Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (Pastwatch #1)

3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 · rating details · 8,056 ratings · 619 reviews

In one of the most powerful and thought-provoking novels of his remarkable career, Orson Scott Card interweaves a compelling portrait of Christopher Columbus with the story of a future scientist who believes she can alter human history from a tragedy of bloodshed and brutality to a world filled with hope and healing.

Paperback, 402 pages

Published February 15th 1997 by Tor Science Fiction (first published 1996)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Best Time Travel Fiction

37th out of 634 books — 2,164 voters

Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

163rd out of 2,947 books — 12,439 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 03, 2013 Hayden Casey rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-travesty, author-dropped, bad-bad-author, boring-action, confusing, deathly-long-descriptions, disappointing-ending, doesnt-deserve-publication, doesnt-deserve-the-goodreads-rating, dont-get-why-its-so-appealing, dont-give-a-hoot, dreaded-english-summer-reading, dreadfully-boring, ending-sucked, eruption-of-fail, expect-the-worst, freaking-gargantuan, gross-smh, hate-with-a-passion, inner-masochist-just-lookin-for-fun, just-couldn-t-take-it-anymore, lq-writing, mindfuck-of-a-mc, mega-sucky-cover, main-character-deserves-death, not-impressed, not-even-worth-a-star, plot-devices-gone-awry, series-dropped, sssslllloooooowwwwww, started-slow, they-cut-down-trees-for-this-sh-t, used-for-kindling, wish-i-could-unread-it, worst-books-ever, ★

This book is in the key of C Minor, because it's just that tragic.

Final Verdict: 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000001 Stars

Sometimes, English teachers make horrible choices.
Pastwatch is no exception.
It was a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad book.

Three Big Things that Epically Suck About Pastwatch, in No Particular Order
The First: The Plot Holes
In Pastwatch, the characters go back in time and try to prevent the people of the past from dying. In one scene of the book, Manjam (a scient...more

7 likes · like · see review

Mar 16, 2008 Hugh Henry rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: No one

Shelves: fiction

This is a well-written work of science fiction, as are all of Card's works. Like his Rachel and Leah, however, the characters of this book who pretend to be historical are not very accurate. I enjoy good fiction and exciting narratives. I dislike fiction masquerading as history or a work such as this blurring the lines between history and fiction so thoroughly that it is impossible to see where the imagination ends and facts begin.
The idea that the voyage of Columbus changed the entire face of...more This is a well-written work of science fiction, as are all of Card's works. Like his Rachel and Leah, however, the characters of this book who pretend to be historical are not very accurate. I enjoy good fiction and exciting narratives. I dislike fiction masquerading as history or a work such as this blurring the lines between history and fiction so thoroughly that it is impossible to see where the imagination ends and facts begin.
The idea that the voyage of Columbus changed the entire face of the earth forever, bringing on Western civilization as we know it, is debatable. Pedro Cabral accidentally landed in Brazil a short time later. Who can say absolutely that Cabot, Cartier and the other exporers would NEVER have ventured into the Atlantic without Columbus' tales of a land of plenty? Secondly, it is highly far-fetched for any to suppose that a final crusade to retake Constantinople was in the offing in 1492. The Great Schism was 400 years old and the Greek Orthodox people were not considered Christians.
Even more dubious is Card's contention that the Native Americans were on the road to huge technological discoveries and massive, centralized empires worthy of competing with European powers in ship-building and exploration. Columbus' voyage and the succeeding colonizings by European countries stopped this enormous Central-American empire from taking shape.
I put the book down as soon as Card began expounding that Malthus was right: Western culture will lead us in the year 2100 to the total destruction of the Amazon rainforest, all the topsoil in the world, and the total destruction of all arable land in the world. The apocalyptic future in which massive wars have killed 90% of the world's people, but the world is still unable to feed itself is beyond ludicrous. Thomas Malthus could have written this book.
A fanciful history and a Malthusian future build the setting of Pastwatch on false foundations. I give it two stars because it is at least well-written.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

