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: 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: The Tales of Alvin Maker continues its downhill slide
Review: It has been said that any plot which depends on a dramatic courtroom trial is doomed to mediocrity. ALVIN JOURNEYMAN, unfortunately, is one of those plots. In this fourth installment of Orson Scott Card's alternate-history and Mormon allegory "The Tales of Alvin Maker", Alvin is put on trial for his life. We, the readers, spend half the book being dragged through courtroom melodrama with a protagonist the reader is having a hard time caring about anymore. At the end of PRENTICE ALVIN, Alvin finished his prentice stint with Makepeace Smith and had returned to his hometown of Vigor Church to teach Making. ALVIN JOURNEYMAN sees him return almost immediately to Hatrack River due to the slander of a young lady in love with him. Upon his arrival, however, he is arrested and put on trial for theft of the golden plow, and his young ward Arthur Stuart faces being taken back to slavery in Appalachee. Verily Cooper, a young English lawyer with a knack for binding things together, is brought to the United States by rumors of a Maker and defends Alvin. And while Alvin endures his hardships in Hatrack River, his malevolent brother Calvin heads for Europe to learn from Napoleon himself how to rule over others. Orson Scott Card wrote ALVIN JOURNEYMAN five years after the previous installment, and it is pretty evident that he has grown somewhat tired of the series and no longer sure of what direction it will take. Alvin teaches Making in Vigor Church, but how can you teach that, what exactly would you be teaching? Card can't come up with an answer either and thus he abandons the topic as soon as this installment begins. There are several blatant errors with geography (a judge refers to "the state of Kennituck" when Card had already said that Kennituck was a county of Appalachee). After fleeing from Vigor Church and wandering for a bit, Alvin and Arthur Stuart's return to Hatrack River seems forced. Why would Alvin return to a place where his enemies await him? A bit of the novel is dedicated to the comeback of White Murderer Harrison, but after he is elected, Card quickly dispatches him almost beneath the reader's notice. The ending resolves nothing and is little more than a Taleswapper cameo. The novel is also frustrating because it accomplishes little for the series. We see no progress towards the building of the Crystal City, and the only indication of where the series is headed are the occasional foreboding references to how Alvin should not visit Carthage City lest he die, just as the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, met a violent end in Carthage, Illinois. However, in ALVIN JOURNEYMAN Orson Scott Card does start to go off track with the formerly solid Mormon allegory. The trial of Alvin is obviously symbolic of the trials of Joseph Smith, but while Alvin is acquitted, the young Joseph Smith was found guilty of moneydigging. ALVIN JOURNEYMAN leaves the reader drifting, totally ignorant of what is going to happen next or, indeed, what the point of the series is anymore. The first two volumes of The Tales of Alvin Maker were quite entertaining and the third volume, while it had its moments, was a disappointment. It is becoming increasingly difficult to recommend the series.
Rating: 
Summary: A good story, but the series is running a bit long
Review: Like its prequel ALVIN PRENTICE, this book has all the trademarks of a good Orson Scott Card tale. It's fast-paced and engaging, and the characters' offbeat dialects are just plain fun to read. They live in the 1800's (well sort of, its an alternate reality) and unlike many modern-day novels, they don't talk or act as if they grew up in the 1980's. They seem genuine, or as genuine as they can be in a world where magic and coincidence are equally common parts of life. At this point in the series, Card allows himself to have a little more fun, as the action criss-crosses the Atlantic, and we get to meet hilariously distorted versions of Napolean, Marquis de LaFayette, Benjamin Harris, and Daniel Webster. This book is much better than the low point of the series (RED PROPHET) because there is less hocus-pocus Indian magic and more character development. But it is not as fresh or inventive as the original (SEVENTH SON) partly because Alvin's naivete and innocence is much more believable in a ten-year old boy than a 25-year old adult. I look forward to the end of the series, but like many other reviewers, I wish it would come soon.
