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Am I the only one who thinks that Pastwatch was awesome? The concept of a group of people who generally observe the past, is fascinating. I wish I was one of them.
When I read the chapter on Atlantis I was hooked. When I read Pastwatch for the first(of several) time I was in the midst of reading a slew of Graham Hancock books. Fingerprints of the Gods was interesting in the search for Atlantis, a complex search to say the least. And then OSC writes a chapter with about as simple and plausible an explanation for topic as big as Atlantis. Wonderful.
Also, being a big fan of alternate timeline fiction I knew the book was perfect for me. I eventually fell in love with Ender's Game, but not before a couple of turns through Pastwatch.
I was hoping that someone could give me some definitive answers about some (rumored?) upcoming Pastwatch books. I know there are some answers out there.... anyone..... anyone....Beuller.... Beuller..
Posts: 23 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Since I am working on becoming a history major, alternate histories facinate me. I read Pastwatch a while ago and come back to it numerous times. The significance of stopping the desolation of the native inhabitants of the New World AND of the Middle Passage slave trade are mind blowing. Alternate histories are interesting because of how easily (well in this case "easy" involves time travel ) history could have been altered. This is also why I started reading the Alvin Maker series though I am only two books in. Here's hoping I get off my but and get some cash to pick up the next couple of books in the series.
Posts: 2 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I just plain liked the way Senior OSC wrote Columbus. I believe he brought up some good points in his writings.
Posts: 100 | Registered: Nov 2003
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If you use the "search" feature on this forum, you will see there have been many past threads about Pastwatch -- which is also one of my most favorite books by OSC. I think you would enjoy reading the other threads, and you might find some answers to your questions about any upcoming books along that line.
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Well, I think the book sucks. What does it consist of? They come up with a plan, and the plan works. Big deal.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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quote:Well, I think the book sucks. What does it consist of? They come up with a plan, and the plan works. Big deal
Well, I don't know how to respond to that. Maybe because the story is only one novel and not three makes it less involved and therefore less interesting. I'm not sure. Respectfully, Mr Card I'm gonna go ahead and um... disagree with you there. I think its a good story. Besides the book would suck if the plan didn't work. The story tied up nicely at the end. I was fully satisfied at the end. (All 6 or 7 times)
Posts: 23 | Registered: Mar 2005
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[whisper] (pssst . . . RedHddBoy . . . Yes, you . . . over here. Now, don't tell anyone, but . . . OSC is joking. He is on record saying that Pastwatch is the best work of Science Fiction he's written, in his opinion. Just so you know, OSC jokes a lot.) [/whisper]
No sir, not me, I didn't divulge Hatrack secrets to the newbies. It must have been someone else. :whistles innocently:
Posts: 786 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I loooove Pastwatch! It's so far beyond cool. Plus it allowed me to pass U.S. History. We had to write a journal entry every week. Topic: what we were thinking about related to history. Needless to say, I exploited my OSC shelf shamelessly. "I read this book about a sort of parallell America..." "I read this book about how the only way the world could ever be united was under extraterrestrial threat..." "I read this book about whether or not changing the past can actually accomplish or improve anything..."
Every time I had nothing to say I had an excuse to read Pastwatch again and talk about, oh, Columbus. Or the crusades. Or any of the million topics OSC touches on.
Posts: 866 | Registered: Dec 2003
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I think one of the reasons it was so great was not only is it a great story you learn a lot reading it. The divinci code has become very famous, why? Is it its gripping plotline, no I and others I have talked to guessed what was going to happen at every turn. The characters weren't the great either. What it had was that it made people more informed on a subject they didnt know about and think in a different way. Pastwatch also did that but it had a great storyline, awesome characters, and a great ending.
Posts: 832 | Registered: Jan 2005
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Newbie here again. Thanks for the heads up. Not having posted here too much I haven't learned what a rascal that OSC can be. Haha...good one.
I think another good point made, pertaining to his character, is that Columbus wasn't a 'bad' person. He was a man of his age. And successful as a sailor. Meaning a few whips were cracked to say the least.
It was nice to see the native population rise up and confront the would-be conquerors from Europe. It is such an appropriate twist on history.
Posts: 23 | Registered: Mar 2005
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I just finished reading it and thought it was very good, but I have one problem with it (maybe not a problem, more of something that could have added nothing to the book but could have still been in there): If they could see back into the past, why didn't they go way back to the beggining of the earth and see if God created the world or not. I understand why it wasn't written (it's completely useless) but it still would have been cool. Either that or a chapter that shows how they looked at dinosaurs and saw when they died.
