Rating: 
Summary: Terrific start to the series
Review: Reading the books in the Ender series above got me very interested in Orson Scott Card. In between Ender books, I decided to check out his acclaimed Alvin Maker series, especially when I found Seventh Son available for a bargain price to promote the release of the sixth book in the series, The Crystal City. Make a book cheap and I'll buy it. I was expecting it to be well-written but I wasn't prepared for the level of detail that I would find. It takes place in a frontier land that feels similar to where I was raised in the southern United States, yet Card takes pains to portray the inhabitants respectfully. But in Card's world there are many differences: the largest being the level of magic present. Oh, sure, Southerners believe in folk remedies and the like, but not to the extent that the Millers believe in them. The idea of a seventh son of a seventh son being special is not new, but it's never been taken to the lengths that Seventh Son takes it. The Alvin Maker series is about a very special little boy indeed. His presence confounds everyone from the miracle of his birth on. When a roof board--falling straight toward little Alvin's head--splits itself in two to avoid hitting him, things really start jumping. The idea of the "villain" of this book being the local reverend--and the mentor being a folk poet named William Blake--should give you an idea of where Card is coming from, even though he makes sure to paint the preacher in a bad light that is easily understandable to those who may take umbrage to such portraiture. I found Seventh Son to be highly entertaining, although the ending is an obvious sequel opening. Card must have meant for this to be a series from the get-go. I admire his style and his abilities of characterization and I look forward to reading my next Orson Scott Card novel. (Astute readers will notice that this series is the source of the URL for Card's website.)
Rating:
Summary: Here comes the maker
Review: Wow, I picked up this book because I saw the latest book, The Crystal City, and figured why not pick up the first on and see how things go. I believe this was one of the best choices I have ever made. This is a relatively short novel but beware, once you finish the first one, you are going to search out the remaining volumes of the series. The writing of Mr. Card is simply incredible. I have read a few of his books directed to writers and often his primary focus is on characterization. Now that I have delved into a novel and absorbed his use of his own tools, I say thank you. This is an alternate history, which I normally avoid, but the slight elements of magic move it into the realm of fantasy where I feel much more comfortable.
Rating: 
Summary: Card's Enchantment
Review: Let me start by saying that I do not normally read "alternative history" novels. So my review cannot accurately compare Seventh Son against others in the genre. However, I can say that I heartily enjoyed this novel. I was a big fan of the Ender series and a friend bought me The Crystal Cave, thinking it was another Ender book. Well, before I could read the gift, I decided to go back and start the series at the beginning. For about 40 pages I was thinking that this was very slow and not anything like the Ender books. Then I started getting into the story and soaking in Card's excellent prose and character development. I began to appreciate Seventh Son, not in comparison to Ender, but on its own merit. The rest of the book flew by as I grew to know young Alvin more and more. I like the way Card seems to capture the frontier life and presents us with characters of gray (not all good or all evil as with many fantasy novels). And although the characters, especially the younger ones, sometimes speak a little too "smartly," I do enjoy the way Card can turn a phrase or have a character speak a proverb that perfectly fits the situation. When talking about an inquisitive person, one character says "he would go into the mouth of hell just to find out why the Devil has such bad teeth." I loved that one. What I most cherished about this book is the way that Card captures family. By this I mean, how he shows the mean and cruel things we do to other family members while still displaying that love is still at the root of it all. I wish there were more pages for development of the other family members (many of them blurred together) but with five more books to go in the series, Card has time. Which leads to my only other minor complaint with Seventh Son - it doesn't stand alone. With many books that are serial by nature, each book within the series can stand alone or be a piece to the series as a whole. Seventh Son ended almost abruptly with several balls still in the air. Perhaps Card meant it to be this way and I have not yet begun Red Prophet (the second of the Alvin Maker series). However, with characters such as Taleswapper, Peg, and young Alvin himself and with the interesting "America that could have been," I confess I am hooked on another Card series and look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!!!!!
Review: It's not like I have a jones for Old West/Magic novels (see my review for Mark Sumner's "Devil's Tower"), but I really enjoyed this book. It's takes the history of the U.S. and twists it just enough to turn it into a magical but completely believable experience. It's a world I would've liked to grow up in.
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to the series
Review: I first read this several years ago, but I recently got the new book and the series and thought I should re-read the others before starting it. This book was good even the second time. This book is a little short, and the plot doesn't really have much of a resolution, it really just serves as an introduction to the story of Alvin Maker. And it does this very well. The reader is introduced to a world where many superstitions are true, where the seventh son of a seventh son is powerful force, and becomes the focus of the story. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good fantasy series, but don't try to read it as a stand-alone story.
| 
