I was once in a discussion about religion with a friend who happens to be an atheist and fellow science fiction and fantasy writer. He’s a great guy. The blog posts he wrote about the passing of the woman he loved who was lost to cancer were poignant and wonderful–full of beauty. I read them and wanted to be a better man. Still, he and I disagree about God. I remember telling him that science fiction is the one genre that makes God more plausible than any other. At least, it makes my view of Go...

While I really liked the premise and the story of "Pathfinder" by Orson Scott Card, I found it to be WAY too long and in desperate need of an editor. Seriously, it could have been tighter! I don't need gigantic explanations about how the banking system works in this world. I don't need to be told time and time again the rules of their 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. It got ...

Book readers, you know that feeling of picking up a book and falling head-over-heels from the first few pages, gazing lovingly at the words. Clutching 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 and devouring it all?Yeah, "Pathfinder" by Orson Scott Card isn't that book. I'm trying, but I just can't get into it. It's just too dull. The characters aren't interesting; they're flat, two-dimensional...

Okay, so Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card wasn't *awful*, but it just didn't fully click for me. It felt like everything was just a little bit…off. The characters were hit-or-miss. Sometimes they were interesting, but other times totally unbelievable. Like, Rigg seemed to know absolutely everything about everything, even at 13. And Umbo would randomly flip from being all jolly to jealous to insecure in a heartbeat. The plot had moments where it flowed nicely and kept me hooked, but then there were...

Originally posted hereI had to step away from this book before writing this review. Otherwise, I would've just hit caps lock and typed, "THIS IS THE COOLEST YA BOOK EVER!!" Shift 1. Shift 1. Guess I just did exactly that, didn't I? Oops. After being completely blown away by *Ender's Game* last year, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson and expect nothing less from Orson Scott Card, right? I didn't, but I definitely know better now.Rigg can see the paths humans and animals made, whether from th...

In "Pathfinder," we meet Rigg, a thirteen-year-old living a solitary life, hunting and poaching alongside his mysterious father. Rigg possesses an unusual gift: he can see paths, temporal tracks left by every living being that has ever existed. The only path he can't perceive is his father's, who tragically dies in an accident. His father's dying wish compels Rigg to seek out the sister he never knew. This sets Rigg off on an enthralling journey, each step revealing more secrets about his father...

Sometimes, the sheer cleverness, incredible skill, and outright genius of the main character, Rigg, pushes past my ability to suspend disbelief. And it's not the spaceships or the spacetime-jumping folds that create duplicate people. It's not the ability to become invisible, or see the paths of all beings, or even slow down time. It's not even a ridiculous confluence of events. But hey, if I were trained from birth on game theory and different languages, etc., I *might* be half as capable. Ok, n...

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...

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 ...

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.