Posts: 20 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote: Good. Then writing the sequel should be a piece of cake.
When is that due out again?
Rivka, I love you. If I weren't a married Mormon woman who's younger than you and not worthy to tie your shoes, I'd ask you to marry me. Just based on that post.
(Just to clarify, I mean that all of those would have to be untrue. Not just one. )
quote: [whisper] (pssst . . . RedHddBoy . . . Yes, you . . . over here. Now, don't tell anyone, but . . . OSC is joking. He is on record saying that Pastwatch is the best work of Science Fiction he's written, in his opinion. Just so you know, OSC jokes a lot.) [/whisper]
*glee* yes! he said that to me the one time I met him. I don't remember half of his speech, but I'll carry that one sentence with me for a very long time.
Pastwatch, btw (as I've said like 6 or 7 times in the past 3 weeks probably) is my favorite book to date. No other book that I've read has combined so many elements that I like into one place. I love time travel, I love history, I -love- reading about other cultures. My favorite part of history (I was a history major til I ran out of money) was always what the normal people did in their everyday lives, rather than who sat on the throne and what wars were fought when. That stuff effected things, surely, but it didn't fascinate me as much as say, what they used to eat with, or what songs they sang while they did their daily work. (Failing the actual ability to become and anthropologist...I joined the SCA. *snickers*)
That's actually what I like about -all- of Card's books, and why he's my favorite author. Battles bore me, but he can write them in a way that is different from your regular war description, he makes it more personal, and he writes more about the little details of every day life that make the whole scene seem believable.
There are other fantasy/scifi authors out there that I like, but none of them quite measure up. Robert Jordan, for instance, will drone on and on (and on) about one thing for a while (usually a battle)...his favorite book of mine wasn't actually part of his main series, it was New Spring, a prequel...because he wrote more about the customs of the people than he did about battles. Posts: 24 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Mullitt, I WILL go back to the flood in one of the Pastwatch books, and to the GArden of Eden in another. The latter will probably be so offensive to everybody that my poetic license will be revoked. So Kristine urges me to make that the LAST book I write before dying - since it will probably be the last book in my career in any case <grin>.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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kq, don't take this the wrong way, but you're really not what I'm looking for. And the fact that it has progressed from the hair-washing fetish to this . . . Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote: Mullitt, I WILL go back to the flood in one of the Pastwatch books, and to the GArden of Eden in another. The latter will probably be so offensive to everybody that my poetic license will be revoked. So Kristine urges me to make that the LAST book I write before dying - since it will probably be the last book in my career in any case <grin>.
Well, since your fans will probably make you live until you are at least a million, I say write them now. Right now is a great time to start things.
Posts: 20 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote: kq, don't take this the wrong way, but you're really not what I'm looking for. And the fact that it has progressed from the hair-washing fetish to this . . .
What do you mean by "wrong way"? *cleans shotgun innocently*
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I haven't read Pastwatch. I need to. I can't find a copy anywhere that isn't beat up and my local library only has two OSC books, Wyrms and Lost Boys; I've complained but so far nothings changed, so I haven't had a chance. It looks really good. And what people say about it only makes me want to read it even more. Maybe I'll get lucky one of these days.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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Diko, I am in the same boat when it comes to former History majors who ran out of $$$ for school.
I have heard alternate history stories frowned upon as the least preferable kind of fiction. I really have to disagree. First of all, those types of stories have their base in the real world. At least for the 'jumping off' point. And the more interesting alt. history stories (Pastwatch being exhibit A) have a serious moral reason why the world should be changed.
I recommend for alt. history fans 'Guns of the South' by Harry Turtledove, '1632' by Eric Flint, and 'Island in the Sea of Time' by SM Sterling. I just plucked '1632' outta the ole' bookshelf today cuz of all this alt. history talk.
Posts: 23 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote: Mullitt, I WILL go back to the flood in one of the Pastwatch books, and to the GArden of Eden in another. The latter will probably be so offensive to everybody that my poetic license will be revoked. So Kristine urges me to make that the LAST book I write before dying - since it will probably be the last book in my career in any case <grin>.
I'm thinking that it being offensive to everybody would make it all the more enjoyable.
