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rouver's review against another edition
2.0
This is the Orson Scott Card book that finally broke me. Yes, it took me FOREVER to realize that Card is brilliant at his first books & sucks after he's established his worlds, so I hung in there as a fan. The man wrote the book that for years was my favorite book of all time (Ender's Game). I will no longer purchase any Card books. He's not such a terrible writer that I won't READ them. But put my money down? No.
This book suffers from the same problems as its predecessors. Insane amounts of pointless dialogue...it's as if every character has diarrhea of the mouth. Every snarky comment a character might possible have is said out loud. Every whiny doubt they might have is written down. With the exception of the two characters who do the most complaining, every other character has the same 'voice.' Remove any indication of who's speaking & you'd assume that you were reading an internal monologue. Also, this book is apparently for YA readers (with multiple times poop is brought up), yet sex is flippantly discussed, and even I couldn't keep track of the 'logic' behind the time traveling. It was a bizarre mishmash that made me feel uncomfortable.
If you can push past all of that, the story itself is interesting. I *like* Card's ideas. I just had to do a LOT of eye rolling, groaning, and putting the book down to take a break from all the terrible dialogue. Thankfully this is the last in this series (alleluia). Book 2 & 3 were rough enough to get through that overall, I wouldn't recommend this particular Card series.
This book suffers from the same problems as its predecessors. Insane amounts of pointless dialogue...it's as if every character has diarrhea of the mouth. Every snarky comment a character might possible have is said out loud. Every whiny doubt they might have is written down. With the exception of the two characters who do the most complaining, every other character has the same 'voice.' Remove any indication of who's speaking & you'd assume that you were reading an internal monologue. Also, this book is apparently for YA readers (with multiple times poop is brought up), yet sex is flippantly discussed, and even I couldn't keep track of the 'logic' behind the time traveling. It was a bizarre mishmash that made me feel uncomfortable.
If you can push past all of that, the story itself is interesting. I *like* Card's ideas. I just had to do a LOT of eye rolling, groaning, and putting the book down to take a break from all the terrible dialogue. Thankfully this is the last in this series (alleluia). Book 2 & 3 were rough enough to get through that overall, I wouldn't recommend this particular Card series.
thesmudge's review against another edition
4.0
Well I finished it, the Pathfinder series by Orson Scott Card. I posted a short review of the first book but I did not do so for the second book. Nothing wrong with the second book mind you, it is just that it is the middle book and it is always hard for me to judge them. Unless they completely suck and I stop the who trilogy in general I usually will push straight from the second book to the final one.
Anyway, overall I enjoyed the trilogy. There was plenty of character growth and a few twists, particularly in the final book that I was not expecting and was pleasantly surprised. The growth of Umbo and Rigg from the beginning of the series until its’ conclusion was engaging. Solving the mystery of the multiple timelines and the future of Garden was a blast. It has been said by others that the time jumping and the multiple characters (copies really) was challenging. I would have to say that I somewhat agree with that. There was more than one time that I experience a “Wait, who, where was that?” moment. But I pushed through and eventually got it straight in my head again. Also, as I find typical in just about any trilogy or series, there were places that things just seemed to get slow. I realize that many times it is just me going through “series fatigue”, a condition I run into where I get somewhat bored with the current series and I start thinking about what I want to read next. But I stuck with it and I am glad I did.
Anyway, overall I enjoyed the trilogy. There was plenty of character growth and a few twists, particularly in the final book that I was not expecting and was pleasantly surprised. The growth of Umbo and Rigg from the beginning of the series until its’ conclusion was engaging. Solving the mystery of the multiple timelines and the future of Garden was a blast. It has been said by others that the time jumping and the multiple characters (copies really) was challenging. I would have to say that I somewhat agree with that. There was more than one time that I experience a “Wait, who, where was that?” moment. But I pushed through and eventually got it straight in my head again. Also, as I find typical in just about any trilogy or series, there were places that things just seemed to get slow. I realize that many times it is just me going through “series fatigue”, a condition I run into where I get somewhat bored with the current series and I start thinking about what I want to read next. But I stuck with it and I am glad I did.
metaphorosis's review
2.0
2 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary
Rigg, his cohort, and their various copies travel back to Earth, research early humans, get involved in feudal struggles, and think about morality.
Review
I liked the first volume of this series, Pathfinder, and hoped it was a return to form after a long series of duds from Card, a very talented but somewhat erratic author. I was less enthused by the sequel, Ruins, but gave Card credit for his thoughtful approach. In this culmination, unfortunately, the whole thing comes completely unraveled.
For a start, while Card makes an effort to explain and constrain his time-travel plot, I just find that time travel books can almost never resolve their paradoxes. Here, three books in, Card throws his weight fully into the time-travel aspect, not as a useful plot mechanism, but as a central feature to be explored. The result is a disaster with little real logic, and, while it’s possible to follow what’s happening, it never really makes any sense.
The problem is exacerbated by Card’s long excursions into morality and philosophy – normally fine with me, but here, with time travel in the mix, the result is highly inconsistent. Not only do the moral lessons not work in themselves, they’re constantly in conflict with earlier moral lessons, and almost never applied consistently. I lost track of the number of times I stopped in frustration at the way the characters contradicted themselves or simply didn’t follow their own trains of logic. As a moral discussion, then, the book is a failure.
