This first volume of the Tales of Alvin Maker introduces young Alvin Miller Jr., the seventh son of a seventh son, who lives on the frontier of an alternate early 19th century America, where folk magic such as faith healing and second sight really works. The fact that books like this can be thought-provoking through solid characters is a testament to his talent as a writer.Īn adequate start to a series with plenty of potential, I give Seventh Son 4.0 stars out of 5.“From Publishers WeeklyFrom the award-winning Ender's Game on, each of Card's last three novels has featured a secular saint, less a character than a catalyst to galvanize those around him into reexamining the thorny moral tangles in which they live. As with the Ender Saga, Card uses his writing to dive into different theologies and philosophies that do more than merely entertain.
However, without at least a cursory knowledge of these events and historical figures, then readers could potentially miss a lot of substance. Sure, the superstition and “magic” involved in creating an alternate timeline of history made quite a bit of sense. Perhaps the little snippets of American history sprinkled throughout this book were what intrigued me the most. They weren’t necessarily the enemies, but their ignorance factored into the enemy’s tactics. At the very least, while the religious characters had some amount of strawman characterization set against them, they were well rounded enough not to make the whole story seem too anti-Christian. evil” conflict between the Makers and the Unmaker, even if it’s a little too tried and true. I did appreciate the distinctive “good vs.
While the history of colonial America is the setting of Seventh Son, the fantasy elements added to it made for an interesting read. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing by any means. It’s clear this book came on the heels of the Ender Saga, as there are a lot of parallels between characters and motifs that I just couldn’t ignore.
For the first book in a series, Seventh Son certainly has its strengths and weaknesses. I was used to his science fiction writing, so I thought it would be interesting to see how he handled semi-historical fiction. Having loved Orson Scott Card's Ender Saga, I decided to start into another of his series, Tales of Alvin Maker.
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