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Seventh Son

(Tales of Alvin Maker #1)

Orson Scott Card

3.86 · Rating details · 31,626 ratings · 1,391 reviews

In an alternate version of frontier America, young Alvin is the seventh son of a seventh son, and such a birth is powerful magic. Yet even in the loving safety of his home, dark forces reach out to destroy him.

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Mass Market Paperback, First mass market edition, 241 pages

Published April 1988 by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC (first published July 1st 1987)

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3.86 ·

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· 31,626 ratings · 1,391 reviews

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Nov 27, 2012 Lyn rated it liked it

Orson Scott Card described his novel Seventh Son as an American epic fantasy, contrasting with the uncompromisingly British Tolkeinesque genre of fantasy books.

This reminded me a great deal of Larry McMurtry’s The Berrybender Narratives in its imaginative use of historic people and places to tale the story of the American Frontier in the 1840s. Card, telling a story perhaps set in the 1810-20s makes this even more interesting by slowly unraveling the American past into an alternative history fi ...more

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Feb 10, 2008 James M. Madsen, M.D. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: religion-lds-mormon, religion, young-adult, speculative-fiction, religion-christianity, fiction

Rather than discuss each of the books in the Tales of Alvin Maker series separately, I'll use this review for all of them. They present an alternate-history account of a nineteenth-century America in which magic is a potent force. Although it might not be evident to non-Mormons, this series is a thinly veiled fictional adaptation of the life of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith (just as his Homecoming Saga is a similarly thinly veiled science-fiction version of the story of the first part of the Book ...more

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May 23, 2009 Spider the Doof Warrior rated it it was amazing

I'm re-reading this book now and, is it just me or does it seem like OSC could actually WRITE BETTER back then?
He doesn't write like this anymore. Now his books are the conservative lecturing version of the Anita Blake serious where instead of sex scenes after sex scenes you get characters nagging about morality and marriage.

Also, why do folks insist on being so dang cruel to kids? Hitting them with hazel rods and smacking then and such? I don't get that.

What I also don't get is, why do people a ...more

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Oct 03, 2013 Wanda rated it liked it

Shelves: reading-project, speculative-fiction, alternate-history, read-in-2016, university-library

You may have heard—O.S. Card is a Mormon. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It just makes this little story a trifle more interesting, because you see, our main character Alvin goes through A LOT of the things that Joseph Smith did, growing up. Like Smith, Alvin has parents who disagreed about religion and like the Smith family, Alvin’s family practices a religious folk magic in addition to Christianity. Smith also claimed, like Alvin, to be confused about the claims of competing religi You may have heard—O.S. Card is a Mormon. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It just makes this little story a trifle more interesting, because you see, our main character Alvin goes through A LOT of the things that Joseph Smith did, growing up. Like Smith, Alvin has parents who disagreed about religion and like the Smith family, Alvin’s family practices a religious folk magic in addition to Christianity. Smith also claimed, like Alvin, to be confused about the claims of competing religious denominations, a situation which is resolved by a religious vision. In addition, Smith suffered from a bone infection in his boyhood, although presumably not from having a mill-stone fall on his leg, the scenario in Seventh Son. Interestingly, Joseph Smith had an older brother named Alvin. [For all these details of Smith’s life, I am reliant on Wikipedia—not the most reliable of sources, but not the worst either].

Add to that the alternative history aspect of the story—a North America which gets settled and governed in a radically different way (George Washington, for example, gets beheaded for treason). Here the hex signs on the Pennsylvania Dutch barns (which began as pure decoration) are used to suggest a whole practical magical system for this timeline (and the author presumes that they actually spoke Dutch rather than Deutsch). Add to that a rather odd Puritan set of names for characters (Alvin’s twin brothers Wastenot and Wantnot, for instance and his brother Calm). Somehow this odd mixture of religions does make a rather understandable system.

Seventh Son’s main character, Alvin, does suffer rather badly from “chosen one” syndrome, but as a seventh son of a seventh son, it seems he just can’t help it. He is destined to be special because seven is viewed as being such a lucky number. In addition to his birth order, Alvin is born with a caul (membrane) over his face—yet another omen of a child destined for great deeds. Card has pulled out all the stops and made Alvin into the special-est snowflake that he possibly could.

I have to say that the religiousness of the book’s characters (especially in the beginning) was a bit off-putting for me, but by about half way through I had reached some kind of stasis and was enjoying the story more. However, I found the ending rather abrupt. At least there wasn’t a cliff-hanger, but a reader wanting to know “how things end” will very obviously have to continue reading the series.

