Response to Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card
Written by Lucas Peterka
When I first began reading Pathfinder, it felt like a fantasy book. With it’s royalty over peasant caste system, sprawling farmland, and magically powered main characters, fantasy seemed a perfectly reasonable assumption. But then the book got into the science of time travel. The book took a turn towards sci-fi, which was up Card’s normal alley. But sci-fi’s my alley too and that turn made me like this amazing book even more.
One thing I loved about this book were the characters. And not just because they were likable, but because they were unlikable too. They all demonstrated our human emotions to points where we might question ourselves about them. Umbo, one of the main characters, is filled with such a great jealousy of Rigg, another main character. To us as readers it seems childish and we want to say “Don’t do it Umbo, I want to like you!”, but all of us at times have been stupidly jealous or stupid in general. It’s one flaw in our humanity, one Card used to his advantage.
As with Ender’s Game, Pathfinder discusses many complicated and abstract scientific theories. But unlike Ender’s Game, Card decided to tackle time and time travel in Pathfinder. And while it could be confusing at times, I loved learning about different theories and seeing how Card both used and challenged them. But science isn't used to confuse only us, it’s used to confuse the characters. That’s right, at multiple moments throughout the book, the character’s heads spin around giving us a reason to sympathize with the characters and bringing us closer to the book.
Needless to say, I liked this book. Orson Scott Card managed to write another amazing story and I was lucky enough to read it. It was a great summer read and great read in general. So if you want a great book try Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card.