Finally, having set up a high stakes, save two worlds and the human race situation, Card … sends his characters off to decide a purely local, globally insignificant political battle that is relevant only in that it lets his born-queen and her husband-because-the-author-decided-they-should-marry-but-he-doesn’t-seem-very-happy be Queen and King, despite being very badly suited to the job. Perhaps it’s because it gave Card a chance to set up a very complex time travel mechanism for war that he then fails to follow, and which ends in a spectacularly unreasonable way. Much of the book has that same problem – gone back to Earth (on a backward time-traveling ship that never makes much sense), the characters have absolutely no trouble finding friends to help them, but then spend a lot of time going back further in time to see how erectid humans live. This has absolutely no bearing on the major plot points, but apparently scratched some itch of Card’s. It’s not interesting or in any way credible. Nor is the endlessly repeated discussion about whether the mice can be trusted. No, they can't. Why keep trusting them?
The first book in this series was pretty good. The second was only fair, and apparently at that point, Card ran out of material and interest, because this conclusion, stitched together from random odds and ends found in a drawer, is an unmitigated flop. A nicely written flop, looking purely at the prose, which is the only reason it gets 2 stars, but as a story, it’s pretty poor. Oh, and there's some casual sexism thrown in just to put a bow on it.
Summary
Rigg, his cohort, and their various copies travel back to Earth, research early humans, get involved in feudal struggles, and think about morality.
Review
I liked the first volume of this series, Pathfinder, and hoped it was a return to form after a long series of duds from Card, a very talented but somewhat erratic author. I was less enthused by the sequel, Ruins, but gave Card credit for his thoughtful approach. In this culmination, unfortunately, the whole thing comes completely unraveled.
For a start, while Card makes an effort to explain and constrain his time-travel plot, I just find that time travel books can almost never resolve their paradoxes. Here, three books in, Card throws his weight fully into the time-travel aspect, not as a useful plot mechanism, but as a central feature to be explored. The result is a disaster with little real logic, and, while it’s possible to follow what’s happening, it never really makes any sense.
The problem is exacerbated by Card’s long excursions into morality and philosophy – normally fine with me, but here, with time travel in the mix, the result is highly inconsistent. Not only do the moral lessons not work in themselves, they’re constantly in conflict with earlier moral lessons, and almost never applied consistently. I lost track of the number of times I stopped in frustration at the way the characters contradicted themselves or simply didn’t follow their own trains of logic. As a moral discussion, then, the book is a failure.
Finally, having set up a high stakes, save two worlds and the human race situation, Card … sends his characters off to decide a purely local, globally insignificant political battle that is relevant only in that it lets his born-queen and her husband-because-the-author-decided-they-should-marry-but-he-doesn’t-seem-very-happy be Queen and King, despite being very badly suited to the job. Perhaps it’s because it gave Card a chance to set up a very complex time travel mechanism for war that he then fails to follow, and which ends in a spectacularly unreasonable way. Much of the book has that same problem – gone back to Earth (on a backward time-traveling ship that never makes much sense), the characters have absolutely no trouble finding friends to help them, but then spend a lot of time going back further in time to see how erectid humans live. This has absolutely no bearing on the major plot points, but apparently scratched some itch of Card’s. It’s not interesting or in any way credible. Nor is the endlessly repeated discussion about whether the mice can be trusted. No, they can't. Why keep trusting them?
The first book in this series was pretty good. The second was only fair, and apparently at that point, Card ran out of material and interest, because this conclusion, stitched together from random odds and ends found in a drawer, is an unmitigated flop. A nicely written flop, looking purely at the prose, which is the only reason it gets 2 stars, but as a story, it’s pretty poor. Oh, and there's some casual sexism thrown in just to put a bow on it.
wallsmitotic's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jillreads77's review against another edition
3.0
I feel this series had good premise and ideas, but so much time spent making sure each major character understood all the ramifications and intricacies of time travel. Sometimes I felt like skimming through those parts. I did like the back and forth between different missions in this book. It was nice to go from group to group to see when and where each were.
alalpaca's review against another edition
4.0
Great ending for the trylogy. That's all that was needed to be said about this book.
mboyea's review against another edition
3.0
Orson Scott Card is a wonderful, albeit complicated, author. This book, and series, is not a simple one to read. The complexity of the plot adds to the philosophical nature of the story. By the end you are asking yourself "What just happened?" over and over again.
This book delves into human nature and how scientific advances can change the course of human history. By manipulating genes, can we create "powers" to significantly change human behavior? Do we have a right to do so?
This is by far a very complex read but it is done in a wonderful way.
This book delves into human nature and how scientific advances can change the course of human history. By manipulating genes, can we create "powers" to significantly change human behavior? Do we have a right to do so?
This is by far a very complex read but it is done in a wonderful way.
eveeb's review against another edition
2.0
I love Orson Scott Card, I really do - but this book was a bit of a letdown from start to finish. So much of it seemed like an afterthought - bits and pieces of random thrown together without any real depth.
I was expecting an incredible conclusion to a series that I had come to enjoy and what I got instead was an excersize in tedium and a test in endurance (it was hard not to put the book down and walk away completley).
I was expecting an incredible conclusion to a series that I had come to enjoy and what I got instead was an excersize in tedium and a test in endurance (it was hard not to put the book down and walk away completley).
pemdas97's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
secondfly's review against another edition
2.0
I had to finish the series. Some interesting ideas amid the vast quantities of really repetitive crap.