This was book number 210 in my Science Fiction and Fantasy reading project.
...more

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Jan 29, 2015 Kristen rated it did not like it

DNF

I can't quite put my finger on why I didn't like this book. I read about 80 pages and just couldn't go on. I found the story to be pretty boring, and it seemed very bogged down in religion. On top of this, I found the character names to be inexcusably silly. Maybe I just don't 'get' it?

I read The Ender Quintet and Enchantment in high school, and really loved the story lines. Because of my previous positive reactions to other Orson Scott Card works, I thought that this was a no-brainer.

I wou ...more

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Sep 17, 2008 Werner rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Fantasy fans, and alternate-world fans

Shelves: fantasy, alternate-worlds, books-i-own

Since quantum physics (or a vague conception of it :-)) entered popular consciousness, alternate worlds have become a staple of science fiction; but the burgeoning of alternate worlds in which magic works has become a parallel movement in the fantasy genre. Judging by this first installment, Card's Tales of Alvin Maker series is a strong contribution to the latter.

Set in 1800-1810 in what would be, in our world, the Ohio and Indiana frontier, this novel describes the birth, and significant times Since quantum physics (or a vague conception of it :-)) entered popular consciousness, alternate worlds have become a staple of science fiction; but the burgeoning of alternate worlds in which magic works has become a parallel movement in the fantasy genre. Judging by this first installment, Card's Tales of Alvin Maker series is a strong contribution to the latter.

Set in 1800-1810 in what would be, in our world, the Ohio and Indiana frontier, this novel describes the birth, and significant times in the young childhood, of Alvin Miller, the uniquely gifted seventh son of a seventh son, born into a frontier America in which the folk magic of our world's old superstitions actually works and plays a significant part in people's lives. But this isn't the only difference between this world and ours. Here, Oliver Cromwell lived to be 97, so England's Puritan Commonwealth never fell, while the exiled Stuarts emigrated to the Southern colonies and maintained their rule there. While the Puritans in England were able to keep their grip on New England (largely populated by their co-religionists), neither English group could dislodge the Dutch and the Swedes, or the French, from the New World --so Alvin's America is a much more polyglot and decentralized place than the real one. Canada is still a French colony here, and France is still a monarchy; there was no French Revolution, because there was no bloody American Revolution to inspire it. Instead, Ben Franklin was able to parlay the intrigues of the two English governments for influence in the middle colonies into acceptance of the peaceful formation of an independent United States as a buffer, made up of the seaboard lands between Virginia and New England and uniting the former English, Dutch and Swedish colonies --and with the Iroquois territory admitted as an Indian-ruled state. The American Compact excludes slavery, provides for religious freedom and democracy, and models an ethnic harmony that the one in our world didn't quite achieve --so Card is here depicting an America that might have been, as a model and inducement for a real one that could be.

The author's cosmology is as original as his alternate history. The universe, he posits, has a secret ultimate enemy, the Unmaker; unlike Satan, who only wants to dominate it, the Unmaker wants to annihilate everything that exists. There are similarities here to the premise of Holly Lisle's Minerva Wakes, with its cosmic struggle between the Unweaver and the human Weavers who stand against him; but Card's vision is shaped by a theistic framework. The Unmaker's human opponent is Alvin, born to be a supernaturally-powered Maker; and young Peg, the "torch," or seeress, who assisted at his birth recognizes in his endowments the "hand of power" of God.

Religion plays a significant role in the book: an important character is a clergyman, Alvin's home community centers around a church, his mother is a devout woman, and an even more important character is Bill "Taleswapper" Blake --the William Blake of our world, here an immigrant to the New World and an itinerant teller of tales, but as mystically oriented and full of yearning to be a true prophet as his real-world counterpart. Card, of course, is a Mormon, which undoubtedly influences his worldview; some reviewers have seen the series as Mormon propaganda, and it seems clear that Alvin is destined to play a role as pivotal here as Joseph Smith's in our world. But from what I've read so far, it isn't clear that Alvin's religious message will be what we know as Mormonism. The author's portrayal of some of the worst aspects of early 19th-century institutionalized religion, and of the capacity of decent people to be deceived into doing profoundly wrong things in the name of religion, comes through loud and clear; but this is a critique that can also be echoed by evangelicals, and Card's basically equalitarian treatment of women doesn't reflect traditional Mormon sexism.

