Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus

I loved this book. The story is really interesting: In the future, humans have developed a machine that allows them to see any point in the past, at any location. When one researcher discovers that it's possible to not only watch, but effect past events, she raises an ethical dilemma. Knowing what

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they know, and possessing this power, are they obligated to do something to help all the suffering they see? The story flashes back and forth in time chronicling the life of Christopher Columbus and the researchers in the future who are studying him. This is really Card at his best, I'd rank it up with Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead. Suspense, great characters and a thought-provoking story.

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An interesting book that is part historical novel, part science-fiction novel. Pastwatch partially tells the story of Christopher Columbus' expedition to the the new world and begins with a scenario taking place as the fleet is gathering. But then the story switches to the future. The humans race,

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mired in a bleak future develops a technology called Pastwatch that allows historians and scientists to observe history. Further development led to Pastwatch 2, an advanced version that allows them to impact the past. So people of the future tweaked things here and there, changing the past and improving the future. One of the first things a Pastwatcher typically does is investigate their own family history. One such researcher traced her roots back to a village that was enslaved. Further investigation reveals that the root of all human exploitation in the New World was Christopher Columbus. Not through direct action, but through an unproven (but soon to be proven by others) conviction that vast wealth lie in the New World. The Pastwatchers decide they can change the history of the human race for the better if they alter Columbus' Caribbean experience. As such a profound change could have a drastic effect on the future, including the very existence of their own lives, a debate ensures when evidence is discovered their history (which at this point is our history) was already modified by Pastwatchers in another timeline, and they botched it.

Three people were sent back to different points of time to intercept Columbus and prepare the native tribes. They did have a profound effect on Columbus' expedition, and while we never hear from the future Pastwatchers, those in the past complete their missions and the epilogue mentions an unusual discovery in 1955 of a skull containing information describing the timeline that never was. Whether or not the over-reaching goals of the project were realized -- if human sacrifice was not replaced by human bondage, is left for the reader to speculate.

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If you knew there was a bomb in a building, would you feel obliged to yell as loudly as possible to warn other people? The bomb explodes and the injuries are high and the death toll unimaginable. But then you have an opportunity to go back in time and prevent the bomb from ever being planted in the

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first place. Take things one step further...let's say that you stop the bomber before he even places his bomb...what else might change? Now you're dealing with what's known as 'the butterfly effect' - if a butterfly flaps it's wings in China, can it change the weather on the other side of the world?

"Pastwatch" takes that concept one step further by asking if you can change the course of one man's life, can you change the course of the entire world? That one man happens to be Christopher Columbus.

"Pastwatch" is about discovery, exploration and redemption. Columbus is believably passionate as we gain glimpses of his upbringing in Genoa, his early years in Portugal, and his ultimate journey to Spain where, for years, he lobbied King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela to support his adventures westward.

Pastwatch is a fictional organization tasked with utilizing cutting edge technology that allows people to view events in the past. Card's Pastwatch technology evolved over time, initially only allowing viewers to see events at a very macro level (historical world weather patterns initially), but developed eventually to see into actual human interactions. The most modern versions of Pastwatch technology allow viewers to watch humans interacting in full 3D.

Card moves the story swiftly by jumping through 15th century Europe and the future. With each jump, Card effectively evokes emotion and understanding from each characterization. Columbus is but one axis upon which the story revolves. The other characters are instrumental in the analysis and discovery of the ability to change the past. Tagiri focuses her Pastwatch career around the study of slavery. Kemal made one of Pastwatch's early and most fundamental discoveries when he found an individual who very plausibly was the basis upon which Noah, Gilgamesh and other world flood myths stand. Diko and Hunahpu are at the center of a new generation of pastwatchers.

Card has an uncanny ability to explore deep and influential topics while unraveling his narrative in an interesting and attainable way. Once the idea of time travel emerges, the characters debate its risks and rewards, but not for a moment did it feel bogged down in pseudo scientific mumbo jumbo. Likewise, there's much debate over slavery, European-based religion, and new world religion, and the speculation of alternative futures for Earth, but they blend seamlessly with the plot and merge well with the jumps into Columbus' inevitable journey across the Atlantic.

Card approaches his plot-lines very intelligently, but I found a few gaps in the characters' rationale that ultimately leads to the time travel adventures into the 15th Century.

The saga of "Pastwatch" is a remarkable book. I'm such a fan of exploration-era historical novels AND science fiction, that I'm ashamed to have never come across it until recently. It's truly a terrific read and I highly recommend it.

One note: the pastwatch concept originates from Card's short story called "Atlantis" which delves deeply into Kemal's identification and discovery of the "original" Noah. It's a very good standalone and rewarding work, and while it's not a necessity to read before "Pastwatch", it adds to the aura and myth that surrounds Kemal.

