Pastwatch cover art

Pastwatch

The Redemption of Christopher Columbus

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Pastwatch

By: Orson Scott Card
Narrated by: Scott Brick, Christopher Cazenove, Gabrielle de Cuir, Arte Johnson, Moira Quirk, Stefan Rudnicki, Orson Scott Card
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

In a not-too-distant future that is not quite ours, there has been a major scientific breakthrough. It is a way to open windows into the past, permitting historical researchers to view, but not participate, in the events of the past.

In one of the most powerful and thought-provoking novels of his remarkable career, Orson Scott Card interweaves a compelling portrait of Christopher Columbus with the story of a future scientist who believes she can alter human history from a tragedy of bloodshed and brutality to a world filled with hope and healing.

©1996 Orson Scott Card (P)2005 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Science Fiction
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Enchantment cover art
Treason cover art
The Memory of Earth cover art
Pathfinder cover art
Seventh Son cover art
Stonefather cover art
Ender's Shadow cover art
Blade Runner cover art
METAtropolis cover art
Roadside Picnic cover art
Weekend Warriors cover art
Ring of Fire I cover art
Children of Time cover art
Hyperion cover art
The Mote in God's Eye cover art
Guns, Germs and Steel cover art

Critic reviews

"A bold and compassionate alternative history filled with believable historical and fictional characters." ( Library Journal)

What listeners say about Pastwatch

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    53
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    45
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    42
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Well constructed

I enjoyed this book. A good use of historic events and fiction. I like the writing style and can compare this with books from Robert Harris which I also enjoyed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Breathtaking in it's scope and ambition

A truly great work. How this hasn't become part of the cannon and required reading escapes me

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another excellent book by Scot Card

This book could be easily classified as 'philosophy' as well as science fiction.
The first half of the book deals with the philosophy of time travel and what would be the implications of people from the future travelling back in time to make a few subtle changes to present a disaster to humanity from occurring
In a modern example would ww2 have happened if Adolf Hitler's mother was murdered before she conceived/gave birth to Adolf?
If we had the technology would we be morally obliged to carry out the the murder
Also to carry similar interventions to sanitise the past so hopefully there would be a better future within the historic epoch and therefore a better present period for us today
An excellent book that challenges you to think.
My only criticism is that the end is quite weak and feels like 'a rushed add on' to complete the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Sci-Fi History Mash

Not being one for sci-fi, I was wary of this, but loved OS Card's other standalone books.

It's actually really good! Pastwatch is an organisation in the future which looks back over time and charts the roots of various events. A group of workers decide to intervene with Christopher Colombus' famous voyage in order to save future earth.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Imaginative Alternate History

It was well told and good narrators. A fantastic and idealistic outcome. Compelling alternative history.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great combination of history and sci-fi

was very engrossed by the story and how the different parts weaved together. recommend it to lovers of history, lovers of science/sci-fi and above all lovers of great storytelling.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting story about how to fix history

I like the story and the concept in the mix of historical and fictional characters, this is great if you have an interest in history. But there’s also a lot of moral issues to think about, another reason why the woke are trying to take away this particular authors right to publish apart from his political views. I happen to like free speech, so I greatly enjoyed it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good insight

An interesting novel showing world views of the 15 th century ina fascinating plot. Great

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

How history should have been.

Pastwatch - a group of people who research and record history through the use of viewing machines who realise that intervention may be needed to help their future and improve the past. I don't know enough about history to know if this book is factually accurate, but importantly for what is a work of fiction, it *feels* accurate, it feels as if this is how things happened and so makes the future (past?) changes possible. I find it a haunting and beautiful book and at the end I always wish that this past was how things had been.

This has been one of my favourite books for a long time, but to hear it read by such an excellent cast just enhanced the experience. I used to skim some sections but with an audiobook you can't do that, you have to listen to it all and that is a good thing as those sections are much more interesting when read aloud in the different voices. The voice actors used for all of the Orson Scott Card audiobooks I have listened to so far (the entire Ender series) have done yet another fantastic job. It has now reached the stage that I don't just search for an author's books, I search for the readers too and would be willing to try new authors if they are doing the narration. My only quibble is that I'd like to know more about who reads each part, perhaps a line at the end from each reader stating their name would be nice as they deserve full credit for what they each do.

This sort of experience is why I joined Audible.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thought provoking

It was immersive and thought provoking. This is why we read science fiction, to discover alternate realities and imagine a better world!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!