Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite authors because he isn't scared of emotion, nor is he scared to take his stories to the edges of known scientific understanding and manage to explain it. In speaking about his book, he wrote that he didn't avoid time paradoxes, and he doesn't.
Pathfinder was a stunning stunning exploration of agency: the choices we humans make and why. The book follows two plots: one in a future where humans leave earth to colonize a new planet and one that explores the life of the colonists' descendants. Card explores the ramifications of choices while playing with time paradoxes.
The story is a stunning visual of the ramifications of human character and the decisions we humans make and why. Rigg is a young man with an amazing ability to sense other living thing's paths: where they walked, stood, ate, died. Following his father's death, Rigg sets out to fulfill his father's last requests. Along the way, he makes friends and discovers that his world isn't what it first appears. Rigg and his friends must play the rules of a game set by imperfect people in roles of power.
I came away from the story remembering that there is a difference between right and wrong, intelligent life can justify many things by saying "for the good of the country (the people)," and the power of human ingenuity and integrity. Humility and integrity temper people in power. It people in power only have ambition, many horrible things can befall the people whom they are meant to protect.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Apparently I had two posts written about this book.
Post One:
Epic.
Written by James Dashner, I felt epic whenever I sat down to read. So many questions. You are asking questions right along with the main character, Thomas, who has lost his memory and wakes up in an elevator called The Box. At first, I was yelling (in my head) at the characters, "Just answer the stupid questions! No wonder he doesn't trust you!"
Thomas is trying to figure out where he is and why he is there. And no one gives him straight answers. They have their own jargon, and the reader is enthralled trying to understand what the characters are saying while trying to understand what is going on.
It's kids, teenagers, managing themselves and trying to find their way out of a giant maze.
The novel studies how kids act in stressful situations, how they live and survive, what order they cling to for survival, and when it's time to break the rules and do something different.
Halfway through, you know the novel is opening a dystopian world to your view. Dashner carefully builds his world. I felt a range of emotions: frustration that answers were so slow in coming even though you learn with every word, fear as you gasp at tense moments, triumph as the characters learn, mistrust, and frustration at the lack of trust between characters.
This is what I wrote after a few days of digesting the story.
Post Two:
It's a gripping tale. I left the book wanting the next one right away. I want to own the series even though I haven't read all the books. It's an epic tale. I was grateful to receive a few answers by the end of the book. I wanted more answers sooner, but the given answers were good. The answers were a little rushed and left me wanting to know what happens next.
The characters are well developed. I look forward to seeing the adventures and trials of the characters. I am very invested emotionally because of Dashner's character development.
I felt frustrated with many of the characters at first. They wouldn't explain things to the main character and thus to me, the reader. They'd just tell Thomas, the main character, to wait. I was very frustrated along with Thomas.
For me, this book was about finding joy admist trials. It's aggravating. It was also about trusting yourself. Thomas finds himself in a new world, though he can't really remember where he's from and has to make a place for himself. The other boys, they call themselves Gladers, notice that he is different because so many strange things happen right after his arrival.
Thomas is driven to run the maze. He feels it deep within his bones, so he pushes for it, but has to wait. He has to work to earn his place.
He learns about himself- his character- as he makes sacrifices and pushes the other Gladers to step out of their comfort zones.
Post One:
Epic.
Written by James Dashner, I felt epic whenever I sat down to read. So many questions. You are asking questions right along with the main character, Thomas, who has lost his memory and wakes up in an elevator called The Box. At first, I was yelling (in my head) at the characters, "Just answer the stupid questions! No wonder he doesn't trust you!"
Thomas is trying to figure out where he is and why he is there. And no one gives him straight answers. They have their own jargon, and the reader is enthralled trying to understand what the characters are saying while trying to understand what is going on.
It's kids, teenagers, managing themselves and trying to find their way out of a giant maze.
The novel studies how kids act in stressful situations, how they live and survive, what order they cling to for survival, and when it's time to break the rules and do something different.
Halfway through, you know the novel is opening a dystopian world to your view. Dashner carefully builds his world. I felt a range of emotions: frustration that answers were so slow in coming even though you learn with every word, fear as you gasp at tense moments, triumph as the characters learn, mistrust, and frustration at the lack of trust between characters.
This is what I wrote after a few days of digesting the story.
Post Two:
It's a gripping tale. I left the book wanting the next one right away. I want to own the series even though I haven't read all the books. It's an epic tale. I was grateful to receive a few answers by the end of the book. I wanted more answers sooner, but the given answers were good. The answers were a little rushed and left me wanting to know what happens next.
The characters are well developed. I look forward to seeing the adventures and trials of the characters. I am very invested emotionally because of Dashner's character development.
I felt frustrated with many of the characters at first. They wouldn't explain things to the main character and thus to me, the reader. They'd just tell Thomas, the main character, to wait. I was very frustrated along with Thomas.
For me, this book was about finding joy admist trials. It's aggravating. It was also about trusting yourself. Thomas finds himself in a new world, though he can't really remember where he's from and has to make a place for himself. The other boys, they call themselves Gladers, notice that he is different because so many strange things happen right after his arrival.
Thomas is driven to run the maze. He feels it deep within his bones, so he pushes for it, but has to wait. He has to work to earn his place.
He learns about himself- his character- as he makes sacrifices and pushes the other Gladers to step out of their comfort zones.
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