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)

Explaining the complaints of narration.

Any additional comments?

I really liked this book, much more than I expected going on the other reviews here.

But I really just want to explain the complaints about the change in narrators. I LOVE Rudnicki I must say, and can understand at first glance the complaints about having the others in there.
The thing is that if you pay close attention when the other narrators are talking, the entire writing style changes with the other two main narrators, which incidentally is likely why they even have them here. When the story is told primarily from Riggs point of view we have Rudnicki, when it's Loaf and Umbo as the lead perspective we get different narrators (for each) and vastly different writing style and attitude of the characters as interpreted by each of these characters. From Loaf's view of reality he sees Umbo as incredibly whiney for example. And this is reflected in the way they are written. At first when it happened it felt like a section of the book was written by a different author till I realised what was happening.

I think that if Rudnicki had done it all by himself it would have been very disjointing when this occurs.

Classic Card and excellent narrators!!!

Classic Orson Scott Card. In depth character development. Creates a whole new world and manipulates science principles to enhance the story. It's adds to the mind of people of today and plants seeds of possibilities for the future.
Narrators are excellent and enhance the story tremendously. Worth a listen!!!

Narration not good.

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

No, I would tell them to pass. I love OSC, and have read most of his books. I will probably try reading Pathfinder. The narration was awful, and had I read the reviews first, I would have sampled it and not bought it. This really is a terrible narration, I was couldn't keep listening. And to think I bought Book 2 as well. Hey Audible, any chance of a trade-in?

How could the performance have been better?

A different narrator, that's for sure.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes, I probably would, since Card wrote it.

Any additional comments?

I've been a member for many years, and this is the first book I wish I could return. Well, this one and the second in the series, because I don't imagine it's any better.

A complete brain teaser

This is a good book but not for everyone, its a fun book but it does take a great deal of concentration and patience. This is a warning from the past and I only had enough time to write this limited review. Good luck

Fascinating and Confusing

I enjoyed the journey. It was fascinating to follow the deductive reasoning and logical thinking of the "Wandering Man" that Rigg calls "Father" and listen while Orson Scott Card weaves his intricate plot. The time travel paradox that he chose to embrace was sometimes a little too confusing, but he makes us think and most of the time that's a good thing. However, there were a few times I wanted to scream, "Enough, already!" Other than that, I loved it.

Hooked again

Didnt take long to get hooked. OSC more please! Multiple readers work to perfection. Story line has so much potential.

Fantastic New Series

I really enjoyed this book, and I can't wait for the next ones to come out. It is an interesting sci-fi/fantasy book, which has an interesting take on time travel. It was such an exciting listen, I couldn't put it down.

Awesome characters

You won't be dissapointed. You will only want more. I was taken aback by the alternating narrators at first, but then it made sense, different voices for the different points of view. Very nice.

Second read

I read everything orson. This one was great to revisit before moving on to the sequel. Very daring. Engaging characters.

changed narrators?

I struggled with the narrator. I don't know what happened. they changed a couple of times?