Before you read:
As always in a good series you are left with a cliffhanger at the end of each book. You bet I read this book within a week of it coming out, waiting was not an option after the way Pathfinder ended.
Okay, so assuming you read Pathfinder first you are eager to hear if Ruins is just as good.
It is.
Rigg and the crew have just crossed the wall! On the other side they meet a man that looks just like Rigg's dead father but is not. Meet Vadesh. Another lying, secretive Expendable.
As the story goes on you see many more facets to the people in the book, they change and grow but still are the characters you love. Speaking of love, there is a bit of that thrown in there too.
The group dynamics are so complex in this book. Who will take the lead? Will it be Rigg since he has been taught and groomed by the Expendable Ram? Will it be Loaf because of his military experience? Will Umbo's jealousy of Rigg push him to grasp for the role of leader? What about Olivenko? Will the scholar turned solder rise to the occasion? Or perhaps the future "Queen in the tent" Pram will push for the power and loyalty her rank calls for.
There is so much time travel in this book it makes me want to map it all out.
As I type this I wonder to myself if Orson Scott Card ever gets sick of the squiggly red lines telling him the names he made up for his characters are spelled wrong. Or maybe they are real in other cultures, I really don't know, but I do wish they would quit telling me I am wrong.
After you read:
Vadesh is so tricky and scary! I love when he and Rigg discuss the possibility of Vadesh malfunctioning. He adds in some interesting and tense moments that really make you think and wonder "what if?".
I found myself a bit frustrated when it came to Umbo's jealousies and snide remarks. I wanted to reach into the book and give him a good smack; something to make him snap out of it. I felt almost like there was something else possessing him or influencing him to think that way. But then I thought back to ruins when he thought Rigg had pushed his little brother over the waterfall and the lengths he went to get Rigg punished or killed before he calmed down enough to listen to the truth. I suppose that is what makes Umbo so real or whole; maybe he is a reflection or representation of all the doubts and suspicion within a human and that is what I don't like.
I would like to think that humans are a noble, honorable, empathetic, and compassionate race but I think history has proven me horrifically wrong.
Now the Mice! That is one of the most original and inventive ideas I've ever heard of! I find the communications between Loaf and the mice comical and cute in a strange distorted way. It almost reminds me of the grown-up sexy portrayals of Disney characters you might see in Hot Topic or a tattoo. The problems are grown up logic and hypotheses but the context is childish with a grown man talking to mice. But it is definitely creative!
I only wish there hadn't been so much down time. I understand why OSC made it drag; it was quite brilliantly done but easy to miss if you aren't used to his style. He created the feeling of anticipation and waiting for the reader that the characters were experiencing, something that is hard to do subtly.
The next book, Visitors, is expected November 4th 2014; and I can't wait!
