Rating: 
Summary: Worthy continuation to the series
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy continuation to the series
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy continuation to the series
Review: 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.
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