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)

Incredible story and writing.

This is a book I visit again and again. Easy to lose yourself in the story.

Fascinating and Captivating read

A really amazing cosmic creation by Orson Scott Card. Definitely captivatinf and worth the read.

Great Sci Fi Book

A great book with a VERY interesting plot. The narrators did a great job telling a complex story. For most of the book you don't understand what two completely different stories have to do with each other. One story is set in future, the other is about a Teenager's journey in a primitive time. I found the "journey" in finding out what two stories had to do with each other very interesting. "Pathfinder: Book I" sure set up an interesting series that I look forward to "reading".

good all around

First, the narrators are extremely pleasant ; they are the same as the series. Second, Orson Scott Card is as mind-blowing as always ; pooling Earth's ressources to build colonization ships, folds in space-time continuum, pushing Sci-fi's limits in order to reach the fantasy genre.
It's a mix between Homecoming Saga and Ender's Saga. 17hrs well spent.

An Interesting Tale Involving Time Travel

I have mixed feelings about this book. Card has some interesting ideas involving time travel. I liked how he used two different time lines to help explain how events unfold. However, I thought some of the reasoning and conclusions the protagonist would immediately come up with were a bit too easy and convenient. There are plenty of holes to be found with time travel and this book doesn't shy from such paradox's that arise. It is actually a bit confusing if this is meant to be for children. The characters tend to talk a lot about using their abilities for time travel and the book spends a lot of wasted time on trying to explain their successes and failures in this venture. I felt there could have been more action when it was all said and done. I think this could have been a stand alone novel in it's own right and I didn't care for the ending at all. In addition, there were some obvious parts of this book that were a little frustrating, like Rigg's father dying. I mean, did anyone actually believe that occurred? As such, It was fairly easy to draw a lot of conclusions before the protagonist even came to them which shows poor writing. So I think in the end I am really trying to say it was all a little too convenient, predictable, and somewhat confusing.

The narration was dreadful. I'm not exaggerating here. At the start I didn't care for the narrator. I didn't like how his voice fit the characters and it all seemed a little too plain. Then you get used to the voice. Halfway through we get a different narrator who over animates his voices of characters to the point where it is distracting. And then soon after that we get a different narrator coming in and so on.

Easy to predict, yet a great read...or listen...

I'm a huge OSC fan, and Pathfinder has seriously whetted my appetite for the following books in this series. Some may feel that this book is a bit too predictable...which it is. But looking at the book from the end, it seems an elaborate set-up for the rest of the series. OSC has created this really neat world with all it's very interesting complexities, but the explanation of it all takes a lot of set-up.


I will say that it took me a while to straiten out the different stories that run through the book. At first it was a bit confusing, but it works itself out. I really enjoyed the different narrators narrating from the different perspectives. It gave the book some nice flavor. I just wish Scott Brick had a greater roll in the narration. Stefan Rudnicki's voice takes a bit to ease into, but I found that I always welcomed his narration when the story switched back to his perspective.


I can't wait for Book 2!

Better than average, but not by much

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

It was somewhat entertaining but also felt a bit preachy. Additionally, the main protagonist had a few too many easy situations pop up, usually without any buildup to explain how he could have dealt with it so quickly.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

About what I expected.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Do you think Pathfinder needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It is set up as a series, but the story was complete on its own.

Please use only one narrator!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, good story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Because of the narration, the chapter where Loaf sounds like a pirate, I would have to say Loaf. He was perfectly likable in the first narrator's voice, even the second narrator, but the third narrator made him sound like a grumpy pirate. He didn't even fit in the story anymore.

What didn’t you like about the narrators’s performance?

First narrator was wonderful. Second was too playful, it is difficult to change ear. The third was too big of a leap from both the first and the second.

Kept looking to see how much longer it go on for!

I have enjoyed Mr Card's books in the past but found this one heavy going, with long involved explanations and unappealing characters. It started off well enough but then seemed to lose its way. It needed to be sharper and punchier with a quicker moving story line for me.

I also found the changes in narrator distracting, not sure what this added but I did not like it. I won't be buying any more books in what is obviously the start of a new series.

Narration Not the Usual Quality

Interesting premise -- just too hard to listen to! I know the book is written for a younger audience, so I can overlook the juvenile dialogue designed to appeal to pre-teen boys, but the narration..... odd choice of narrators, and inconsistent voices/accents.