 'Cool! Aliens! I bet this will be really fleshed out and maybe a sequel!' Instead its Aliens "hack" all our defenses, Rigg goes back in time and stops them, blah blah blah.
December 18, 2014
This book was quite the letdown for me, but mainly because I had such high hopes for it. The ending of Ruins was so engaging and then Card decided to write 600 pages of...stuff. As Card is known to do, the plot in Visitors often took the sidekick role to the exploration of ancient civilizations or irrelevant side stories. However, the book kept me interested enough throughout and the ending was satisfying enough (with a side of meh).
Sadly, this book convinced me of what I have been denying for a while: Card is well-past his prime. He has become more interested in his personal agendas and exploration than in writing compelling novels. I'm committed to finish his ongoing series - if he ever finishes them (I'm looking at you Shadows Alive and Master Alvin), but it's time for me to move on. It's been a fun journey.
Sadly, this book convinced me of what I have been denying for a while: Card is well-past his prime. He has become more interested in his personal agendas and exploration than in writing compelling novels. I'm committed to finish his ongoing series - if he ever finishes them (I'm looking at you Shadows Alive and Master Alvin), but it's time for me to move on. It's been a fun journey.
December 12, 2023
I cannot slog through to the end of this one. I am at least halfway through this last book - with pages and pages of talking about time shifting, I just don't care about the characters any more. Donating this series to the local library.
March 16, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed the Pathfinder series by Orson Scott Card. Following a story through a well contrived set of time traveling rules (or lack thereof), while juggling the moral responsibility and accountability for such an ability remained interesting throughout all three books. The series started with discovery of the abilities, approached the surface level implications, and then explored the boundaries of the rules until ultimately in this third book Visitors, finding obligation and peace within the responsibilities of possessing the varying time travel abilities. While the overall story was quite complex, it was conveyed in a manner of depth that was well thought out. I enjoy Card's theoretical exploration of issues, and found that this series echoed many of the components that I enjoyed from the Enderverse. I was happy with the conclusion provided by Visitors, exhausting how such time travel scenarios can compound into unlimited time streams. However, I cannot see a fourth book from the conclusion of this timeline, yet it was written in such a manner that a "Shadow" series was viable for another character in Umbro. I kept expecting the books to collide with the Enderverse towards the conclusion and part of me was rooting for that to happen. In that manner, it had a bit of a Stephen King element.
I would strongly recommend these books to anyone who enjoyed the entirety of the Ender series, the characters felt like a blend between both Ender and Bean. If you enjoy Card's blend of moral and technological extrapolations, this series and conclusion stands tall. I appreciate a great story, and felt rewarded with this series, many thanks, and I hope others feel the same.
I would strongly recommend these books to anyone who enjoyed the entirety of the Ender series, the characters felt like a blend between both Ender and Bean. If you enjoy Card's blend of moral and technological extrapolations, this series and conclusion stands tall. I appreciate a great story, and felt rewarded with this series, many thanks, and I hope others feel the same.
May 27, 2015
This is the Orson Scott Card book that finally broke me. Yes, it took me FOREVER to realize that Card is brilliant at his first books & sucks after he's established his worlds, so I hung in there as a fan. The man wrote the book that for years was my favorite book of all time (Ender's Game). I will no longer purchase any Card books. He's not such a terrible writer that I won't READ them. But put my money down? No.
This book suffers from the same problems as its predecessors. Insane amounts of pointless dialogue...it's as if every character has diarrhea of the mouth. Every snarky comment a character might possible have is said out loud. Every whiny doubt they might have is written down. With the exception of the two characters who do the most complaining, every other character has the same 'voice.' Remove any indication of who's speaking & you'd assume that you were reading an internal monologue. Also, this book is apparently for YA readers (with multiple times poop is brought up), yet sex is flippantly discussed, and even I couldn't keep track of the 'logic' behind the time traveling. It was a bizarre mishmash that made me feel uncomfortable.
If you can push past all of that, the story itself is interesting. I *like* Card's ideas. I just had to do a LOT of eye rolling, groaning, and putting the book down to take a break from all the terrible dialogue. Thankfully this is the last in this series (alleluia). Book 2 & 3 were rough enough to get through that overall, I wouldn't recommend this particular Card series.