The quality of the writing, the world-building and characterizations here are all top-notch. Card's dialogue and narration are leavened with humor in places (I read the book out loud to my wife, and she frequently laughed aloud at droll exchanges or comments). But there are also plenty of serious, even poignant, moments, and some beautifully lyrical prose in places. The narrative is well-paced and absorbing. All in all, it's a really impressive series beginning! Now, it's on to the second installment, Red Prophet. ...more

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Aug 11, 2008 Stephen rated it really liked it

Shelves: award-nominee-hugo, award-nominee-locus, award-winner-locus, multiple-award-winners, multiple-award-nominee, award-nominee-mythopoeic-fantasy, award-winner-mythopoeic-fantasy, award-nominee-world-fantasy, audiobook, historical-fantasy

4.5 stars. Fresh, original fantasy using the United States of the 19th century as its backdrop. This creation of a truly "American" fantasy novel was truly original and I thought made it a cut above a lot of cookie cutter fantasy stories.

Winner: Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (1988)
Winner: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature (1988)
Nominee: Hugo Award for Best Novel (1988)
Nominee: World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (1988)

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Sep 12, 2009 Ben Babcock rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: own, hugo-nominee, 2012-read, alternate-history, fantasy, not-my-cup-of-tea

Books about special children with magic powers being manipulated by binary forces are kind of boring. There seems to be a glut of them.

As the 18th century draws its final, decade-long gasps, America looks a lot different than our history remembers. Dutch colonies and Aboriginal nations have become states. Washington was executed for betraying his British superiors; Benjamin Franklin was (though he denied it), a “wizard”. Faith and superstition have formed a tense equilibrium that could topple gi ...more

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Nov 12, 2009 drowningmermaid rated it liked it

Shelves: audio

This book is a clear, fantasy parallel of the life of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of Mormonism. If you know nothing of Joseph Smith's life, you might enjoy it as a uniquely American fantasy epic. If you are a Mormon, you will probably appreciate it even more.

But if you are like me, and know about Smith's life, but believe his church's message is false, you might find it a bit painful. I get the references, and they're very good, and overall this is certainly the most creative and artistic explana This book is a clear, fantasy parallel of the life of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of Mormonism. If you know nothing of Joseph Smith's life, you might enjoy it as a uniquely American fantasy epic. If you are a Mormon, you will probably appreciate it even more.

But if you are like me, and know about Smith's life, but believe his church's message is false, you might find it a bit painful. I get the references, and they're very good, and overall this is certainly the most creative and artistic explanation I've come across for some of the rather troubling aspects of Mormonism.

Joseph Smith, before he had his revelation from God and began his own church, was involved in witchcraft. Particularly, getting people to pay him for his "divination" skills that would allow him to find them buried treasure. He never found any treasure, but he did make a decent supplement to his income by-- well, conning people, for which he was eventually arrested. Thoughtful, intelligent Mormons, such as Card, need an explanation for this. The most common explanation is what is seen here: Joseph Smith was involved in "white magic," a kind of light witchcraft that coexists perfectly with Christianity, and indeed expresses it better than churches do. Card creates an entire world of good magic, hexes, and light not-witchcraft, at war with the stuffy science of the Old World.

Unfortunately, for me, the simple answer will always make more sense: Smith was a quasi-religious fraud, who grew up to be a rather more successful quasi-religious fraud. Also, according to the records left by eyewitnesses, Smith's "white magic" involved animal sacrifice, circles of blood on the ground, and calling on dark spirits at midnight. That seems to cross a line.

This would have been four stars, except for the ending, where Card makes another of his hideous evangelical caricatures-- portraying traditional Christians as demon-possessed, rather lacking in discernment, and dangerous. Sorry, Orson, but these "Christians" of yours are just as bad as the miserly Jews and bumbling Negroes of centuries past, and just as revelatory of LDS prejudice against evangelicals. (Not that evangelicals don't have their own stereotypes and prejudices against Mormons.) ...more

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Feb 21, 2008 Kenneth Pierce rated it really liked it

I flew through this. Immensely interesting, this is a brilliantly imagined piece of alternate history quasi-fantasy. Convoluted genre? Yes, but Card just keeps proving to me what a compelling storyteller he is. Don't expect unicorns and magical swords (thankfully), but try it and you'll find a realistic take on folk magic mixed with an alternate story of the birth of our nation that complement each other beautifully and seamlessly. Loved it.

