“Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus is the best book Orson Scott Card has written since 1985, when his Ender’s Game won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.” Philadelphia Inquirer
Pastwatch : The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
04-01-09
13hrs 32min
Description
In a not-too-distant future that is not quite ours, there has been a major scientific breakthrough, a way to open windows into the past, permitting historical researchers to view, but not participate in, the events of the past.
A small group of scientists and historians, carefully trained, spend their days viewing the human past through a machine, the TruSiteII. It takes a particular talent to search the past for moments of significance, to focus the machines and track individuals through the depths of time, but a woman named Tagiri is more than just talented—she has a knack for finding interesting lives.
But the world Tagiri lives in is a tragic place, the human race reduced to a population of less than one billion after a century of war and plague, of drought and flood and famine. There have been too many extinctions; too much land has been poisoned. The remaining people strive to renew the Earth while they search the past for the causes of their plight.
Then one day, while watching the slaughter of the Caribe tribes by the Spanish led to Hispaniola by Christopher Columbus, Tagiri makes a discovery that will change everything; she discovers that the woman she is watching is seeing her, too, as a vision sent by her gods.
Can the past be changed? Can the Earth be restored? Can it be right for a small group of people to take action that, if it succeeds, will wipe out the entire time line in which they live, even if the death of an entire planet will be averted?
And even if the answer is yes, where do they begin?
In one of the most powerful and thought-provoking novels of his remarkable career, Orson Scott Card interweaves a compelling portrait of Christopher Columbus with the story of a future scientist who believes she can alter human history from a tragedy of bloodshed and brutality to a world filled with hope and healing.
Praise
“Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus is the best book Orson Scott Card has written since 1985, when his Ender’s Game won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.” Philadelphia Inquirer
“Stefan Rudnicki is the guiding force behind this intriguing novel, which involves alterative history and time travel. His deep voice and measured pace lend the sense of dignity and realism needed to sustain the book’s high-concept plot: an attempt to change the devastating effects that Columbus had on natives of the Americas…Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, and Moira Quirk utilize their talents well in voicing the Spanish explorers and the native leaders they influence prior to Cristoforo Colombo’s landing. Together, the narrators bring all these characters alive.” AudioFile
“A bold and compassionate alternative history filled with believable historical and fictional characters.” Library Journal
“Another superior addition to a superior body of work.” Booklist
“Readable and engaging, full of likable heroes and unmistakable villains…Pastwatch raises many significant and vital questions about humanity’s social development, that mixture of flaws and promise.” Locus
Details
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Release Day | Mar 31, 2009 |
| Release Date | April 1, 2009 |
| Release Date Machine | 1238544000 |
| Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
| Provider | Blackstone Publishing |
| Categories | Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Time Travel, Science Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Fiction - All, Fiction - Adult |
Author Bio
Orson Scott Card, the author of the New York Times bestseller Ender’s Game, has won several Hugo and Nebula awards for his works of speculative fiction. His Ender novels are widely read by adults and younger readers and are increasingly used in schools. Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy, American-frontier fantasy, biblical novels, poetry, plays, and scripts.
Orson Scott Card, the author of the New York Times bestseller Ender’s Game, has won several Hugo and Nebula awards for his works of speculative fiction. His Ender novels are widely read by adults and younger readers and are increasingly used in schools. Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy, American-frontier fantasy, biblical novels, poetry, plays, and scripts.
Narrator Bio
Overview
In a not-too-distant future that is not quite ours, there has been a major scientific breakthrough, a way to open windows into the past, permitting historical researchers to view, but not participate in, the events of the past.
A small group of scientists and historians, carefully trained, spend their days viewing the human past through a machine, the TruSiteII. It takes a particular talent to search the past for moments of significance, to focus the machines and track individuals through the depths of time, but a woman named Tagiri is more than just talented—she has a knack for finding interesting lives.
But the world Tagiri lives in is a tragic place, the human race reduced to a population of less than one billion after a century of war and plague, of drought and flood and famine. There have been too many extinctions; too much land has been poisoned. The remaining people strive to renew the Earth while they search the past for the causes of their plight.
Then one day, while watching the slaughter of the Caribe tribes by the Spanish led to Hispaniola by Christopher Columbus, Tagiri makes a discovery that will change everything; she discovers that the woman she is watching is seeing her, too, as a vision sent by her gods.
Can the past be changed? Can the Earth be restored? Can it be right for a small group of people to take action that, if it succeeds, will wipe out the entire time line in which they live, even if the death of an entire planet will be averted?
And even if the answer is yes, where do they begin?
In one of the most powerful and thought-provoking novels of his remarkable career, Orson Scott Card interweaves a compelling portrait of Christopher Columbus with the story of a future scientist who believes she can alter human history from a tragedy of bloodshed and brutality to a world filled with hope and healing.
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