Posts: 1215 | Registered: Apr 2005
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uhm - are we allowed to suggest books not written by Card in here?
aw, bug it, I'm recommending neway. The Light of Other Days or somesuch by Steven Baxter and Arthur C Clarke
and The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson.
just some neat alternate history stuff. well, actually, the former's like a copy of Pastwatch. I'll assume it's terrible in comparison to Card's work - but this was my introduction to the idea of time viewing - what would happen to the world if we could literally see all of history, and it would cost us the same as it costs to make a palm pilot or whatever. thought it was neat.
Posts: 58 | Registered: Apr 2005
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The light of other days was an awesome book. I've read it at least 3 times in the last two years.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:The latter will probably be so offensive to everybody that my poetic license will be revoked.
You know, I really can't wait for this book. Not that I want your portic license revoked (that would make me quite sad), but any book that is going to offened everyone is an interesting book.
Posts: 25 | Registered: Mar 2005
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I just finished Pastwatch, and didn't really like it
*ducks*
I don't think there is anything wrong with the book, the writing, or the plot.
It is all a personal psychological thing for me. I was uncomfortable with the topic. I mean it made me think, but it made me sad and angry too.
It made me think of how 150 yrs ago My tribe had about 100,000 people, and now it has about 2500.
It made me think of The Long Walk, the Trail of Tears, of Navajo Codetalkers, of Medgar Evers, of Rosewood Mississippi, of the Little Rock Nine, of Auschwitz, of how my mother was attacked by a "White Dog" when she was five, of being spat on and called a drunken Indian by my classmates when I was six. For me, it was a painful book to read.
It made me think of things I've mulled over before, things that I don't use or hold against anyone but which make my heart hurt to think about.
That said, I didn't like Pastwatch. But I thought it was a good book. I thought it was an excellent book. It is however a book that I am unlikely to read again any time soon.
Posts: 772 | Registered: Feb 2005
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Biggest thrill of my conspiracy-loving little brother's life: coming to see his new neice, and getting to go to the Sixth Floor Museum and then get his picture taken on the grassy knoll, right by the black "X" in the road where Kennedy was shot.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I am intrigued with Pastwatch. Alternate histories prompt valuable discussion about what might have happened -- they help us to see the flaws and virtues in choices that were made. The confusing and disturbing suggestion in the novel is the portrait of God. The vision of Trinity that Columbus sees is attributed to time travellers. All the passages of Columbus' faith are then thrown into question. We all know that others can take religious beliefs and use them to manipulate others. But where are the positive images of Catholic Christianity? What if Pastwatch learned that what Joseph Smith saw was a hologram? Is this an LDS critique of the Catholic Church, or am I misreading things.
Posts: 4 | Registered: Apr 2005
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The tricky thing about alternate history is that you have to educate the reader about what the REAL history was; and if you have characters who already live in the alternate universe, how do THEY know what it was? So you have to find ways to build in history lessons ...
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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You should make a deal with Looney Labs, and bundle copies of future Pastwatch books with packs of Chrononauts. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I was browsing Amazon.com and it claims there is a May 30, 2005 release date set for a book called Pastwatch: The Flood. Now I of course know that you are a much better source for this kind of info OSC, so could you tell me, was this date thrown out of nothingness, or are you is that a good guess as to when you plan to release this? Also, were you planning on having this written back in '95 or '96, it said something somewhere else about those dates with this book.
Posts: 879 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Pastwatch was the first OSC book I ever read. I remember because my school had a bomb threat and we were locked down in whatever room we were in when the threat was reported (yes, they're told there is a bomb in the building, so they were sure to not allow any of the children to leave). I just happened to sit down near a shelf with the book haphazardly placed there.
I read the backcover, it intrigued me, and I decided to start reading it. I got hooked from that novel, leading to EG and its derivatives.
Of course, I re-read Pastwatch a year or so ago and I can't say I enjoyed it AS much. Maybe it just seemed better when I was younger. But the idea of alternate history (in a scifi vein such as Pastwatch's concept) is one I definitely enjoy. Are there any other books similar to that you guys know of?
Posts: 13 | Registered: Apr 2005
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If you didn't like the book why did you publish it? Was it because you had no other ideas or the idea seemed better when you started?
Posts: 1 | Registered: May 2005
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He didn't actually think it sucked. He was joking. He has a rather straight-faced sense of humor that can take some getting used to, apparently.
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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) history could have been altered. This is also why I started reading the Alvin Maker series though I am only two books in. Here's hoping I get off my but and get some cash to pick up the next couple of books in the series.
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