panguitch's Full Review: Orson Scott Card - Pastwatch: The Flood
Orson Scott Card has a habit of beginning a new series before finishing his ongoing projects. Along with the Ender's Game movie, the Shadow or Bean series of the Ender Universe, and the stagnating Alvin Maker series, the Pastwatch series is incomplete. Of these four, only the first two are receiving any attention from Card at the moment. It would seem that a writer of Card's talent and renown would find even more popular success if he would finish what he started instead of leaving his fans hanging for years on end. But don't mind me. I'm just bitter.
In any case, 1996's Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus is an excellent novel and entirely complete as a stand-alone.
PREMISE and PLOT
In the future, human civilization has achieved peace and almost uniform prosperity. But this utopia is faced with the effects of the industrial age. Only vast periods of time and changes on the scale of an ice age can cleanse the Earth, all of which doesn't bode well for humanity.
An interesting technological development becomes crucial to the book. Historians and Social Scientists have a tool that allows them to view the past in real time, kind of like TV. Obviously this enables huge strides in all sorts of fields. In Africa, a Pastwatcher named Tagiri focuses her research on the origins of slavery. Her team accidentally discovers that this technology also opens the door to time travel. Tagiri decides to go back in time at a pivotal point--Columbus's voyage to the Americas--and change history in order to alleviate the centuries of suffering.
Meanwhile, the book has been following Columbus's life, maintaining a parallel progression with the Pastwatchers and their discoveries. At times it is clear that the passages devoted to Columbus are seen from the perspective of Pastwatchers in the future.
Tagiri's daughter, Diko, discovers when Columbus makes his decision to explore westward, a prime point at which to alter the course of events. A Turk, Kemal, a famous and influential Pastwatcher who disagrees with Tagiri and Diko's conclusions, joins the team as does Hunahpu, an ethnic Mayan who provides the alternative course of action to what Tagiri and Diko have been planning.
Eventually, the parallel plot lines of Columbus's life and the efforts of the Pastwatchers meet, and an alternative to our own history is created, one in which, hopefully, humanity won't ruin the Earth or hurt itself too much.
If it seems I've been thorough, don't worry. I've only skimmed the surface. For a relatively short book (around 350 pages) there's an awful lot going on. Card does well following parallel story lines. It's not at all confusing, although there are a few surprises and plenty of twists.
CHARACTERS
As always, Card's characters are strong where they need to be, and sufficient where anything more would be distracting. It was a joy to see Columbus personalized through fictionalizing him. He became very sympathetic and likable, despite his misguided intentions. His struggle to fulfill his mission would be good reading even without the rest of Pastwatch.
The Pastwatchers are also well fleshed out, although at times you feel you're seeing a United Colors of Bennington ad, with representatives from various races taking their bows. They're strong nonetheless. For example, Kemal is hard-nosed and instead of losing his edge when he undergoes a change, he remains credible by changing his purpose but not his attitude.
STYLE
To be honest, Card's style is sometimes hard for me to pin down. Although I think that's a good thing. When the story is the focus, the style shouldn't be noticeable. If you're noticing the style, it's drawing attention away from the story.
I will say that his writing is lucid and concise. Again, there's a lot of plot and ideas packed into this novel, and Card conveys it all without confusion in fewer pages than most SF/F writers now take to write less meaty stories. A couple things do seem rather convenient, however, such as the discovery that the Earth is doomed just when justification for changing the past is most needed.
Those familiar with Card will also notice a few trademarks. Diko comes on the scene as a very intelligent child (though she's an adult for most of the book). A few characters are intentionally introduced in a manner that leads us to dislike them, or at least view them as the opposition, and then either they come around, or we gain insight into their motives that causes a reconciliation between them and the reader's sympathies.
SCIENCE and IDEAS
Card has done a lot of research for this book, and even included a short bibliography in the end. Much of it has to do with anthropological treatments of Caribbean, Mesoamerican, and European cultures of Columbus's time. His effort goes a long way to establishing credibility. But there are a few stretches. The extent of the damage to the Earth will seem highly exaggerated to many. The idea that human civilization would volunteer to extinguish itself in order to create a better version of itself is hard for me to swallow. Almost everyone I know would rather take their chances. And morally, I think they'd be justified.
We're also asked to accept the willingness of pre-industrial societies, known for conservatism, to change dramatically in a short period of time. I was ok with this, but I know some haven't been. I thought it was handled in such a way that these cultures had sufficient motivation to make the changes.
Finally, the time travel can raise questions for some. It's a topic many love to nit-pick because it's more fantasy than science. Card's treatment is stronger than many, especially his ideas about changes eradicating the future and enabling alternate futures. But there are a few inconsistencies within his own novel on this point.
REACTIONS and ANALYSIS Pastwatch raises a lot of questions, and Card portrays believable characters wrestling with those questions and coming to decisions for themselves. They may not be the decisions I would make, but they're understandable and I can still sympathize as the characters work to enact those decisions.
A major one is the question of whether it is moral to take advantage of people in the past who don't realize what you're doing and manipulate them into making decisions that forward your own interests. I may not think so, but watching the various characters come to the conclusion that it is, and seeing them do it certainly made for a good read. There are also more personal dilemmas, including a marriage and a love sacrificed for the greater good.
A few intriguing twists to watch for (no spoilers) include the 'justification' for slavery as the lesser of two evils, the nature of Columbus's original plan, Columbus's reason for deciding to go west, and of course the end result of the Pastwatchers' meddling with history.
This is a great book, even if not of 5-star magnitude. I recommend it to any and all. The other installments of Pastwatch that are rumored include a volume on The Flood, and one on Eden. With The Redemption of Christopher Columbus as a basis, I'll be eagerly awaiting news that Card has finally decided to take up the Pastwatch series again.
- Panguitch
Note: This Review was earlier posted under Pastwatch: The Flood due to some confusion in the way these items have been listed. More reviews of Redemption can be seen in the listing for The Flood: http://www.epinions.com/book_mu-2093659
In one of the most powerful and thought-provoking novels of his remarkable career, Orson Scott Card interweaves a compelling portrait of Christopher C...More at Alibris
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