May 26, 2008 Bruce Sanders rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was recommended to me by a friend. It is an alternative history book rather than what I'd call a sci-fi book and I'm not really an alternative history fan. Pastwatch is an organization that does what it says. Via special machines Pastwatch personnel are able to tap into the past and watch history. One day one of the workers discovers that it may be possible to interact with the past and thus change the past (and everything in the future that follows from that change). It is later discovered...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 13, 2009 Ellen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, reviewed, science-fiction

Great, great book. I've mentioned recently in reviews that I've read some time travel books people have recommended as "as good as Connie Willis" and they never turn out to be; this is the only other book I can think of that I put on the same level as Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog (though I read it first, so really, it was more like reading Doomsday Book and thinking it was as good as Pastwatch). Highly recommended.

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 10, 2008 Rhyd Wildermuth rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Homophobes, Fundamentalists, Misogynists, White Supremacists, and Mormons

No one can begrudge Card for using Sci-Fi as a field for propaganda: the medium itself (world-creation/world-defining) by nature almost requires it.

But unless you're rather fond of the idea that mormon "family values" are somehow universal, and extend throughout the whole history of humanity, than you might not go for this book.

I didn't.

If you're the sort who watches the history channel and finds it profound, somehow missing the propaganda within a narrative of human actions throughout record...more

6 likes · like · see review

May 22, 2008 Regina rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: All

Recommended to Regina by: Dwight

Shelves: book-club, time-travel

Loved it!!! I LOVE time-travel/historical fiction/alternate reality stories. I am also in love with books that can broaden my horizons, tell a compelling story, and have great writing. This definitely fit the bill. It is well written, had a great plot, the characters were interesting, and it was thought provoking.

My love of this genre started for me with "the Magic Tunnel" where children travel back to 1664, when New York was New Amsterdam. I also loved "The Devil's Arithmetic" where 12 year old...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 18, 2011 Josiah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-european, fiction-southamerican, scifi-fantasy, favorites, future, philosophy-ethics

Such a headtrip for history buffs, this story invovles time travel, social culpability for genocide, archaeology, and more!

2 likes · like · see review

May 17, 2013 Sarah Hipple rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Pastwatch is a really interesting alternate history by Orson Scott Card.

It is really hard to give a summary of this book without giving away any spoilers. Normally I'd give a short summary and then go into my opinions, but I don't feel comfortable giving a summary here because one of the most important plot points isn't something you discover until half way through the book, and I'm not going to ruin that for you guys.

One of the most interesting parts of this book is that it takes place during t...more

like · see review

Apr 24, 2013 Don rated it 3 of 5 stars

Pastwatch looks at an alternate history of Columbus from the perspective a society that is first able to view the past as it happens and, eventually, to send people back in time to alter history as we know it. I personally feel that Card, a "card-carrying" member of the Mormons enjoys this kind of reconstruction of history because of his faith and how Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism did exactly that, invented a history, to provide a justification for his new religion. (See his Alvin serie...more

like · see review

Mar 30, 2013 Tara rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Wow just wow. Had to read this for cultures and just..wow. I LOOOOVED how everything tied back together and in the final chapter and Epilogue I could NOT stop smiling/crying! That was amazing. I'll admit some of the Columbus stuff was REALLY dry but I mean..the overall story and how it all fits together..absolutely unbelievable. If this is science fiction, this is pretty gosh darn amazing! It was heartbreaking when Hunahpu and Diko finally reunited after all that time! I wanted to cry..and the 1...more

like · see review

Feb 17, 2013 Denis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review is pretty spoiler filled - don't read it if you are planning on reading the book.

This is a story about messing with the past. The two early questions were "can we?" and "should we?"

First, there was a really annoying Liberal (in the Rush Limbaugh sense) who wanted to prevent suffering by, well, making sure none of those who suffered ever existed (or anyone else who had better lives too).

Second, there was a good discussion on the ethics of the whole thing.

Then, the author stepped in w...more

like · see review

Jan 19, 2013 Joe rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Sci-Fi and/or History nerds

Recommended to Joe by: Kendall Martin

Shelves: 2013

Sci-fi visionary Orson Scott Card nails it with this one!

