Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card

Type of Read:
Young Adult Fantasy/ Sci Fi

Plot Summary:
Rigg has a secret. A secret that makes him special. He can see paths of people from the past. When his father dies, Rigg is astounded at the amount of secrets that his father was keeping - secrets about Riggs past, about his true heritage, and about the rest of the world. Rigg sets out to find the truth, making friends along the way. Little does he know, he is about to be caught in the middle of a political battle with two sides - one side that wants to put him on a throne, and the other that wants him dead.

Strengths:
The coolest thing about this book is it doesn't have set boundaries with its magic. I know that usually I like having set rules in magic systems, but this one is different. (Plus it's Orson Scott Card...he does what he wants!) This is a time traveling book, but the characters in the book are figuring out their abilities at the same pace the reader is. It's interesting to see how the story develops around each new discovery of the character's abilities. Rigg has always been able to see the paths of people from the past. He can which path led to success and which led to failure. But as he works on improving his ability, he learns that the paths aren't just paths, they are a way to travel into the past. Boom! Time travel.

Also, with most of Card's books, this book is very smart. There is a lot of science involved in the reasoning behind the time travel. It's not just, 'hey look how I can travel through space and time with no problems.' There are plenty of problems with changing the past, but at the same time, the characters use the discrepancies to their advantages. They use their gifts and even their mistakes to outwit their pursuers. This shows that although they depend on their magic to solve their problems, they are smart about it.

Weaknesses:
The one weakness that I can think of is the characters. They are a little flat. Rigg is incredibly smart and always seems to have the answers. He has a lot of internal monologues that can get a bit tedious. I feel like this is Card's way of explaining the science behind his magic, but it can break the story a little bit.

Although this is not the perfect book, but that's the only thing I can really find wrong with it. Plus it feels so weird critiquing a Science Fiction legend such as Orson Scott Card. (It's weird just calling him Card...it must be his full name - Orson Scott Card). Maybe this makes me a pansy, but I truly believe that Card knows what he's doing!

Opinion and Recommendation: 
This is a really interesting and smart book. I highly recommend it, but be patient. As with most smart books, it takes a little while to get "into" the story. Also, since the magic system unfolds as the book progresses, the reader has to just roll with it. As with most fantasy books, you have to believe in the magic and trust that it makes sense (at least that's what I have to do when it comes to science fiction. I don't know enough about the laws of physics to know if going back in time is even possible. But if the Doctor can do it, then I see no problem with Rigg being able to do it too.) If I were you, I would buy the trade back copy of this book and give a try. Trust me, I'm a wannabe!