Pastwatch
The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Playing with the time stream isn't new to science fiction, but Card (Ender's Game), who's won both a Hugo and a Nebula, gives the concept a new twist here-with mixed results. His angle is to make the temporal interference not accidental but intentional, as a group of scientists go back in time to alter Columbus's journey. Sponsored by the organization Pastwatch, which uses a machine called TruSite II to view the past in remarkable detail, the "Columbus Project" is headed by Tagiri, whose TruSite viewing of the horrors of slavery has prompted her to revise the famed explorer's agenda. Tagiri sends into the past her daughter, Diko, a Mayan descendent named Hunahpu and a man named Kemal, a prickly sort whose initial skepticism is transformed into a fierce commitment to change the past. Armed with devices from the future, the three return to 1492, determined to transform Columbus from a gold-seeking pirate into a proponent of world peace and global unity. Uniformly well-meaning, the trio is just too sanctified to believe, and in their hands, the complexities of temporal mechanics are boiled down to simplistic cause and effect. Some sparks are generated when the Pastwatchers finally meet Columbus, but even that encounter produces fewer surprises than you'd expect from a master like Card.
Customer Reviews
By Far One of My All-Time Favorite Books
I’m 55 years old, and have read hundreds of fantasy/fiction/sci-fi books - including all of the works of Orson Scott Card, Robert Jordan, Tolkien, and many others. This standalone book is definitely one of my top 5 favorites!!!
The mix of real historical figures with science, science fiction, and fantasy make this a truly unique read that I highly recommend to ANYONE.
Brings our past history ALIFE!
If someone went through and verified the historical facts, then this is the perfect venue to take the Boredom out of History, Social Sciences, political sciences, and Humanities, to name a few, of classes we all must take at one point in our lives. Card makes you turn the page faster and faster on the age old story of Cristo Columbus.
Good story
Good story