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Aug 07, 2012 Katie rated it really liked it

Having only just recently discovered the wonder that is Ender's Game and all its sequels (in my mind they have an odd kind of kinship with Dune now that I've read a few) I still thought to myself, "A fantasy? From Orson Scott Card??" Yes. Yes to this. It's so *American* in a way that other fantasy I've read is so not. Fantasy has always seemed so European (and within that mostly British) to me, but this is incredibly American, and rather Appalachian and I'm loving the series. I'm on a Card kick ...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Kat Hooper rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook

Originally posted at FanLit.

"When you’re surrounded by light, how do you know whether it’s the glory of God, or the flames of Hell?"

Set in an alternate American frontier, Seventh Son is the first in Orson Scott Card’s THE TALES OF ALVIN MAKER. Alvin Miller is the seventh son of a seventh son which makes him special and potentially a very powerful healer, or “maker” — at least that’s what many who practice folk magic, believe. They know that many folk have “knacks” and they’ve seen the effects of Originally posted at FanLit.

"When you’re surrounded by light, how do you know whether it’s the glory of God, or the flames of Hell?"

Set in an alternate American frontier, Seventh Son is the first in Orson Scott Card’s THE TALES OF ALVIN MAKER. Alvin Miller is the seventh son of a seventh son which makes him special and potentially a very powerful healer, or “maker” — at least that’s what many who practice folk magic, believe. They know that many folk have “knacks” and they’ve seen the effects of curses and charms. It’s obvious that there’s a supernatural war going on around Alvin Miller. He’s almost been killed many times (usually by water), but it’s clear that some other force is protecting him. While his family expects greatness from Alvin, some of his neighbors think he may be “devil spawn.”
Reverend Thrower, the new Christian pastor who has just come over from Europe, finds all this folk magic to be rather creepy. He’s trying to dispel these superstitious notions while teaching his parish that any magic they think they see can be explained by scientific investigation. After interacting with Alvin’s family, he may be forced to reconsider his position. Is this folk magic superstitious nonsense, evil witchery, or a gift from God?

Seventh Son begins with an emotionally gripping scene as one child dies and another is born to the Miller family. These first few scenes make up the Hugo and Nebula nominated novella Hatrack River. The emotion doesn’t let up, the world-building and characterization are admirably complex, and there’s a nice touch of folksy humor — especially in the episodes of sibling rivalry.

I’ve heard it said that Seventh Son is loosely based on the life of Latter Day Saints prophet Joseph Smith, though I don’t know enough about Smith to notice the parallels. Orson Scott Card is known to be religious and conservative (and a member of the LDS church), but you wouldn’t know it from reading Seventh Son. Though religion is the dominant theme, Card’s religious characters are, at least on the surface, hard to sympathize with. For example, though Reverend Thrower’s intentions are good, his deeds are more evil than the deeds of the “immoral” people he opposes. It’s easy to see this from our perspective, but we can also see why Thrower thinks he’s doing the right thing. It’s a good parallel to some of the religious conflicts we see in our society today.

I’m intrigued by Card’s alternate America where familiar politics and personalities are slightly different from historical facts. This played an insignificant background role in Seventh Son, but will surely become more prominent in future volumes of THE TALES OF ALVIN MAKER. I look forward to that.

I listened to Blackstone Audio’s version of Seventh Son which was narrated by a full cast including Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, Stephen Hoye and Stefan Rudnicki. This is a superb cast who did a great job individually. The parts were split up by chapter rather than by role, so on a couple of occasions I was initially confused at the different accents used for the same character by different narrators. Included in the audiobook version is an afterword by Orson Scott Card which explains the origin of Hatrack River and Seventh Son.

Published in 1987, Seventh Son was nominated for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards and won a Locus Award. It’s a beautifully written emotional story set in an original fantasy world. ...more

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Dec 11, 2008 Michael rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: obscure-references-book-group, fantasy, read-in-2009

Alvin Miller, Jr is the seventh son of a seventh son. He's born into an alternate version of 19th Century America--one in which the Revolutionary War hasn't happened and where folk magic is a strong, powerful and very real force.

Alvin is a maker, a strong and potentially powerful force in the world. And he's got an equally strong, unrelenting enemy, the Unmaker who stop at nothing to ensure Alvin doesn't grow up and into his power. Much of the novel looks at the efforts the Unmaker uses to try Alvin Miller, Jr is the seventh son of a seventh son. He's born into an alternate version of 19th Century America--one in which the Revolutionary War hasn't happened and where folk magic is a strong, powerful and very real force.