Rating:
Summary: A good story, but the series is running a bit long
Review: Like its prequel ALVIN PRENTICE, this book has all the trademarks of a good Orson Scott Card tale. It's fast-paced and engaging, and the characters' offbeat dialects are just plain fun to read. They live in the 1800's (well sort of, its an alternate reality) and unlike many modern-day novels, they don't talk or act as if they grew up in the 1980's. They seem genuine, or as genuine as they can be in a world where magic and coincidence are equally common parts of life. At this point in the series, Card allows himself to have a little more fun, as the action criss-crosses the Atlantic, and we get to meet hilariously distorted versions of Napolean, Marquis de LaFayette, Benjamin Harris, and Daniel Webster. This book is much better than the low point of the series (RED PROPHET) because there is less hocus-pocus Indian magic and more character development. But it is not as fresh or inventive as the original (SEVENTH SON) partly because Alvin's naivete and innocence is much more believable in a ten-year old boy than a 25-year old adult. I look forward to the end of the series, but like many other reviewers, I wish it would come soon.
Rating:
Summary: Boring ramble from a talented author
Review: Many other reviews here seem to be highly praising, but I found this fourth installment of Card's clever, original series a big disappointment. Nothing really happens except a lot of chatting and repitition. How many times do we have to hear the plot of "Red Prophet" and "Prentice Alvin" restated? The former was a bit preachy, the latter more exciting; I enjoyed both but didn't need to hear their stories repeated in almost every chapter, it seemed. Moreover, I kept waiting for the stupid trial to end so everyone could get on with the story and actually DO something but when the trial ended so did the book! The book wasn't terrible, however--Card always writes with skill and a unique voice (though he rambles in ways a beginning author could never get away with.) For some good points, Calvin in Europe was fun, and I liked the British attorney, and I loved learning what Taleswapper's true knack is. Yet Alvin and Peggy both seemed too old for their roles. The innocent spunk that made them such fun when they were younger is boring and stale a little strange in people in their late twenties. They finally get together, but it seemed anti-climactic. And Peggy's pregnant already? How divine. Most of all, though, is that I feel Card is badly misusing his alternate history. It's fun to see the twisted-around versions of real historical figures, but Card disappointed me with almost all of them. For example, William Henry Harrison was delightful as a cruel military man in "Red Prophet," but in this book he does just what he did in real history: become president and die after getting sick at his inaugural address. I guess Card was having fun with making events seem inevitable, but that seems a waste of a good alternate history. Similarly, it was hinted that the land is headed for war, with the slaveholders and royal colonies against the "United States,"
Appalachee, etc. That's just the American Revolution and the Civil War at the same time--as if those things were bound to happen in any version of history. And while Napoleon's empire is fun to hear about, I thought he was more interesting as a general exiled to Canada. Again, seems like Card isn't being as creative as he could be. And after four books, I wish I knew more about the places on that wonderful alternate map besides Hatrack River and Dekane. I wanted to see the Crown Colonies and New England. And I'd like some hints about what's happening in the rest of the alternate world, apart from Europe. The Unmaker was hardly in it at all! The magic that was so fresh and clever in "Seventh Son" has gotten pretty boring. Also I though it was pretty goofy that Mike Fink showed up eager for redemption as a devoted follower of Alvin. And there are very few interesting female characters. . .Why none of the historical women at that time? There were some! I'd like to see an alternate America where women could vote in the 1800's! All in all, very discouraging. I felt the same way about the Ender Series: Ender's Game blew away, it's one of the best books ever, but the rest of the series is boring and preachy. Card makes great, super-smart children but they grow up dull. Maybe Heartfire will be better.
Rating:
Summary: Maintaining the decline
Review: The positive: Affable characters, fast moving, easy to read.
The negative: Uninteresting plot. Although slightly better than the previous book in this series, Card still doesn't manage to recreate the magic of the first two. In this book, the bulk of the tale is involved in Alvin facing trial for being wrongly accused of theft. Many characters are introduced based on characters created in an AOL chatroom by Card's fans and this book gives the impression much of it was written to coddle those fans and feature their characters. Not an entire waste of time but don't go into this series thinking each of the books will be as entertaining as the others.
Rating:
Summary: Maintaining the decline
Review: The positive: Affable characters, fast moving, easy to read.
The negative: Uninteresting plot. Although slightly better than the previous book in this series, