Rating: 
Summary: The story continues..
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: The series continues with solid levels of quality
Review: Alvin has begun his "prenticeship" and though he comes to Hattrack river mostly to speak to the girl, Peggy, who, as a torch, had the ability to show him his futures and is likely the only person who can help him figure out how to be a real Maker, she flees before he even arrives.
This is a split story for most of the duration, flickering from Alvin on one side, to Peggy on the other, and converging near the end. Alvin's apprenticeship is very interesting, but it is Peggy's story I'm really starting to enjoy more. Peggy is a torch - someone with the knack to see futures in the heartfires of folk, and her own future is intertwined with Alvin's. But when she sees that her own future is a loveless one if she waits for Alvin to arrive, she does the unthinkable - she runs away, to find a way to at least have love for Alvin, if not love from him. Her determination to thwart her own gifts of futuresight is a joy to read, and her strength of character - somewhat rare for female characters in a lot of fantasy works - is a nice change. Very enjoyable.
So is where the tale ends, with a bit more magic than usual, and a set-up for the next story that I'm glad I didn't have to wait years for - like all the other folk who've been reading this series since book one.
'Nathan
Rating:
Summary: The series continues with solid levels of quality
Review: Alvin has begun his "prenticeship" and though he comes to Hattrack river mostly to speak to the girl, Peggy, who, as a torch, had the ability to show him his futures and is likely the only person who can help him figure out how to be a real Maker, she flees before he even arrives.
This is a split story for most of the duration, flickering from Alvin on one side, to Peggy on the other, and converging near the end. Alvin's apprenticeship is very interesting, but it is Peggy's story I'm really starting to enjoy more. Peggy is a torch - someone with the knack to see futures in the heartfires of folk, and her own future is intertwined with Alvin's. But when she sees that her own future is a loveless one if she waits for Alvin to arrive, she does the unthinkable - she runs away, to find a way to at least have love for Alvin, if not love from him. Her determination to thwart her own gifts of futuresight is a joy to read, and her strength of character - somewhat rare for female characters in a lot of fantasy works - is a nice change. Very enjoyable.
So is where the tale ends, with a bit more magic than usual, and a set-up for the next story that I'm glad I didn't have to wait years for - like all the other folk who've been reading this series since book one.
'Nathan
Rating:
Summary: Some of the best American fiction in print
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: The Weakest of the Alvin Maker books (so far)
Review: Enjoying the first two Alvin Maker books I was disappointed in the third. It's not a bad book, it just lacks the energy and thoughtfulness that pervaded the first two. In Prentice Alvin, Card seems at a loss how to further the character of Alvin. The first book introduced us not only to Alvin but also to his world, an alternate America where hexes work and everyone possesses a "knack," or paranormal ability. In the second book, we're told the story of the Prophet, a variation of Tecumseh's brother, and his effort to form a Native American safe haven. Here, Alvin apprentices as a blacksmith and his hopeful wife (introduced in the first book as a young girl when Alvin is born and fully aware of Alvin's abilities) learns how to be a lady only to return disguised as a teacher. When and where she "learns" Alvin is a maker and "decides" to teach him is surprisingly bypassed in the storyline. One minute Alvin is learning geometry, the next he's getting maker advice. Hopefully the next two books will much like the first but for now this one ranks lowest of the first three at least.
Rating:
Summary: The Weakest of the Alvin Maker books (so far)
Review: Enjoying the first two Alvin Maker books I was disappointed in the third. It's not a bad book, it just lacks the energy and thoughtfulness that pervaded the first two. In Prentice Alvin, Card seems at a loss how to further the character of Alvin. The first book introduced us not only to Alvin but also to his world, an alternate America where hexes work and everyone possesses a "knack," or paranormal ability. In the second book, we're told the story of the Prophet, a variation of Tecumseh's brother, and his effort to form a Native American safe haven. Here, Alvin apprentices as a blacksmith and his hopeful wife (introduced in the first book as a young girl when Alvin is born and fully aware of Alvin's abilities) learns how to be a lady only to return disguised as a teacher. When and where she "learns" Alvin is a maker and "decides" to teach him is surprisingly bypassed in the storyline. One minute Alvin is learning geometry, the next he's getting maker advice. Hopefully the next two books will much like the first but for now this one ranks lowest of the first three at least.
Rating:
Summary: eh, it was ok
Review: i LOVED Seventh Son, and Red Prophet almost made me cry. but this book, this is not as good as the prior two! i mean,i t's a good story in that you find out what happens to alvin and stuff, but it's sorta...hokey i would say, because the years pass by and alvin becomes such and such and you hear all about Peggy and how she's mooning over alvin,a nd all this other excess that i feel was...not unnecessary, but rather cheesy. whatever, apparently other people liked it, but i definitely preferred the other two. but don't let this stop you from reading it!! i love the Alvin Maker series. Orson Scott Card kicks major butt in the field of sci-fi/fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Great characters, good continuing story of Alvin Maker
Review: I originally read this several years ago, but decided to re-read this when I got the new book in the series. This book was very good, both as the continuing story of Alvin Maker as well as the new story in this book with Arthur Staurt. I really enjoyed the new depth to some of the characters that were introduced in previous books, but were more central to the story in this book. Also, the new characters, such as Arthur Stuart and Mock Berry were very good as well. The only thing I didn't like about this book was there is a point where Alvin has to do something very difficult, and while it is a very clever solution to the problem at hand, it seems like there was a much easier solution available that was not even mentioned. But that was just a minor problem, and didn't detract much from a great story. If you've read Seventh Son and Red Prophet, you should definitely continue the story with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great characters, good continuing story of Alvin Maker
Review: I originally read this several years ago, but decided to re-read this when I got the new book in the series. This book was very good, both as the continuing story of Alvin Maker as well as the new story in this book with Arthur Staurt. I really enjoyed the new depth to some of the characters that were introduced in previous books, but were more central to the story in this book. Also, the new characters, such as Arthur Stuart and Mock Berry were very good as well. The only thing I didn't like about this book was there is a point where Alvin has to do something very difficult, and while it is a very clever solution to the problem at hand, it seems like there was a much easier solution available that was not even mentioned. But that was just a minor problem, and didn't detract much from a great story. If you've read Seventh Son and Red Prophet, you should definitely continue the story with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Alvin comes of age
Review: In this book, Alvin comes of age, finally getting education and training both as a blacksmith and as a Maker. The blacksmith training has been a bit delayed by the events in the previous book, but Makepeace Smith is still willing to train his late-arriving new apprentice, in his way. Along comes a teacher for the town, who is willing to tutor Alvin, in part. Who the teacher is, and what she does for Alvin, is a major part of the story. If you want to know more, get a copy and read it. The story FLOWS very nicely and is a superb successor to the previous books in this series.
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