Written in 1996, Pastwatch is an engaging blend of three genres: science fiction, historical fiction, and moral story. In an imagined future Earth, humans have the technology to look back at specific times in the past and analyze them from a witness' perspective. However, due to humanity's depletion of Earth's natural resources, drastic measures are taken to physically transport scientists back in time in order to change the fate of the hu...more Sci-fi visionary Orson Scott Card nails it with this one!

Written in 1996, Pastwatch is an engaging blend of three genres: science fiction, historical fiction, and moral story. In an imagined future Earth, humans have the technology to look back at specific times in the past and analyze them from a witness' perspective. However, due to humanity's depletion of Earth's natural resources, drastic measures are taken to physically transport scientists back in time in order to change the fate of the human race. Their efforts are focused on Christopher Columbus, a key figure whose religious zeal and fixation on the New World led to centuries of mass genocide and environmental devastation.

I certainly found this book entertaining, not only for its well-crafted narrative, but also for the ethical dilemmas it presented. Card makes it very clear from the beginning that this is a story about morality, and he sets out to tackle a lot of tricky issues. Do we know what's best simply because we know the outcome? What gives us the right to play God? Are our struggles as important to our development as our victories?

While Card's characters are impeccably crafted, there were times I found myself frustrated by their irresponsible approach toward meddling in the past. For such thoughtful, well-intentioned folks, they are surprisingly arrogant. Still, that arrogance elegantly parallels Columbus' journey toward righteousness in his life. It was neat to see the two stories illustrated separately, and then watch them collide as the story unfolds.

The cause-and-effect cliches of time travel stories are certainly present (e.g. everything we touch will alter the future, it's not supposed to happen this way), but Card doesn't shy away from explaining precisely how his version of time travel works, a fact which helped me set aside my skepticism.

Overall, I found this book entertaining and instructive. While some of the ethical issues are resolved a bit too neatly in the end, I was still left with that familiar sense of urgency common throughout alarmist fiction. Am I doing all I can to make my world a better place for all life? What prejudices do I have that might be considered barbaric by future generations? At one point, Card suggests that “happiness is not a life without pain, but rather a life in which the pain is traded for a worthy price,” and yet the entire point of the novel seems to be that if we can eliminate pain from ever existing in the first place, we should do so.

I recommend this book for people who aren't necessarily interested in the redemption of Christopher Columbus, as the title suggests, but rather the redemption of humanity.

NOTE: I've been reading a lot of reviews that are hating on this book and other works by Orson Scott Card because he is a Mormon and reportedly against gay marriage. There was no evidence of ANY of that in this book, so I've chosen not to go there.(less)

like · see review

Jan 18, 2013 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-books, historical-fiction, science-fiction

I was skeptical of this book, at first, because I'm not a big fan of either adult science fiction novels or adult historical fiction because they tend to get too heavy and dry for me. However, I was instantly sucked into this story and I almost couldn't put it down. The story is one of the most original I have ever read, and I appreciated how carefully Orson Scott Card researched history in order to provide as realistic and believable an account as possible, and as realistic and believable an al...more

like · see review

Oct 12, 2012 erin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Even though I'm not a huge sci-fi reader, I decided to check this book on recommendation from a family member after I told her I'd enjoyed OSC's Enchantment. Seems like there are plenty of readers critical of the book, but I thought it was unique and engrossing.

The historical research that went into this book is phenomenal and I think any fan of historical novels would find this intriguing even though it's a story that mixes history and a hypothetical alternate history. OSC delves into one of t...more

