Pathfinder by Orson Scot Card

It's been a while since I last read a book cover to cover.  Largely because of life taking most of my library into boxes while we prepared to and actually moved.  Christmas cured this problem because my wife got me an awesome book, Pathfinder by Orson Scot Card (my favorite author of all time).  This book is about a young man (13 years old at the start of the book),Rigg, who is raised by a man who is a trapper.  This trapper however spends every waking moment of the boys life teaching him things that have almost nothing to do with trapping.  He teaches him languages, astronomy, rhetoric, politics, finance, math, and other non-trapping things.  The boy absorbs the teachings like most kids would when given no alternatives and is spectacularly intelligent because of the teachings.  (This should start sounding very familiar...think Ender's Game)  While being exceptionally intelligent is important to the story the most remarkable thing about him is the fact that he can see "paths" of people from the past.  He knows where animals, plants, and people have traveled based on the path they leave behind.  He doesn't fully understand the meaning of the paths but his Father teaches him enough to eventually begin to understand what they mean.  When his Father passes in a tragic accident, Rigg must start a journey that is full of twists and turns that will keep your mind reeling at the possibilities.  Rigg, together with Umbo, a childhood friend, start off together and eventually find that they both possess remarkable "skills" that when combined cause time and space to not work the way we come to expect...and that is when things get VERY interesting.
This book is perhaps every bit as good as Ender's Game which for me is about the highest praise I could give a book.  The thought provoking dilemmas and the awesome characters come together to be every ounce the greatness of Ender's Game.  While solidly in the Fantasy genre...it crosses borders in ways that make it equally Science Fiction.  I can't recommend this book enough.  If you want to get it I've tried to make it easy by giving you a link to Amazon.com.  Let me know what you think after you've read it...I can hardly wait for the next part of the series.

Leven Thumps and the Ruins of Alder

This is the end of the series and easily the best of the five books.  Leven's character is evident, the narrator becomes an unnamed character, and the ending is at once complete and purposefully incomplete.
Leven's adventure takes a very interesting turn as he battles against unfinished business and eventually fulfills the meaning of his name (you really need to read this book if for no other reason than to learn why he is called Leven).
The greatest part of this story as a whole and this book in particular is that when things are at their darkest there is always hope.  If you learn nothing from this book you should learn that hope is always present.  The unseen character, Fate, really takes Leven, Winter, Geth, Ezra, Dennis, and even Clover for a real ride.  Geth and Winter find themselves without Leven or Clover and the tension rises as they are joined by the Longing, Phoebe, and some other relatively minor characters trying to escape Foo with the Dearth and the rest of the Foovians.  Meanwhile, Leven and Clover, are mysteriously transported to the ancient island of Alder for an even more mysterious task.  For drama, humor, and a happy ending you really need to pick this book up and remember Foo.

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo

This award winning book is an awesome read.  For those of you who deem yourself too adult to read young adult literature or too literary to spend time with a fun read, well, all I have to say is Foo on you.  This book is an adventure from the very first page.  This may be found in the Fantasy section in the bookstore but it belongs in the Dream section instead.  (They have one of those right?)  Obert Skye (If that's a real name) has created a story about a young boy who has the fate of two worlds hanging on his shoulders.  So not only does he have this burden to bear but he must also bear a name that is as outlandish as his genealogy.  Levin is raised by a "step-aunt" and her husband.  You can only guess based on the genre of this novel and the intended audience what type of people raise Levin.  Think Dursley's to the Nth degree.  Lucky for Levin fate has bigger and better things in mind for him than his step-aunt and uncle.  In fact Fate is as much a character in this story as Levin.  The magic of this story is the off the wall descriptions that break any sense of cliche.  Quips like, " He hauled himself out of the water and onto dry ground and shook himself like an uncoordinated dog with no rhythm", can be found through out this book.  Leven has a guardian in the form of a Sycophant (sick-o-funt) and he is the source of some pretty hilarious hi-jinx.  Leven, who was friendless before he met his Sycophant, finds some very unlikely friends as a result of the ever present Fate and the story climaxes in Foo and continues in the next book.  The characters are very fun but not nearly so fun as the narrator.  The narrator has a unique voice and is as entertaining as the storyline itself.  At times I feel more entertained by the narrator than any of the characters in the story.  This intrusive narration is actually welcome because while the characters are fleshed out well they are too involved in the adventure that they are hard to identify with.  Having read the sequel already I know that the characters become more likable and important to the reader but in this novel the narrator carries the story.  So as you meet monsters from Foo and unlock the mysteries of dreams you will find that while the impossible is to be expected it is not to be accepted.