This book suffers from the same problems as its predecessors. Insane amounts of pointless dialogue...it's as if every character has diarrhea of the mouth. Every snarky comment a character might possible have is said out loud. Every whiny doubt they might have is written down. With the exception of the two characters who do the most complaining, every other character has the same 'voice.' Remove any indication of who's speaking & you'd assume that you were reading an internal monologue. Also, this book is apparently for YA readers (with multiple times poop is brought up), yet sex is flippantly discussed, and even I couldn't keep track of the 'logic' behind the time traveling. It was a bizarre mishmash that made me feel uncomfortable.
If you can push past all of that, the story itself is interesting. I *like* Card's ideas. I just had to do a LOT of eye rolling, groaning, and putting the book down to take a break from all the terrible dialogue. Thankfully this is the last in this series (alleluia). Book 2 & 3 were rough enough to get through that overall, I wouldn't recommend this particular Card series.
February 14, 2021
It was interesting for a while, but the ending just kind of flopped. It also got bogged down with the nitty gritties of time travel.
I also noticed two errors:
Ram Odin responded to the exact words the mice were saying to Noxon even though he couldn’t hear them.
Noxon referred to seeing Deborah get killed as the moment when he realized that he loved her. Except... he never saw that because he sent a note back and erased that future from happening.
I had really been enjoying this series, and a good part of this book, but the ending was an over simplified let down, and there was less plot and more explaining about time travel.
I also noticed two errors:
Ram Odin responded to the exact words the mice were saying to Noxon even though he couldn’t hear them.
Noxon referred to seeing Deborah get killed as the moment when he realized that he loved her. Except... he never saw that because he sent a note back and erased that future from happening.
I had really been enjoying this series, and a good part of this book, but the ending was an over simplified let down, and there was less plot and more explaining about time travel.
November 24, 2014
Very disconnected. Maybe a little too much time travel? Just like many of Card's stories, it seems new rules are created to allow solutions. Frustrating end.
April 13, 2015
Good, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two books in the series.
January 8, 2016
How to explain this book in a coherent way......Well, first off if you like time travel, and the physics behind potential time travel then grab this series. Visitors is much like Ruins and Pathfinder where the time travel aspects of the characters really take precedence over everything. I honestly felt like I was reading a book on cause and effect in relation to time travel. Ultimately it seemed that throughout the whole series, the characters were just trying to figure out exactly how their own time travel abilities worked, right until the end of Visitors. Did I feel satisfied with how the trilogy ended? (This is a trilogy right?) No. I thought it was a lot of fluff with no substance at the end. Abrupt ending to an otherwise underwhelming series overall. It wasn't awful but it didn't blow me away either. I would certainly recommend this book and this series to anyone who enjoys a good time travel series. And by that I mean someone who is interested in the actual causal effect of time travel and its implications. It is by no means a clear-cut concise story on time travel, but a very convoluted and at times numbing story. I will admit that the characters are well thought out and very easily to connect to. If I could go back, I probably would have stopped after Ruins as I am uncertain as to how much Visitors really adds to the series overall, as opposed to spending almost 600 pages waiting and waiting for a climax which never came, and a summation of three novels that spanned maybe 100 pages at the end.
January 10, 2018
While I greatly enjoy most works by O.S.C., this book is the first book to truly dash all of my expectations. The characters were all one dimensional, and love stories popped into existence with absolutely no pretext, plot devices were used to skip the hassle of the characters having to travel great distances, chapters having no bearing on the plot spanned multiple different chapters, and the ending was anticlimactic. While the characters had interesting abilities, they had no distinction is perspective or dialogue (all but Loaf and Leaky). You could seriously remove all character names and (when no abilities were being used) all would be an indistinguishable monologue. While there were some good ethical case studies presented, they felt like filler for the anticlimactic solution to one of the books largest plot conflicts.
The first book was one of my favorites written by O.S.C. Unfortunately, after that, the second book was filler for a lackluster third book with no editor.
The first book was one of my favorites written by O.S.C. Unfortunately, after that, the second book was filler for a lackluster third book with no editor.
January 26, 2015
A rushed, very uneven finish to the series. This book felt like it was the catch-all for all potential plot tangents Card thought up in his brainstorming sessions.
I wouldn't be surprised to find out he had originally planned a much longer more epic series, but got bored with the premise and finished it all off at once.
I also got the impression that Card had Ender's xenocide at the back of his mind while writing and either was trying to play the apologist or atone for them.
I wouldn't be surprised to find out he had originally planned a much longer more epic series, but got bored with the premise and finished it all off at once.
I also got the impression that Card had Ender's xenocide at the back of his mind while writing and either was trying to play the apologist or atone for them.
