Where in Pathfinder the situation that the characters found themselves in saw them acting with maturity and grace Ruins reminds readers that these are teenagers, prone to uncertainty and doubt that frequently manifests in them lashing out at one another and those around them. Ruins was a novel wherein I constantly bounced between annoyed and enthralled.
Ruins introduces readers to wonders and horrors alike but I felt like the impact of the novel’s revelations was constantly suborned by the infighting and personality clashes the plague its characters.Ĭard should definitely be complemented on his creation of the world in Ruins and his twisting implementation of causality remains integral to the story and, if anything, grows even more complex as new mysteries and new characters are revealed.
In Ruins those sensations are still there but often take a backseat to both external and internal dialogue. Pathfinder’s sense of discovery was one its biggest attractions for me and that sense of mystery and wonder is what really kept me going. In my opinion the novel suffers as a result. In Ruins, with that threat now removed, there is plenty of time for introspection amongst the various characters and the novel spends a lot of time carefully defining the group dynamics of the novel’s protagonists. There is very little introspection in Pathfinder and the characters find themselves threatened and forced to act as a result.
Pathfinder was a novel that spent a lot of time introducing the world, exploring the peoples and cultures of the wallfold, and letting the reader slowly discovery the secrets of its creation and Rigg’s mysterious power. Where Pathfinder was a novel that moved at a brisk pace thanks to Rigg’s exploration of his home and long journey Ruin’s, despite its fresh new wallfold, feels a whole lot slower. This is where Ruins picks up as the three powered teens along with the soldier/scholar Olivenko and Loaf begin to explore their second wallfold. The interaction of the time manipulation powers of Rigg, Umbo, and Param allows them to cross the previously impenetrable border between their home and the next wallfold. Trained by a machine-man to be able to read people and societies Rigg departed on a journey that saw him join up with several other children who have abilities similar to his. Rigg, as readers learn in Pathfinder, has the ability to see the paths of the past, where living creatures have left an imprint on the world. Picking up almost immediately after 2011’s Pathfinder, Ruins continues the journey of Rigg, Umbo, and Param as they search for the truth behind the world of Garden and uncover the mysteries of the Walls which segregate it. Have you ever read a book that was almost compulsively readable yet you can’t decided whether it was good or not? For me Orson Scott Card’s Ruins is such a book.
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