like · see review

Aug 22, 2012 Clark Hallman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card (first published in 1996) is a complex story about scientists/researchers, Christopher Columbus, and alternate history. The researchers were part of the Pastwatch project, which enabled them to witness and study any time and place in the history of the world. At first the images provided only fleeting glimpses that lacked detail and sound. However, the continued development of the Pastwatch technology, enabled the researchers...more Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card (first published in 1996) is a complex story about scientists/researchers, Christopher Columbus, and alternate history. The researchers were part of the Pastwatch project, which enabled them to witness and study any time and place in the history of the world. At first the images provided only fleeting glimpses that lacked detail and sound. However, the continued development of the Pastwatch technology, enabled the researchers to clearly view, hear, and record events and/or individual conversations that interested them. For many years the researchers were limited to voyeurism, i.e., they could not communicate with their subjects. However, new technology eventually provided the ability to communicate with historical subjects. Of course that ability also provided opportunities to affect the events of the past, which provided the possibility of changing history, and therefore changing the present as well. Tagiri and Hassan lead the Columbus project within the Pastwatch organization. They were concerned about the way European explorers/invaders (mostly from Spain) raped, murdered and took native peoples from the new world back to Spain where they were forced to live as slaves. The Columbus project was established to try to use the Pastwatch technology to eliminate that exploitation and torture by the Spaniards. The researchers believed that the best way to accomplish this was to either stop Columbus from sailing west to the new world or change his attitudes about native peoples and slavery. After many years, Tagiri and Hassan’s daughter, Diko, became the leader of this effort and the evolved technology enabled the Pastwatch researchers to physically travel back in time to impact history. In addition to their concerns about physical violence toward the people in the past and the slavery of those people, the researchers were also concerned about a crumbling ecosystem and society in the present. Changing the actions of Columbus was seen as the key to preventing the slavery and possibly avoiding ecological and societal catastrophe in the present. This book takes the reader back and forth from the Pastwatch researchers in the present to Columbus and his contemporaries. It also enlightens the reader about the development of societies in Haiti and surrounds. It provides a very interesting account of the life of Columbus and the society in which he lived. Diko and her team journey back in time and endure much loss and hardship to create an alternate history. The pivotal role of Columbus regarding the alternate world history is very well developed and fascinating. I found this book to be a first-rate and very enjoyable time-travel and alternate-history tale.
(less)

like · see review

Feb 12, 2012 John rated it 2 of 5 stars

Orson Scott Card can really tell a story, this much is certain. The book clips along and some of the ancient past segments are quite good. But this book is the epitome of white guilt hand-wringing, and is an unfortunate byproduct of the mid-1990s politically correct/historical revisionist movement. Its PC agenda and sympathies are so over-the-top, it is nauseating.

If you really like this book, and think "Oh, if only we could really do something like this," then I recommend you read Ursula LeGui...more

like · see review

Feb 08, 2012 Maria rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historicalfiction, sf

I almost gave this book 3 stars but that would have been in comparison to other Card novels. Comparing it to the books I read it deserves 4 stars.

I enjoyed the story and after awhile I couldn't put it down. Because most of the novel is preparation and only the very end deals with what the characters were trying to do it is a unique story. I can see how it might feel like the novel takes forever to get going, I even felt that way a few times. However, I think the preparation was actually really...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 10, 2011 Gill rated it 5 of 5 stars

“I guess every writer who considers writing fiction occasionally has the experience of running across a book whose plot is one he was working on himself, thinking it an original idea.

I have had an idea for a SF novel very much along the lines of Pastwatch for at least 10 years. I never had the drive to bring the idea to life, just some sketches and development ideas. So I was shocked when I read Pastwatch. I realized how much of what we think is our own idea is just floating out there in the Zei...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 26, 2011 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

I'm a big fan of Orson Scott Card. His books show that he has one of the most imaginative minds out there. Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus is no different.

It starts out with a small prologue, that explains how the world has ended up in the not so distant future. We learn that many species and many humans have been wiped out but despite this, humanity has taken a turn. It has become, while not Utopian, a more understanding society, interested in learning from mistakes.