November 7, 2014
Good conclusion but left me with a headache thinking about the whole time space conundrum
May 23, 2016
What a great series! Time travel in a confusing way but still an excellent story!
December 20, 2022
I read Card had some difficulty figuring out how things would end since it wasn't planned from the beginning and after reading I think that makes a lot of sense. The story felt a little lost for a while but overall a good conclusion to a good series.
May 22, 2019
Too much clutter. Very untidy.
September 5, 2016
I gave the previous two books 4 stars, but I found this one to be a bit too chaotic. I had the feeling there was quite a bit of superfluous stuff in here. E.g., I really liked the stories of Rigg getting to know the different folds, but he did not do anything with the information he learned there. The first prehistoric bit was interesting, but really, why that whole second piece? Plus the stupid part where
Then the parts that did matter got glossed over a bit. We finally get to the real reason Garden was destroyed, and then it all gets arranged in no time.
A second peeve I have were the female roles. Of course, we're talking about OSC here, so you can't expect a whole lot in that department. Still, it didn't bother me too much in the first books. But in this one, I really didn't like the whole business with Leaky, who Then I started thinking, who else is there? Param at least is growing up, but she still doesn't make the most convincing power woman. There is what's-her-name, who seems to only exist as a love interest. And she says that women are all attracted to power. Sigh. Oh, and Param's mother, the evil woman who would murder her own children. Perhaps the only acceptable one is Auntie Wind and she hardly has any role. Then the thing that seriously annoyed me. The mice go with Noxon on an expedition. They take all pregnant female mice, and... one male mouse to be the leader. Seriously?!? Not even the mice, who are so cooperative and all, can consider taking another pregnant female mouse as leader? Would have been more sensible,more mouse babies after all, and since they have manipulated the DNA, there is no need for males for DNA diversity.
Well,it's not his worst, but it is a pity, really.
Then the parts that did matter got glossed over a bit. We finally get to the real reason Garden was destroyed, and then it all gets arranged in no time.
A second peeve I have were the female roles. Of course, we're talking about OSC here, so you can't expect a whole lot in that department. Still, it didn't bother me too much in the first books. But in this one, I really didn't like the whole business with Leaky, who Then I started thinking, who else is there? Param at least is growing up, but she still doesn't make the most convincing power woman. There is what's-her-name, who seems to only exist as a love interest. And she says that women are all attracted to power. Sigh. Oh, and Param's mother, the evil woman who would murder her own children. Perhaps the only acceptable one is Auntie Wind and she hardly has any role. Then the thing that seriously annoyed me. The mice go with Noxon on an expedition. They take all pregnant female mice, and... one male mouse to be the leader. Seriously?!? Not even the mice, who are so cooperative and all, can consider taking another pregnant female mouse as leader? Would have been more sensible,more mouse babies after all, and since they have manipulated the DNA, there is no need for males for DNA diversity.
Well,it's not his worst, but it is a pity, really.
February 9, 2017
Rigg, Loaf, Umbo, and Param continue their adventure in time and eventually space in this third volume of the Series that began with Pathfinder. This time they must find a way to prevent Garden from being destroyed. They need to travel both back and forward through time, as well as through space to try to accomplish this goal. Along the way they will also need to understand the consequences of creating doubles of themselves and other risks of time travel.
I picked this book up as I enjoyed the first two in the series. Also, I admire the author's work. Add to that my enjoyment and fascination with the complexities of time travel and there seems to be little doubt I would read this.
I finished the book because I wanted to see how they sorted out the politics, and also how they came to make decisions. Time travel gives the characters amazing power. How do they handle this?
I would recommend this to Victoria and Tyler. I think that they would enjoy the story, but also the sometimes mind bending thinking about time.
I picked this book up as I enjoyed the first two in the series. Also, I admire the author's work. Add to that my enjoyment and fascination with the complexities of time travel and there seems to be little doubt I would read this.
I finished the book because I wanted to see how they sorted out the politics, and also how they came to make decisions. Time travel gives the characters amazing power. How do they handle this?
I would recommend this to Victoria and Tyler. I think that they would enjoy the story, but also the sometimes mind bending thinking about time.
August 6, 2015
This isn't proper review, because I just copied and pasted some of my thoughts from my phone.
⊙ param And olivenko should have had much bigger roles
⊙umbo finally grew up and became mature while not complaining and whining about why he isnt rigg
⊙Noxon was soo boring, his chapters were extremely long and slow
⊙ the young ram Odin on the backwords ship was funny and sarcastic like the mice from odinfold
⊙even loaf played less of a role, even vadesh even tho he is weird, he was a good character
⊙ rigg and ram had some good stories abd chapters when they visited each wallfold, but these were all unnecessarily long, like come on visiting each and every wallfold , just go to some or read each of their histories.
