Book Review: Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card

Rating:

Genre: Young Adult > Science Fiction > Fantasy

(Pathfinder #1)

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 the power not only to see the past, but also to change it, his future suddenly becomes anything but certain.

Rigg’s birthright sets him on a path that leaves him caught between two factions, one that wants him crowned and one that wants him dead. He will be forced to question everything he thinks he knows, choose who to trust, and push the limits of his talent…or forfeit control of his destiny.

*****

Think: You living on a foreign planet with time-traveling traits. You having the opportunity to go back in time way before humans inhabited that planet.

It’s no secret that Orson Scott Card is a genius when it comes to storytelling. I should know. Pathfinder is the third book i read from him (besides Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow) and Card’s magical stories are as magnetic as ever. Time travel has never been so cool! and so distinctly creative!

I like all the characters, even the villains. Riggs, Umbo, even Loaf are all very endearing. I am awed by Riggs‘ ability to adopt the environment he’s in. If he’s with Royals, he’s regal. If he’s with peasants, he’s rough. I like that he’s equipped and capable to face his uncertain future even without his father.

This is a smart book, did i tell you that? So smart that often times i lost all train of thought just to fully disintegrate Card’s time travel concept. My mind runs out of juice when processing it. But it was fun. The humor that is so “Card” in nature, the deadpans, it’s all there. Pathfinder is as entertaining as it gets!

If you are into sci-fi, into YA, into time travel, better read Pathfinder. It is a solid and amazing fantasy read that will grip you until the end.

Oh yeah, I am a Orson Scott Card fan. 😀