Pathfinder is a novel by Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...

, written in 2010.

Summary

The book begins with Rigg, a boy that has the strange ability to see the path of any living being, no matter how long ago it existed. He spends his time hunting with his father in the mountains, trapping for valuable pelts. His father is his mentor, and so he has taught Rigg everything he knows. His father died in a woodland accident,and the man's parting words were to find not only Rigg's mother, but also his sister, a person of whom Rigg had had no knowledge. After his father dies, Rigg is accused of killing a young village boy named Kyokay on the Stashi Falls (the waterfalls close to Rigg's home). During the incident on the falls, Rigg discovers for the first time that he is able to not only see the paths but also the actual people who made the paths: in essence, he travelled through time. Shocked at this discovery, Rigg returns to his town only to find a mob ready to kill him for what they perceived as the murder of Kyokay. The innkeeper, Nox, hides Rigg, and gives him money, an address, and nineteen jewels inherited from his father. As he travels with his friend Umbo, Rigg meets a new man, Loaf, who offers to take the duo to the city of O, where they can sell the jewels for more money. During their stay in O, General Citizen, from the army of the People's Republic, arrests the trio, for it is found that Rigg is the supposedly dead prince. Umbo and Loaf escape by jumping off the boat, but Rigg must endure an assassination attempt in order to make it to the capital city of Aressa Sessamo, where he hopes to find his destiny.