Book Review: Pathfinder

Let me tell you about my reading repertoire: I read everything. Fiction, non-fiction, smut, memoirs, historical fiction, all of it. But, my loves? Science Fiction and fantasy.

When I got my first job in high school, I spent most of my money on Star Trek books. I'm not kidding. I used to be able to identify a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode by name by watching the first 10 seconds {ahem, I might still be able to}.

A few years later, a friend introduced me to Orson Scott Card {meaning, I stole his book and he had to buy himself a new one. Oops}, and y'all, I fell in love. So, you can imagine how excited I was when he came out with a new series that mixes Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Space ships and magical powers. Robots and legends. Oh man, it. is. awesome.

Source: goodreads.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Readers follow two story lines. The first, usually a brief interlude between longer chapters follows Ram, a human charged with making decisions on a human long-term colony ship and the robots who enact his orders. Humans left Earth thousands of years ago on two ships. Ram's ship was the second, and it's purpose was to jump through space-time {in theory} to reach the new planet, whereas the first was to simply plod along for thousands of years until it reached the planet where Ram's colony descendents were waiting. Of course, something goes wrong.

The second storyline follows Rigg, a young teen who lives with his father in the woods. Rigg can see the paths of living things thousands of years into the past and uses this skill while hunting with his father to track animals and sell their pelts. But, Rigg's father is killed near the beginning of the book, and readers follow his journey to fulfill his father's last wishes and instructions.

At the end of the novel, these two story lines converge.

Card has once again enthralled his readers with an involved story that plays to our wildest imaginations. It is comparable to Ender's Game, but entirely different in outcome. A quick read and has something for anyone who likes either Science Fiction or Fantasy {although, this books tends more towards fantasy}. If you were a fan of the Eragon Series {Inheritance Cycle}, this should be your next book.