⊙even through the second half this book was dragged on and focused on uncessary things
⊙ it was more confusing than the first two books, plus philosophical dialogue too much
⊙the last chapter was something that made me happy and I only wish it were longer
⊙this is the weakest book in the trilogy
⊙ param And olivenko should have had much bigger roles
⊙umbo finally grew up and became mature while not complaining and whining about why he isnt rigg
⊙Noxon was soo boring, his chapters were extremely long and slow
⊙ the young ram Odin on the backwords ship was funny and sarcastic like the mice from odinfold
⊙even loaf played less of a role, even vadesh even tho he is weird, he was a good character
⊙ rigg and ram had some good stories abd chapters when they visited each wallfold, but these were all unnecessarily long, like come on visiting each and every wallfold , just go to some or read each of their histories.
⊙even through the second half this book was dragged on and focused on uncessary things
⊙ it was more confusing than the first two books, plus philosophical dialogue too much
⊙the last chapter was something that made me happy and I only wish it were longer
⊙this is the weakest book in the trilogy
July 31, 2017
Snark. Lots and lots and lots of snark. Lots of bright characters talking to each other in what is supposed to be a witty clever way that is just plain snarky. Page after page after page of snark. And mixed in with that is some interesting ideas about the nature of time and causality. And possible extra abilities that were quite a bit different then I'd seen anywhere else. Also a bit of a nod to Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus, though in that book it was done quite a bit better. A little wit is good, a lot of wit is better, constant wit for hundreds of pages is not better.
August 8, 2017
Fantastic book, great series. I'd give the trilogy as a whole about 4.25 stars overall. And I should point out that at least one of its deficiencies is that it just didn't last long enough! OSC seemed to rush a little bit through this third book; maybe that's because he had a deadline to meet or whatnot. Or, maybe he just knew the story he wanted to tell and he told it his way. Either way, it left me supremely satisfied, yet still wanting more. And isn't that the goal of all the great storytellers??
If you're thinking of reading this trilogy, I recommend it. If you've never read Card before, go do Ender's Game and Speaker -- and then, I DARE you not to keep exploring that universe and his brilliant mind.
Happy reading, everyone!
If you're thinking of reading this trilogy, I recommend it. If you've never read Card before, go do Ender's Game and Speaker -- and then, I DARE you not to keep exploring that universe and his brilliant mind.
Happy reading, everyone!
March 1, 2015
Better than book 2, which suffered from being the trilogy's bridging book, but not quite back to the level of book 1. Way too much attempting to explain the time-travel physics, which simply MAKE NO SENSE, and all attempts to prove otherwise just make it worse.
And the ending wrapped up several seemingly insoluble plot threads in a nice neat bow -- and very quickly, despite them having previously dragged on for hundreds of pages.
Nonetheless, I'll round this 3.5 star book up to 4. Despite the complete nonsensicalness of the time travel, when the book ignores the how and sticks to the why and what happens next, it's rollicking fun.
And the ending wrapped up several seemingly insoluble plot threads in a nice neat bow -- and very quickly, despite them having previously dragged on for hundreds of pages.
Nonetheless, I'll round this 3.5 star book up to 4. Despite the complete nonsensicalness of the time travel, when the book ignores the how and sticks to the why and what happens next, it's rollicking fun.
September 11, 2016
Such a disappointment. For a series that started in such a promising way, the wrap up was such a let down. It's not that the story ends and leaves you dissatisfied, no i think the story wraps up all its loose ends relatively well. Instead, its the absolutely atrocious writing. All the characters start sounding the same way and all they talk about is their powers over and over again. Ugh. I barely made it to the end. Oh well.
February 2, 2022
Enjoyed this book the least of the whole series. In my opinion it went downhill from the first one. The ending was pretty anticlimactic and it took a long time to get there. There were long conversations between characters discussing philosophical issues and ramifications of certain time travel trips. This book also had more instances of swearing and even stronger language than the previous ones. Overall, I don't think I would recommend this series.
March 15, 2016
This series like many of OSC's started with a great first book that introduces cool ideas, characters, and a good plot. After the first book, though, I feel like everything just turns mostly directionless and becomes total philosophy. I enjoy Card's philosophy a lot and he often has great quotes, but the book itself I though was somewhere in the good to OK range. 2.5
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