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This is another alternate reality/history. This novel begins in the distant future. A future where multiple wars, famine, disease, planetary devastation, etc have led to the creation of an ideal society. In this Utopian society a technology has been developed allowing reasearchers to review

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history. Actually view it like a movie or reality show. One such researcher-Tagiri-in Africa discovers what she believes to be a fulcrum in the history of the world-Christopher Columbus and his ill-fated voyage to the America's. She decides to try and figure out what would have happened had Chrisopher Columbus not made the mistakes he did, setting into motion slavery, colonization and genocide. Then send people back to make changes and prevent the devastation that befalls the world. But, to send people back you erase the timeline in which exist-you do not die because you never were-nor were your parents, children, friends, mate, etc. How much is it worth it to erase the past horrors of history? Do you sacrifice the Utopia you now have on a hypothesis that the world would have been a better place if a few things had been different?
A fascinating look at history and how one person can make a difference-and not always for the better. I grew up in a time that did not revere Christopher Columbus. I view him as an idiot-he never even at the time of his death realized that A) he was NOT in India and B) that the American continent was just past modern Haiti and the Bahamas. I am also disgusted that he talked some of the native american Taino Indians into returning to Spain with him where he presented them as slaves to the King and Queen. He wanted to bring Christianity to the heathens and savages-by making them slaves and felt he was improving their lives. In short-I hate him and think it is sick that even now that we know true history and his role in it that we still honor his sorry ass with a holiday in his name. But, I digress, Card portrays Columbus as a spiritually driven man who wanted to bring Christs message and glory to all. I liked much of the supposition of the book but was frankly offended by his solution to the issue-which was to change the colonization of America and make everyone Christians-barf. Like the native americans did not have their own religion and it was not good enough or civilized enough. Otherwise a truly good book.

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Not a fan of Orson Scott Card science fiction. Probably the historical aspect rendered it more palatable to me...
This is a revisionist history - what would the world have been like if Columbus had not returned to Spain, if the Americas had another 50 years of progress before Europe arrived.
Well

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written, compelling characters, and a really good read. The only down side was how quickly it all wrapped up in the end.

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I enjoyed Pastwatch a great deal, largely because of the observers and their catalogue of history. Whether intentional or not, Card set up Pastwatch as the ultimate example in philosophical history in that there are cycles of collapse, rejuvenation and, more to the point, a macro example of

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Hegelian philosophical history. In short, the actions that actions in history are the direct result of the mistakes made from an earlier time in a counter-revolution to correct those problems.

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Truly a favorite of mine, this is one of Orson Scott Card's best novels. Combining sci-fi and historical fiction, he posits a "what if" about one of the pivotal moments in American history. Very clever, very interesting, very well written. Note: quite violent, not for young readers.

Have you ever read a book that opens your mind to more world than you thought possible. This book gave me thoughts as wide as any I have had. Kept me blown away for weeks.

Excellent alternative history - what if Columbus never reached the americas? What if another group was responsible for influencing the timelines of history? What is people could view past events and effect them? Absolutely amazing concepts and characters. The What-If questions are answered and

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explored.

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This tale is set in the future, after the ecological damage of humanity has almost wiped us out. Earth is enjoying a resurrection as a now peaceful humanity is working to restore the planet's ecology. There have been many technological innovations, including a device that allows people to view the

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past. Many of the mysteries of history have been cleared up and many lost cultural works have been recovered. The lives of many people who had been left out of the history books are discovered and humanity is now in closer touch with its past than it ever has been before. Then one day, a pair of time viewers discover that an Arawak woman they are observing can see them! This discovery opens up the possibility that they can actually affect the past and raises the question, "Is it better to continue to heal a damaged planet or to go back and prevent the damage in the first place?" Mr. Card does an excellent job of telling the tale, as well as the complementary story of the man whom the Pastwatch crew have identified as pivotal to history, Christopher Columbus. Check it out.
--J.

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An interesting look at the true (?) impact of Christopher Columbus' voyages.

One of Card's best. I don't really feel there's much I can say about it without spoiling it. It's not perfect; I found the ending a bit disappointing, and only a few of the characters are likable. But if you could conceivably like a book about time travel or alternate history, you should read this.

One of the better alternative history novels out there. Not as deep as "Years of Rice and Salt", but way better than any of the Alvin Maker series. Card is near the top of his form here.

This began interestingly but lost steam when the characters seemed very unrealistic to me. Maybe if the book had illustrated how insanely bad the present-day world was that this group of people were totally at ease with destroying it (and themselves) and rewriting history.

