Book Review: Pathfinder

Pathfinder

by: Orson Scott Card

672 pages

published in 2010

5/5 stars 

Synopsis:

Is this science fiction? Or is it fantasy? I'm not sure. Orson Scott Card twists the two so well that it really doesn't matter. I love Debbie Carton's review of Pathfinder for Booklist, and try as I might, I couldn't do better, so here it is: 

The first in a series, Card’s latest title has much in common with his Ender Wiggins books: precocious teens with complementary special talents, callously manipulative government authorities, endlessly creative worlds, and Card’s refusal to dumb down a plot for a young audience. Here he takes the notions of folding space and time, embracing paradox, “adopting a rule set in which . . . causality . . . controls reality, regardless of where it occurs on the timeline.” Thirteen-year-old Rigg is a Pathfinder, one who sees the paths of others’ pasts. Rigorously trained and thoroughly educated by his demanding father, Rigg is horrified when Father dies unexpectedly after a final order to find the sister he never knew he had. Rigg is accompanied on this journey by a small group of friends who have powers of bending and manipulating the flow of time. Card also skillfully twines a separate story line into the plot, featuring earth’s colonization of distant planets, led by the idealistic young pilot Ram Odin. Fast paced and thoroughly engrossing, the 650-plus pages fly by, challenging readers to care about and grasp sophisticated, confusing, and captivating ideas. As in L’Engle’s Time Quartet, science is secondary to the human need to connect with others, but Card does not shy away from full and fascinating discussions of the paradoxical worlds he has created. Grades 8-12. --Debbie Carton

My review:

You already know how I feel about Orson Scott Card. I think he's a genius--not just sort of a genius, but a Benjamin Franklin, Mensa should be so lucky-type. I think this is one of his best. I was so excited about Lost Gate, but after reading this one I remember what genius is. Debbie Carton was right to compare Rigg to Ender. This book still hasn't toppled my triumvirate of OSC books (Ender's Game, Speaker For The Dead and Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus) but Pastwatch is teetering...

The Lost Gate

THE LOST GATE

by: Orson Scott Card
378 pages
published in 2010
Genre: Fantasy


Summary: 
The trickster god Loki has imprisoned several warring clans of gods on Earth for centuries, where they have forged a fragile truce. Without access to their homeland, their magic has become diluted. Everyone in the North family knows that Danny is a drekka--a god stuck on Earth without any magic at all. But then Danny realizes he is a gatemage, with the power, but not the skill necessary to reopen the gate to their homeland of Westil. As he flees for his life from those who would either kill him or force him to work for them, he discovers that the clans were not the only people stranded on Westil when the gates closed.

This novel is really two stories, set on alternate worlds. Danny's story takes up the majority of the novel, but meanwhile, the story of a boy called Wad is unfolding on Westil. To the average observer, Wad seems like the least important person in the kitchens at the castle, yet his power and influence will determine the destiny of the whole country.


Review:
First of all, Orson Scott Card is such a hero of mine that I nearly find myself tongue-tied at my own audacity. How can I review one of his books when his characters have been the inspiration for so much of my own life? I see other reviewers calling him "Card" and it makes me wince at the disrespect. Crazy, I know. So here goes...



Orson Scott Card's characters are usually super intelligent, but they still make lots of mistakes. They usually learn to screw up more thoughtfully the next time and they never give up. As their ability to achieve their objectives evolves, their ability to empathize with the people around them grows as well, and that is the charm of his books. I love, love, love falling into one of OSC's worlds, and this was no exception.


At first, I was hopeful that OSC had finally created another Ender (Ender's Game (Ender, Book 1)just for me. And then Danny seemed more like Bean (Ender's Shadow (Ender, Book 5) which was also acceptable. But by the end of the book, he was just Danny--still gifted like Ender and Bean, but with his own personality--as sly as Bean, but much more comfortable with his own sense of humor.


Because The Lost Gate takes place in such a complicated world, much of the novel is explanation and exposition. But OSC is a master storyteller. He weaves the physics of gatemaking almost seamlessly into the narrative. I enjoyed every page.


The Lost Gate is a crossover novel--marketed to both teenagers and adults. I recommend it only for very mature teens. The writing is complex and Danny and Wad find themselves in some adult situations. Although my kids loved Ender's Game, I'm not ready to recommend this one to them yet.