Rating: 
Summary: Thief!
Review: Alvin is accused of theft by Makepeace Smith, his former Master. The book explores what happens as Alvin tries to clear his name.Much happens in this book, which is a continuation of Card's "Alvin Maker" series. There are some real surprises and some characters I didn't expect to come back, which come back in unexpected ways. Worth Reading? You Bet!
Rating:
Summary: Thief!
Review: Alvin is accused of theft by Makepeace Smith, his former Master. The book explores what happens as Alvin tries to clear his name. Much happens in this book, which is a continuation of Card's "Alvin Maker" series. There are some real surprises and some characters I didn't expect to come back, which come back in unexpected ways. Worth Reading? You Bet!
Rating: 
Summary: What about the story?
Review: Card really is a skilled writer. I admit having read through Journeyman very fast and eagerly, as i did with the first 3 of the Alvin books. His very american, right-to-the-point style and the colorful settings have a sure way of making me live with the story. Still, this is exactly why the book becomes such a dissappointment. Card's ability to design absorbing atmosphere makes him the ideal author of first books in series. I was totally taken by the first Alvin, and the second book also promised more, despite of the storylines that were obviously discarded (I thought they would come up again in the sequels). And then he goes on writing several hundreds of pages that have nothing to do with the ideas in the first or even the second book, indeed increasing the pace so that he does not even seem to remember the earlier chapters of the Journeyman by the end of it. The blatant changes in the plot and in the characters remind me frighteningly much of E. R. Burroughs' classic Tarzan novels, originally written as serial stories for magazines, in which the author actually did forget the names and motives of the characters on occasion. When I finished the Seventh Son I was hungry for it's sequel, and I still am!
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down
Review: I have been a fan of Orson Scott Card for a couple of years now and have read the Ender's and Homecoming series as well as other works by Card. They were all fantastic. I finally turned my attention to the Alvin Maker series and WOW, what a wallop. I read volumes 1-4 in less than a week's time, some of them within 24 hours. The continuing story of Alvin Maker is one of the most engaging I've ever read
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment after books 1-3, but with some merit.
Review: I have long considered the first three books of the Alvin Maker series to be true masterpieces. Alvin Journeyman did not live up to the promise set by its predecessors, in my opinion. From the first chapters of Journeyman, I noticed that the voice had changed. I don't know if Card lost the flavor because he waited too long, but I am awfully sorry that he did. I also wonder if sticking to the Joseph Smith story so closely is becoming hampering to the plot of the series. In the first three books, it was noticeable only in the general flavor of things and reminded me of the relationship between the Narnian Chronicles and the New Testament. Different stories that pointed to the same truths. In Journeyman, I almost feel like Alvin and his friends no longer have their own stories, but are merely puppets acting the script of the Joseph Smith story. In spite of my disappointment in the book as an installment in the Alvin Maker story, it did have some very intriguing ideas. I was particularly interested in Calvin's adventures with Napoleon, Card's portrayal of raw ambition was masterful. I do not plan to read any future additions to the Alvin Maker series, I will enjoy the first three for the masterpieces that they are. It would be a pity dilute their excellence.
Rating:
Summary: eh, it was ok
Review: i LOVED Seventh Son. I LOVED Red Prophet. Prentice Alvin was a MAJOR disappointemnt, and this one, well, Alvin Journeyman is only slightly better than its predecessor. But still, even though these books are going downhill, i can't help myself, I HAVE to know what happens to alvin and the crystal city! i rank this book 3 stars not because it's so terrible, but because it doesn't rank among the 5 stars i'm used to getting from OSC. Hart's Hope was EXCELLENT, and so was Ender's Game. THat's the kind of quality i love. But i digress. Nevertheless, the Alvin Maker series is intriguing, despite the occasional bad plot twist and whatnot. hopefully Heartfire is better. right now i'm feeling like there's not enough character development to support the amount of characters OSC has introduced in Alvin Journeyman.
Rating:
Summary: THIS is supposed to be the ending?!?!
Review: I loved the first three books in this series, but, how can I put this nicely? This one stinks. This series built up alot of momentum, and I don't mind when the author leaves something to the imagination. But I DO mind when the author leaves the entire ending to the imagination! It was well written, but that's besides the point. Things they talk about through all the books are never resolved. I don't think there's any excuse for this book, except maybe he was having an off day, or a few chapters were lost.
Rating:
Summary: Another great story within a story
Review: I originally read this several years ago, and re-read it recently after getting the new book in the series. As I read this series as a whole, I am staring to notice that the individual stories form each book (The war in Red Prophet, the story of Arthur Stuart in Prentice Alvin, and the trial in this book) and the new characters that keep coming along, are starting to overshadow the overall story of Alvin's quest to build the Crystal City. This book started a little slowly, so I thought it might not have been as interesting as the previous books in the series, as often happens once you get this deep into a series. But with the introduction of Verily Cooper and Alvin's trial, the book really picks up the pace. I look forward to re-reading the next book (Heartfire) followed by the The Crystal City, which will hopefully conclude the series. If you've enjoyed the other books in this series, you probably won't be disappointed by this one.
Rating:
Summary: Another great story within a story
Review: I originally read this several years ago, and re-read it recently after getting the new book in the series. As I read this series as a whole, I am staring to notice that the individual stories form each book (The war in Red Prophet, the story of Arthur Stuart in Prentice Alvin, and the trial in this book) and the new characters that keep coming along, are starting to overshadow the overall story of Alvin's quest to build the Crystal City. This book started a little slowly, so I thought it might not have been as interesting as the previous books in the series, as often happens once you get this deep into a series. But with the introduction of Verily Cooper and Alvin's trial, the book really picks up the pace. I look forward to re-reading the next book (Heartfire) followed by the The Crystal City, which will hopefully conclude the series. If you've enjoyed the other books in this series, you probably won't be disappointed by this one.
Rating:
Summary: It was great
Review: I thought that this book was great and I am now reading the fifth one. Does anyone know when the 6th one is coming out?
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