Alvin is a maker, a strong and potentially powerful force in the world. And he's got an equally strong, unrelenting enemy, the Unmaker who stop at nothing to ensure Alvin doesn't grow up and into his power. Much of the novel looks at the efforts the Unmaker uses to try and destroy Alvin. It also examines the story of how Alvin comes to realize he has abilities and how he can and can't use them. At one point, Alvin selfishly uses some cockroaches to terrorize his sisters, leading to several fo them dying. At this point, Alvin makes a vow to not use his powers for selfish gains, a decision that becomes pivotal in the final stages of the novel.

As with "Ender's Game" the strength of Orson Scott Card's story is his ability to relate authentic, believable young characters. While not quite as complex as Ender, Alvin is still interesting and relatable while still feeling and acting like a young boy would in the circusmtances. Alvin doesn't seem to realize he has a destiny, though he does realize he has something that sets him apart from others around him.

The story is far more episodic than "Ender's Game" though. The first portion of the novel, relating the day Alvin, Jr is born was originally a short story. Card then decided to expand the universe and does so here, as we check in with Alvin at various other points in his life. It ends up feeling a bit too episodic at times and while the novel is supposed to introduce us to Alvin and his universe, I still can't help coming away feeling like the overall experience was incomplete. Alvin learns to use his powers, yes. And we know that the Unmaker is after Alvin, set to destroy him. But beyond that, nothing much really happens to Alvin, except for a number of potential attacks on him that we get to see Alvin avert. A few more happen off stage as well, referenced by various characters during the course of the story.

This feels like a long prologue to a greater saga. I know there are five other novels in the story but I found myself yearning for something a bit more substantial once the final page was turned. It's easy now that I can go out and find the next book, but I imagine those who read the story when it was first published walked away frustrated at having to wait at least a year for the next installment to hit bookstores. ...more

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Jan 29, 2009 Oscar rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-estrellas, míos, 6-estrellas-obras-maestras, ucronía, favorites, fantasía, acción-aventuras

Nos encontramos en el siglo XIX, en una Norteamérica alternativa, donde la Revolución Americana nunca existió, y el Lord Protector todavía sigue en Inglaterra. La magia existe, pero se trata de una magia asociada al folklore popular. Hay conjuros, hechizos y personas con dones, como por ejemplo las teas, que pueden leer el fuego interior, o los hidrománticos, cuyo poder domina el agua. En este entorno, será donde nazca Alvin, el séptimo hijo varón de un séptimo hijo varón, lo que le augura un de ...more

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Sep 23, 2015 Joey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Ben Franklin is a wizard that can pull lightning out of the sky...whaaat? George Washington was beheaded for treason...whaaat? Thomas Jefferson impregnated lots and lots of slave girls...whaaat?...no wait that one is real. A story about an alternative America that was founded on religious freedom that involved a little magic mixed in. Less than spectacular and not very much excitement but well written and still interesting. There was no ending to the story. It just ran out of pages

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Dec 14, 2012 V. rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-reviewed-2012-pt2

This started well. We open with the difficult birth of our hero, so it literally begins at the beginning. But it's well written and you think okay so that's the intro, now the story.

Nope.

More intro, more set up, lots of exposition and establishing of things that don't need to be established.

The writing, the premise, the characters are all fine. The historical stuff, even the made up stuff, is all well conceived and interesting.

But there's no story. It's all set up.

This books was clearly written ...more

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Mar 10, 2019 Rowroar rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Lettura leggera che è 95% cristianesimo e 5% ansia (la fine è sinistra come un albero spoglio sulla colletta di un cimitero, mancano i corvi). Sento che a sapere un filo di più della religione e della storia americana sia più godibile, ma l'ho trovato in ogni caso interessante. Personaggi femminili ben caratterizzati (una rarità!) e bella scrittura scorrevole; inoltre la filosofia insita non è affatto pesante come facilmente avrebbe potuto essere. È un fantasy che non è classico ma quasi e lo co ...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Jamio rated it it was amazing

Shelves: movie-please, yearly-best-friend-books, six-stars, stoked-about-the-sequel

Seventh Son was a revelation to me when I found it for the first time as a teenager just done with the Speaker Saga and hungry for more Card. It wasn't just different from The Speaker books and the others of Card's that I had read, it was different from everything that I had ever read.