We then ar...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 16, 2010 Jason Golomb rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: exploration, science-fiction, incas-and-aztecs, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. If you knew there was a bomb in a building, would you feel obliged to yell as loudly as possible to warn other people? The bomb explodes and the injuries are high and the death toll unimaginable. But then you have an opportunity to go back in time and prevent the bomb from ever being planted in the first place. Take things one step further...let's say that you stop the bomber before he even places his bomb...what else might change? Now you're dealing with what's known as 'the butterfly effect' -...more If you knew there was a bomb in a building, would you feel obliged to yell as loudly as possible to warn other people? The bomb explodes and the injuries are high and the death toll unimaginable. But then you have an opportunity to go back in time and prevent the bomb from ever being planted in the first place. Take things one step further...let's say that you stop the bomber before he even places his bomb...what else might change? Now you're dealing with what's known as 'the butterfly effect' - if a butterfly flaps it's wings in China, can it change the weather on the other side of the world?

"Pastwatch" takes that concept one step further by asking if you can change the course of one man's life, can you change the course of the entire world? That one man happens to be Christopher Columbus.

"Pastwatch" is about discovery, exploration and redemption. Columbus is believably passionate as we gain glimpses of his upbringing in Genoa, his early years in Portugal, and his ultimate journey to Spain where, for years, he lobbied King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela to support his adventures westward.

Pastwatch is a fictional organization tasked with utilizing cutting edge technology that allows people to view events in the past. Card's Pastwatch technology evolved over time, initially only allowing viewers to see events at a very macro level (historical world weather patterns initially), but developed eventually to see into actual human interactions. The most modern versions of Pastwatch technology allow viewers to watch humans interacting in full 3D.

Card moves the story swiftly by jumping through 15th century Europe and the future. With each jump, Card effectively evokes emotion and understanding from each characterization. Columbus is but one axis upon which the story revolves. The other characters are instrumental in the analysis and discovery of the ability to change the past. Tagiri focuses her Pastwatch career around the study of slavery. Kemal made one of Pastwatch's early and most fundamental discoveries when he found an individual who very plausibly was the basis upon which Noah, Gilgamesh and other world flood myths stand. Diko and Hunahpu are at the center of a new generation of pastwatchers.

Card has an uncanny ability to explore deep and influential topics while unraveling his narrative in an interesting and attainable way. Once the idea of time travel emerges, the characters debate its risks and rewards, but not for a moment did it feel bogged down in pseudo scientific mumbo jumbo. Likewise, there's much debate over slavery, European-based religion, and new world religion, and the speculation of alternative futures for Earth, but they blend seamlessly with the plot and merge well with the jumps into Columbus' inevitable journey across the Atlantic.

Card approaches his plot-lines very intelligently, but I found a few gaps in the characters' rationale that ultimately leads to the time travel adventures into the 15th Century.

The saga of "Pastwatch" is a remarkable book. I'm such a fan of exploration-era historical novels AND science fiction, that I'm ashamed to have never come across it until recently. It's truly a terrific read and I highly recommend it.

One note: the pastwatch concept originates from Card's short story called "Atlantis" which delves deeply into Kemal's identification and discovery of the "original" Noah. It's a very good standalone and rewarding work, and while it's not a necessity to read before "Pastwatch", it adds to the aura and myth that surrounds Kemal.(less)

like · see review

Sep 13, 2010 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

As usual, Card writes compelling, page-turning fiction. In this case, we are dealing with the rather heady concept of time travel. Specifically, how to slightly affect the past to obliterate the existing future and create a desired new future.

Only two criticisms of an otherwise excellent book:

1) There is basically no action in this book. None. Nearly the entire story consists of people thinking about things or discussing things. Even so, the fact that Card was able to write a compelling story...more

like · see review

Jul 02, 2010 John rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It constantly amazes me the gulf there is between Card's obnoxious and forcefully expressed social opinions and the humanitarian voice that speaks through many of his novels, but never more so than in this instance.

In the not-so-far future, the earth seems to be recovering from the onslaught of the 20th and 21st centuries. The human population has stabilized at a smallish fraction of the current level. Employees of the organization called Pastwatch spend their time scanning history using a devic...more It constantly amazes me the gulf there is between Card's obnoxious and forcefully expressed social opinions and the humanitarian voice that speaks through many of his novels, but never more so than in this instance.

