Pathfinder

Pathfinder, Book 1

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Kirby Heyborne, Don Leslie, Kristoffer Tabori, Scott Brick

Length: 17 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2010 Orson Scott Card (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The implications of the boys' power to manipulate the past unfold cleverly…, feeding into the Machiavellian political intrigue for a pulse-pounding climax….Card's many fans will be thrilled by this return to his literary roots.” ( Kirkus)

Excellent Sci-Fi, great voice over

The incredibly complicated and truly mind-bending plot of these stories is a triumph in logical reasoning and deduction. I also appreciate very much that when the perspective occasionally changes to a different character for a chapter, there is an entirely new narrator. My only gripe is the narrator of Loaf's chapter, which I struggled to listen to.

Great book, but too many different narrators

Book: Orson Scott Card, as usual, has written an incredibly imaginative and thought provoking sci-fi novel with Pathfinder. Of course, there is always the possibility that I have bias due to having fallen in love with the Ender's Game universe and listened to all of the books there before listening to this. On the other hand, this is also a suggestion that if you enjoyed Ender's Game, then you'll also enjoy this book (or that if you enjoyed this book, you'll also enjoy Ender's Game).

Narration: This book has several narrators and, frustratingly, they take on different sections of the book rather than separate characters. I found this rather jarring as I'd hear the same character talking in different voices throughout the novel and would sometimes lose track of the dialogue sequences as a result. That said, all the narrators were still good narrators.

Two track novel (Current and Historical)

At first I was sort of confused about the two main characters Rigg and Ram, two different lifestyles. Then I realized the author was telling the current and the history of the planet Garden in alternating chapters.

Odd story

I love Card's books. This one can be a bit hard to follow at times, but totally worth the read.

Time travel

The characters are so well developed and consistent. You will need your thinking cap for this one. May need to listen to some passages several times to understand time travel the characters use, Love his work and have done do for a very long time.

mediocre implementation of an interesting story

Overall I stayed interested while listening, however there are times when the author clearly wants to explain something and accomplishes it by setting two characters in a long discussion. it makes them sound like it's one person talking to themselves just working through a problem in their head. I don't know any real people that will continue to discuss something as deeply by following a single topic through all possible combinations except to explain what the character decides to do. Every time I catch an author doing this, I no longer feel like I'm participating in the story and instead I'm just listening to the author's explanation.

However, the premise of this story pulled me through.

Another great story by Orson Scott Card!

Another great story by Orson Scott Card! I loved the twists and turns and how things start coming together!

overall good and will listen to the other two

I enjoyed this book and will download the other two in the series. I just feel at some points in the book there is some excessive rambling that's not needed.

Fantastic Story by Orson Scott Card... Obviously!

What made the experience of listening to Pathfinder the most enjoyable?

Orson loves to get inside your head. He loves to tinker with our thoughts and shares what the characters are thinking and the arguments they have inside their own heads. Sometimes I get annoyed and need a break from these arguments and reasoning's, but they are what make them so awesome.

What other book might you compare Pathfinder to and why?

The Ender Series I think is a good match. Different, but very much like Orson's typical "inside your head" thought processes.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

They are all stellar narrators. I enjoyed Rigg and Umbow but loved the other characters too. Bravo to the director and whomever selected this cast of narrators. Always hits a winning group with Orson's books.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Extremem? Hm... I don't want to give anything away. There were times where I laughed out loud, sometimes I was annoyed and nervous. Cry... no, that's reserved for books like Little Women.

Any additional comments?

I'm on the second in the series, but I have to say I need breaks from Orson's books because he digs so deep into the human psyche and I just need to recoup from all that "thinking" that he does in his books.

Refreshingly new ideas

Would you listen to Pathfinder again? Why?

I would absolutely listen again.... So many twists and turns and intricacies---and they're all worth understanding.