On the surface, Seventh Son is just Ender's Game revisited: a young boy on whose shoulders rests the fate of the world. That sentence could describe half of everything Card ever published. But young Alvin, the sev Seventh Son was a revelation to me when I found it for the first time as a teenager just done with the Speaker Saga and hungry for more Card. It wasn't just different from The Speaker books and the others of Card's that I had read, it was different from everything that I had ever read.

On the surface, Seventh Son is just Ender's Game revisited: a young boy on whose shoulders rests the fate of the world. That sentence could describe half of everything Card ever published. But young Alvin, the seventh son of the title, is not Ender, and comparing their stories is like comparing apples to pears: not the very same species, but belonging to the same extended family. Where Ender was a quiet, preternaturally intelligent loner, Alvin is a socially sharp, physically driven force of nature. Where Ender's world is sterile and structured, Alvin's is teeming with life and covered with dirt. Where Ender and Alvin match is where two extraordinary boys stand at the crossroads dominion versus true leadership and must make a choice.

Leaving Ender aside, Seventh Son is one of the most magical books I have ever read, and that is because it is so completely and unapologetically an American fantasy. Not that I think America is especially magical--just the opposite! Like many fantasy readers, I am both an Anglo- and Europhile, yearning passionately to be a daughter of the land of Stonehenge and King Arthur's Camelot. America seemed dead of all magic to me, especially when the fantasy books were filled with kings and queens speaking the Queen's English.

What a surprise, then, to find an American frontier in Seventh Son that was unmistakably the one from my history books, and full of magic. And not Euromagic, either, with wizards and hedge witches waving wands and chanting, but American magic. Exactly the kind of magic that would have been carried to a New World by desperate dreamers just looking for a homestead of their own. (Jumping ahead to the second book, the Native American's green magic is exactly right, too.)

And to weave this very American magic spell Card created the perfect campfire-and-moonshine, hill country, American voice as narrator. I think it's first person. If it is, it's an omniscient first person...whatever it is, it's perfect .

This book is a standard setter for me. I don't think I will ever write anything this good. It's been a while since Card has written anything this good. But, no matter that the world is not knee-deep in books like this, there only needs to be a few of them to raise humanity's average to something we can collectively be proud of. ...more

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Oct 19, 2009 Dani rated it it was ok

**Spoilers, not much though**

Nothing about this book really wow’d me or stood out enough for me to say “here friend, you’d love this book,” The selling feature of this book to me was that it was written by Orson Scott Card, which only makes the fact that it didn’t do anything for me all the more disappointing. I loved the Ender Series he wrote. I normally pick up any book by him I can find but living in my small town the book store isn’t normally stocked with much of anything but Ender’s Game. W ...more

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Oct 05, 2012 Kevin rated it it was ok

I was very disappointed in this book. The only reason I gave it two stars instead of one is because his writing style and descriptions are interesting.
But in this book there is no plot, no clear and specific conflict. There is a vague, shadowy insinuation that some big invisible force wants to destroy everything for no particular reason, but apparently this force isn't very strong because so far all it can do is throw rocks at a little boy and miss. And the boy is supposed to stop it by weaving ...more

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Jan 28, 2008 Radu Stanculescu rated it really liked it

Shelves: alternate-history, fantasy, locus-award

The "Alvin Maker" series was my second contact with O.S. Card after the "Ender" series, and I'm delighted to say it's different and it's still good. :) It was an interesting mix of history, religion, magic and insights into human morals and what motivates our actions. The magic is treated very "practically", like an extra talent that you need to work on to develop, and thankfully it doesn't take over the book while still being an important part of it. The one negative thing is that I didn't get ...more

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May 03, 2010 Doug Cannon rated it liked it

I started reading this to some of my kids. So far, it has been really good. There was not any of the Card vulgarity that is present in some of his other books. Some of that did come into the 3rd book in the series, but it was done tastefully if I remember properly.

This book was a great read for the kids, and they enjoyed it. One of my kids guessed that it was a parallel to Joseph Smith's life, but it's so minimal that it's hard to notice if you're not specifically looking for it.

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Sep 01, 2014 Taha rated it liked it

3,5/5
Anlatımı hoş(hafif Neil Gaiman'ın "Yıldız Tozu" kitabı tarzında); fakat gereğinden fazla uzatılmış bir kitap. Kitap bittiğinde ise tüm kitap boyunca hikayenin girişinden bahsedildiğinden, devamını merak etmiyorsunuz. Hikayenin gidişatıyla ilgili birkaç olay ve karakter olmaması, serinin devamını okumak konusunda soğuttu beni açıkçası.

