Ruins

Orson Scott Card

Oct 2012 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

From Orson Scott Card, the internationally bestselling author of Ender’s Game, comes the second novel in the Pathfinder trilogy, the riveting story of Rigg, a teenager who possesses a special power that allows him to see the paths of people’s pasts.

When Rigg and his friends crossed the Wall between the only world they knew and a world they could not imagine, he hoped he was leading them to safety. But the dangers in this new wallfold are more difficult to see. Rigg, Umbo, and Param know that they cannot trust the expendable, Vadesh—a machine shaped like a human, created to deceive—but they are no longer certain that they can even trust one another. But they will have little choice. Because although Rigg can decipher the paths of the past, he can’t yet see the horror that lies ahead: A destructive force with deadly intentions is hurtling toward Garden. If Rigg, Umbo, and Param can’t work together to alter the past, there will be no future.

The adventure, suspense, and time travel continue in this second installment in the critically acclaimed New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestselling Pathfinder series.

Ratings and reviews

Reminds me of Childrens of the Mind and the constant bickering between deliberately made annoying characters. I guess it's just Orson Scott Card's style now. It's still ok for me. I'm still drawn enough to want to see it through to the third and final book no matter how convoluted it had become. Rigg is no Ender. You won't love him as much as Ender was worshipped. He started like Ender but too many characters got in the way halfway and you'll forget how special Rigg was after that.

Orson Scott Card is a wonderful author, this book just didn't grab me like most of his other work. The ending just stops abruptly, leaving you waiting. Most books in a series find a good pause point. This one leaves you right at the point before there's a new path forward.

I loved the first book of this series; however, after reading them back to back I realized that this book made things more complicated and seemed to change certain aspects from the first book to make it so. For instance in the first book their time travel never left doubles even when it changed the past; nevertheless, in this book it does. However, it isn't a horrible read once you wrap your head around what appear to be massive inconsistencies between the first and second books.

About the author

Orson Scott Card is the author of numerous bestselling novels and the first writer to receive both the Hugo and Nebula awards two years in a row; first for Ender’s Game and then for the sequel, Speaker for the Dead. He lives with his wife in North Carolina.