In the not-so-far future, the earth seems to be recovering from the onslaught of the 20th and 21st centuries. The human population has stabilized at a smallish fraction of the current level. Employees of the organization called Pastwatch spend their time scanning history using a device that can passively observe the past . . . and, they begin to suspect, perhaps not entirely passively, because it seems the occasional sensitive can detect the "presence" of the observers. One research project is to pinpoint those moments in history whose consequences led to the devastation of the planet and the human species's current sorry shape. The crucial moment appears to be Christopher Columbus's decision, in the wake of his near-miraculous survival after a shipwreck, to sail westward across the Atlantic in search of new lands to exploit and new souls to save for Christ. The Pastwatchers are appalled when they witness the instant of his making that decision: he received a visitation from two human figures and a dove -- Father, Son and Holy Ghost, in the iconography of the time -- who told him the westward voyage should be his holy duty. The Pastwatchers recognize these figures must be time travellers from an alternate future, a future so bad that its denizens have resorted to altering the past in order to erase it and of course, in the process, themselves.

[Why should that be an inevitable consequence? In the physics of time expressed in this book, there are no alternative realities: always only the one. This is because the quanta of time -- "moments" -- are quite discrete from each other. "When the machine was introduced into our history, from that point forward a new infinite set of moments completely replaced the old infinite set of moments. There were no spare leftover moment-locations for the old moments to hang around in." (p194) And the fact that the time device was created in a future that, the instant it used the device, ceased ever to have existed is no paradox because, while it seems to us that causality is timelike, in fact causality is independent of time and its functionings unamenable to rational analysis (rather like the Jungian concept of synchronicity): in particular, "Causality can be recursive but time cannot." (p193).]

So some event in the other history happened that would have been forestalled by Columbus sailing the ocean blue, as he did in our own past. What could it have been? A young Pastwatcher builds a near-watertight case that it was the discovery, not of the New World by the Old, but of the Old World by the New -- the conquest of Europe by the Tlaxcalans, who brought with them the hideous practice of mass human torture-sacrifice that was rife among all the South American cultures of the era.

Around this time in our future, time travel is developed, and the Pastwatchers are obviously highly interested by this field of technology so close to the one they're using. Also, it occurs to them that, just like their counterparts, they could perhaps alter history to lead to a happier outcome. This notion is spurred by the discovery that the earth is not in fact recovering, as people had thought: any recovery will be centuries or millennia in the future, by which time the human species will be long gone. Again they focus on Columbus. If they could, by scuttling his ships, make it impossible for him immediately to return to Europe after his New World landfall, and if they could play upon the Christian sensibilities of the man such as to deflect his mind off gold and slavery toward converting the local civilizations to good liberal values . . . So they send back three volunteers to the 15th century, thereby erasing everyone else after Columbus's time (us included) from reality. Can those three pull off the task?

This book is extraordinarily slow to get itself off the ground -- about two-thirds of the text is occupied by the setting-up (alternating between the 15th century and the Pastwatchers' present) preparatory to the actual time travel -- and the characterization of some of the major movers and shakers manages to achieve the feat of seeming both laboured and perfunctory at the same time. Much of that setting-up is in itself fascinating (there's a really neat Atlantis/Noah hypothesis!), and it was only a few times that a sense of "oh, for gawd's sake get on with it" swept over me. The writing is up to Card's usual high and elegant standard (although near the end there are some signs of apparent haste). Overall, I'd recommend this to friends as worth their time.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jun 25, 2010 Lady Knight rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, time-travel, adult, americas, on-my-shelf-book, 2009-tbr-pile-read, space

Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite authors, and this book really cemented his reputation as a master of Science Fiction, in my opinion.

Pastwatch is an organization in the future that has discovered the technology to be able to watch every second of every day ever lived in the history of the world. Many people who work for Pastwatch have their own projects. While researching slavery, it is discovered that someone has previously sent future things into the past so as to change the outcome of h...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 11, 2010 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an idea book, not a character book. In this book, Card is exploring the idea that a group of people would deliberately go back in time to alter events in such a way that human history would work out "better." The height of hubris, definitely, for any group of mortals to think they could predict future events accurately enough to know what to "improve." I think that Card is right that humanity would have to be in the brink of extinction before they would permit such an experiment.