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Jan 07, 2015 Damon rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantasy

I found this terribly boring. I had actually started reading this once before and never finished because it was too dull. Now I am dreading reading the next one because I think it will be painfully plodding.

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Feb 18, 2018 Thomas J. Benedict added it

Shelves: dnf

DNF. Very strong beginning. Terribly booooring middle. Too much religious stuff. My time is too precious to be reading this crap when there’s a billion better books out there. #AintNobodyGotTimeFoDat

My GR friends were right.
Life lesson: trust GR buddies’ ratings as they are good predictors of your own experience of a book. (Most of the time.)

Orson Scott Card let me down this time. “Sad.” 🍊

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Sep 07, 2018 Elizabeth rated it did not like it

Shelves: nevermind

I don't mind some Mormonism. I've read a lot of books I liked that were Mormon. But golly that was too much for me.

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Mar 19, 2012 James rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, alvin-maker-tales, i-own-ebook

The Alvin that starts this novel, isn't the eponymous Alvin. The novel starts with Alvin Miller – a father moving west with his family. Moving west to start a new life with his family. His wife, Faith, and his (many) sons and daughters. Faith is heavily pregnant with their seventh son – which connects with the clue of the book's title quite nicely. Faith gives birth en-route, to their seventh son – Alvin. In this world seventh sons are special, the seventh son of a seventh son even more so. This The Alvin that starts this novel, isn't the eponymous Alvin. The novel starts with Alvin Miller – a father moving west with his family. Moving west to start a new life with his family. His wife, Faith, and his (many) sons and daughters. Faith is heavily pregnant with their seventh son – which connects with the clue of the book's title quite nicely. Faith gives birth en-route, to their seventh son – Alvin. In this world seventh sons are special, the seventh son of a seventh son even more so. This world is, of course, Orson Scott Card's fantasy/alternative-history tale set in the American frontier world of the early 19th century.

Better known for his science-fiction stories such as Ender's Game, this is not only a change of genre, but a much more obvious attempt to create a trilogy than the first two Ender series books were. This first one, definitely, reads more like a prequel than a first novel. Instead of anything close to action happening, we are treated to a well-written novel of top-class world-building. Everything is explained – how Alvin Junior is born as the seventh son, the detailed relationships within the Miller family, we are introduced to Knacks (the magic of Card's world), the politics (both across the states, but also the politics between the white man and red), the struggle between Christianity and the superstition of knacks – the dynamic between the family and the Reverend Thrower is especially enjoyable, how the Unmaker is trying to kill Alvin for some reason, and how Alvin somehow keeps escaping these attempts. All very cleverly presented to us both in real-time, and as exposition through the presence of the stranger Taleswapper.

Yet, though nothing really happens, this is Card writing as well as you remember – there are no carbon-cutout characters and while some secrets are kept for the later books, everything that happens in the book makes sense within the world he has crafted. It would have been worth another point though if more had happened. Don't let the rating suggest that this isn't an enjoyable book to read, it's just that when you get to the end, you realise that it was clearly written to set up the action that is (hopefully) coming in the later novels.

I'd read this and Red Prophet back in the early nineties when I was at University, but having ordered the third book, Prentice Alvin recently, I realised that I had pretty much no recollection of the events of the first two books. So, I decided to re-read them both first. I wouldn't say that this story came flooding back to me as I read it, but I had a feeling of familiarity. In a way, I kinda liked it this way; the story didn't feel spoiled for me as I read it again. ...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Helmut rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Hinter den Sieben Bergen
Noch eins der Bücher, die seit 10 Jahren auf dem SuB lagen. Manchmal fragt man sich bei so einem "gereiften" Buch, warum man es gekauft hatte: War es eine Empfehlung? Ein Buch, das im Zusammenhang mit einem anderen steht, das man gern gelesen hat? Ein "must-read" aus einem bestimmten Genre? Ich weiß es für "Seventh Son" nicht mehr. Letztlich bin ich aber froh, dass ich es damals gekauft und nun herausgekramt habe.

