Prentice Alvin (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 3) (Alvin Maker, 3)

Book 3 of the Seventh Son series is great. I said book 2 was the best so far, but book3 is right behind it. Alvin starts to become a man, and his skills start to develop. Some characters return, and of course new charters are introduced, and the story remains fresh and captivating.

In this third book of the Alvin Maker series, we see Alvin grow into a man. Comparatively, the first two books took place over a shorter time span and put more effort into developing the fascinating world Card has created. In PRENTICE ALVIN, there is much more emphasis on character development and maturation. Characters really come into their own in this book as well as develop some very intriguing relationships among themselves. Interactions between Alvin, Peggy, Arthur Stuart, Makepeace Smith, and others make this book a joy to read and gives you a depth of understanding of those characters that make them come to life. The bulk of the book describes events that happen during Alvin's apprenticeship to the blacksmith of Hatrack River. The Unmaker returns to hound and molest Alvin, and a few characters from the first two books are brought back and built up. Cavil Planter is a new a very interesting character that has disillusioned himself into thinking that he is doing to work of the Lord while committing heinous crimes. Central to the story is the introduction of the pickanniny mimic Arthur Stuart, who will undoubtedly have far-reaching consequences for the rest of the series. The book is fast and entertaining, with the same great characters you love and a couple more that are sure to please. I can't wait to read the next installment!

After the interruption andAlvin's kidnapping in the Red Prophet, this book picks up with Alvin learning his trade and turning into the man he is destined to be. We follow Alvin as he grows up and befriends the people of Hatrock. Again he battles the Unmaker and fights to build the world that he saw in with the Red Prophet. Peggy continues to watch Alvin from a far and she herself grows into the woman that Alvin will turn to in and love. This book starts the story of Alvin the Maker. This is where the boy turns into the man he will be and brushes the soot from his face to see the future he will be creating.

This third book to the "Maker" series gets back on track with the tale of Alvin Miller/Smith/Maker. New characters, such as Calvin Planter and Arthur Stuart, are introduced and utilized to good effect, unlike some characters introduced later in the series (such as the annoying Balzac in "Alvin Journeyman"). Each chapter contains an interesting development, and the book has several nice twists.The only note of caution I have is for the series in general. Card has a way of turning his protagonists into supermen. Think, for example, of Lanik Mueller in "Treason," Bean in "Ender's Shadow" or Jane in "Children of the Mind." I don't know whether this is a way for him to wriggle out of plot problems or whether it's his own predilections. Regardless, he begins to do it here as well, and it becomes more pronounced in "Alvin Journeyman" and "Heartfire." That detracts from both the humanity and the believability of the story.

Card can hold his own with America's best fiction writers, and this series proves it. A reader below compares the Alvin Maker series to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. That's a good starting point, but Card's work is much more humane, and relies much more on human interaction as opposed to magic or fantasy.Underneath all of Card's works is a complex philosophy of individualism, self-determination, and humanism You see it in his creations of Jane in Ender's Game, Peggy here in the Maker series, and Patience in Wyrms. This is, at its core, a philosophy that captures the essence of the American world-view. It's also one that I and many others share, and it's a pleasure to see these themes gently woven into the fabric of all his stories. Card, you are the best. Keep going!

These books are some of Card's best work. In my opinion they are better books than his more famous Ender series. They do for North America what The Lord of the Rings did for England - they create a new mythology for a geographical area (although in this case the mythology is also an alternate history). Card weaves an invented fantasy universe with American folklore of all kinds, from native tribal religion to European and American folk superstition and sorcery. Alvin, a young immigrant, is born under a host of omens and signs. He is the seventh son of a seventh son, and becomes intertwined with the destiny of the American frontier. He finds that he is the most important figure in the battle against that which he calls the Unmaker. Throughout the course of the book he attempts to quell the tide of entropy by "making" things. He unites people of many races, and tries to bind humanity together as he becomes increasingly aware of the spirit around him that ties everything - the land, the people, and the unfolding of history - together