There ar...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 09, 2009 Jake rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, fiction

This is only the second Orson Scott Card book I’ve read. When it comes to sci-fi, I’m an Arthur C. Clarke fan all the way, and don’t dabble in much else. As with Ender’s Game I came to Pastwatch via a friend’s recommendation. She had others of Card’s books she liked more, but I opted to try this one because of the subject material. I was curious to see how Card would depict Columbus, a prominent figure in Card’s (and my) native culture of Mormonism.

In short, I didn’t find the book especially...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 21, 2009 Wendy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-based-fiction, sci-fi, read-or-reread-in-09, timey-wimey

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. As usual, Orson Scott Card has the ability to suck me into a story even when I don't like the way it goes.

Interesting premise: Pastwatchers are literal viewers of history who get the idea to go back in time and change things to make a better future. (For some reason, Christopher Columbus is critical in this.)

I found the historic bits and speculative stuff interesting, but the story just didn't come together for me in the end. The amount of detail and build up in the beginning is extreme (some...more

like · see review

Feb 13, 2010 Claude Bertout rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended by Jocelyn and Joje. It's a science-fiction, utopian novel as well as a thoughtful and well-researched reflection on History and its twists, a moral tale filled with lovely, compassionate and clever characters. At some point in my reading, I thought that the story was lacking a major villain (there is a minor one) to make the plot even more exciting and a little less heavy on the politically correct, but this may have been my wicked mind speaking. In the end, I came to realize that a...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 28, 2013 Verena rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recommendations, history

I liked it, but I’m not sure I loved it. It was rather long and tedious in places, though not unnecessarily. It’s probably not a book for a reader impatient with that (young). The concept of time-travel seems like a silly thing, especially in the context of this book and as a Christian. I believe that all things work for God’s glorious purposes. I personally don’t believe that Columbus needed this kind of intervention in order to be redeemed. Yes, some awful things happened because he ‘discovere...more

like · see review

Aug 12, 2010 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this on the suggestion of a friend and would never have touched it otherwise. The idea of Pastwatch, an organization able to review and later intervene in the events of the past is a pretty cool concept, and the resulting philosophical debate over time travel fairly engaging.

As for the focus on Christopher Columbus, it was a struggle to care about what was going on for the first half of the book. Card draws you into CC's origins, motivations and triumphs, clearly trying to put a human fa...more

like · see review

Jan 07, 2010 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book starts out with people from the future gaining new technology to see into the past. The people who watch the past are called the Watchers, and study history. Then as new technology arises, there is a question of whether or not the watchers can actually alter history. The Watchers work on The Columbus project to study whether or not changing history during Columbus's time would have made the world a better place in the future. They study to see if they could have avoided so much slavery...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (19)

More editions...

Genres

Science Fiction

258 users

Science Fiction > Time Travel

74 users

Historical Fiction

59 users

Fantasy

56 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

45 users

Science Fiction > Alternate History

43 users

Speculative Fiction

12 users

Adult

10 users

Novels

8 users

Adult Fiction

7 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century
by Harry Turtledove (Editor)
The Light of Other Days
by Arthur C. Clarke
Beggars Ride
by Nancy Kress
Infinity's Shore
by David Brin
The Time Ships
by Stephen Baxter

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

More about Orson Scott Card...

Books by Orson Scott Card

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Pastwatch: The Re...

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Pastwatch: The Redempt...

“Happiness is not a life without pain, but rather a life in which the pain is traded for a worthy price.” — 110 people liked it

“She will look at you as women look at men, and she will judge you as a woman judge men...not on the strength of their arguments, and not in their cleverness or prowess in battle, but rather on the force of their character, the intensity of their passion, their strength of soul, their compassion, and...ah, this above all...their conversation.” — 84 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
avg rating	preview: Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus Goodreads rating: 3.96 (8056 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40293.Pastwatch?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312058955l/40293.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40293.Pastwatch?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card[/url]

Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (Pastwatch #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website