Die Grenze zwischen Wildnis und Zivilisation wandert. Für d Hinter den Sieben Bergen
Noch eins der Bücher, die seit 10 Jahren auf dem SuB lagen. Manchmal fragt man sich bei so einem "gereiften" Buch, warum man es gekauft hatte: War es eine Empfehlung? Ein Buch, das im Zusammenhang mit einem anderen steht, das man gern gelesen hat? Ein "must-read" aus einem bestimmten Genre? Ich weiß es für "Seventh Son" nicht mehr. Letztlich bin ich aber froh, dass ich es damals gekauft und nun herausgekramt habe.

Die Grenze zwischen Wildnis und Zivilisation wandert. Für die Pioniere ist es einerseits ein entbehrungsreiches Leben, das einen dort erwartet; andererseits eine Chance, das Leben in Freiheit zu führen, nach dem man sich sehnt. Alvin Miller, seine Frau und seine 12 Kinder wagen diesen Schritt. Und auf der Reise kommt dann noch das dreizehnte Kind zur Welt, in einer dramatischen Situation bei einer Flußüberquerung. Dieses Kind, der siebte Sohn eines siebten Sohns, hat besondere Eigenschaften, und es gibt böse Kräfte, die verhindern wollen, dass dieses Kind je erwachsen wird...

Ich liebe Alternativweltgeschichten, wenn sie gut gemacht sind: Es reicht meist ein minimaler Eingriff in unsere "echte" Geschichte, um die Welt, wie wir sie kennen, völlig zu verändern. Was wäre, wenn der Unabhängigkeitskrieg der amerikanischen Kolonien nicht erfolgreich gewesen wäre, und George Washington als Hochverräter von der britischen Krone hingerichtet worden wäre? Dabei ist es in diesem Buch weniger die veränderte Geschichte, sondern mehr die faktisch funktionierende Magie, die das Leben der Menschen durchzieht, die das Fremdartige in das Szenario bringt. Handbewegungen können aufgeregte Ehemänner beruhigen, magische Zeichen das Böse vom Haus fernhalten und Elementarkräfte gegeneinander ausgespielt werden - und Religion kommt dann auch noch ins Spiel, als "aufklärerisches" Element gegen den "Aberglauben".

Man muss sich darüber klar sein, dass diese Geschichte deutlich als Fortsetzungsroman ausgelegt ist. Dieser erste Teil ist zwar einigermaßen in sich geschlossen, doch der gespannte Leser will natürlich wissen, wie es mit Alvin Junior weitergeht; viele neue Handlungsfäden werden am Ende ausgelegt, die verknotet werden wollen.

Spannende Idee, spannende Charaktere, eine spannende Welt - ich für meinen Teil werde die Abenteuer Alvin Makers ganz sicher weiterverfolgen. ...more

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Feb 16, 2017 Damla rated it liked it · review of another edition

Ne düşüneceğimi bilemiyorum. Kitabın en başından beri hikayede boşluklar olduğunu düşündüm. Belki çeviri yetersizdi veya beni tatmin etmedi, bilmiyorum. Üçlemenin ilk kitabı olduğundan, sadece düğümler atılmış gibiydi aynı zamanda. Tüm seriyi okuduğumda üç yıldızı hak etme konusunda fikrimin değişebileceğini düşünüyorum.

Yine de rahat okunan ve fantastik bir kurguya sahip olsa da kolay anlaşılan bir kitap. Yedinci oğlun yedinci oğlu olan Genç Alvin ve meşale Peggy olağanüstü özelliklere sahip ola ...more

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Jul 25, 2014 Ashley *Hufflepuff Kitten* rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, i-own-it, gifty-books, 2015, fantasy-misc, need-to-reread, histfic-alt-history, meh-boring-dragged-blah

My boyfriend bought this for me because he's a huge Iron Maiden fan and discovered that they named the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album after this book. Knowing I'm more of a book person than he is, he thought I'd like it. I really liked the seventh son concept, that Alvin has magic, and I loved the idea of setting the story in an alternate American setting. The name-dropping was cool too, so we could see what would have happened to historical figures like Ben Franklin, George Washington and t ...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Old fantasy book read in 1980s. [s]	3	23	Feb 16, 2018 05:02PM
Realms of Fantasy: Seventh Son	4	52	Jun 05, 2015 03:41AM
Crazy for Young A...: Seventh Son (Tales of Alvin Maker #1) by Orson Scott Card → Start Date: March 3rd, 2015	15	39	Mar 07, 2015 09:48PM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. a boy who had a "knack" [s]	4	37	Sep 13, 2014 11:14AM

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About Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card

15,287 followers

Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools.
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th ...more