This was a really good book. A great vacation book and nice to get a chance to read a book in just two days. Pastwatch is a time travel book, but in my opinion, the only time travel books worth their salt (and I really like time travel!) are books where you travel BACK in time, and Pastwatch suits.

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There is a lot of information about American history, notably about the discovery of American by Christopher Columbus, and a lot of info about Columbus -- almost "biographical". People of the future -- it's not clear how far in the future but not incredibly far, I think -- are able to use special machines to look at the past. They can look at everything, anything they want. People pick projects and do research and keep recordings of the parts of the past relevant for their projects. One of the projects is about human slavery and Tagiri, the head researcher, through her watching, discovers that it may be possible to go back and intervene in the past in order to improve the lot of humans in the world. Much of the book is spent with this project's researchers trying to figure out when the intervention would need to take place and if the benefits to humanity would indeed outweigh the obvious problem: i.e., that current existence would be snuffed out entirely, the protagonists in the book would now never have existed. Very interesting thought process and research methods. Lots of great information. Fascinating idea. My only complaint was that everything was tied up just too neatly at the end. And that the author makes the sort of wild assumption that just because humanity might not have slavery or human sacrifice anymore, they will also be better stewards of the world. Um, okay.

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This is one of my all time favorite books. I find the whole idea of one moment in time defining the future fasinating. Though it begins a little slow, it is well worth the read. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Read it for the account of Noah's flood in the first chapter, if for nothing else. It's a wonderful book, but soooooo very politically correct in its aims that it can be a little too "nice". But a great way of thinking how our world could be instead of what it is...

Very cool. Makes a strong case for adding more scifi to my shelves.

Rich historical detail, and a unique perspective on Columbus as a man, more than makes up for any flaws in the writing. I hope Card turns "Pastwatch" into a series.

Interesting concept that had me going at first. However these are Mr. Card's poorest realized characterizations to date. Ultimately disappointed.

An amazing combination of fact and fiction. The history of slavery and Christopher Columbus combine with a futuristic society who have learned to observe the past and a daring group who decide to change it.

I'm a big fan of Orson Scott Card. His books show that he has one of the most imaginative minds out there. Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus is no different.

It starts out with a small prologue, that explains how the world has ended up in the not so distant future. We learn that many

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species and many humans have been wiped out but despite this, humanity has taken a turn. It has become, while not Utopian, a more understanding society, interested in learning from mistakes.

We then are shot into the past at a look at Christopher Columbus' life. It is just a little snippet and gives us an idea of the story to come. We also learn that someone has been watching this interatction of Colubus, someone from the future.

Tagiri is part of the project Pastwatch. Essentially, there are two different machines that researchers use for Pastwatch, Tempoview and the newer TruSite. Both machines allow researchers to look back in time. Tagiri is especially interested in the life of slaves, and becomes convinced that Christopher Columbus' voyage is what causes the more brutal slavery and killings in the America's.

She eventually marries and has a daughter, Diko, who joins her mother in her research of Columbus. Her father is also part of the team. In the course of their research they also are joined by Hunahpu and Kemal.

The researchers come to the conclusion that Columbus must be stopped, but also learn that the future has changed the past before. It is learned that originally Columbus went on a crusade to the East, not his journey to the West. A future pastwatcher plays the holy trinity to change his mind.

When time travel is finally invented in their time, it is decided that Kemal, Hunahpu and Diko will travel back in time to save history. They are shuttled to three different times in the Caribbean to set about their work.

Throughout the entire novel, chapters on Columbus's life and his original journey are written. It explains some of his past and his love of navigation. It also details to how he rose from being a Weaver's son, to being able to meet with Kings and Queens.

Overall I was very intrigued by this novel. Card writes believably and makes sure that even a non-scientific reader can understand his concepts. His writing style is very clear and detailed and you can picture in your head the scenes and people that he describes.

Pastwatch is also a very interesting concept because it is a believable invention. It is conceivable that in the future we may develop a machine like this. And if we did, would we use it to the same purposes. Tied into this are Card's views of the morals of the future. They give up their own future to improve the world before them, and that, in this time, is not very believable due to human greed and nature. But it is a wish that we could evolve so highly.

My only complaint on the novel is the ending. It doesn't really describe how much is changed, other than the ending of slavery, in this newly created future. I would have liked to know what the countries of the world were all doing, if the great World Wars had happened, etc. It seems like Card did his job of rewriting the past and didn't want to go further.

Pastwatch
Published in 1996
398 pages plus 4 pages of sources

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An absolutely excellent story, very well written, a great twist on history.

I found this a bit slow in the beginning but it's not long before it had me gripped. A great combination of History & Sci-fi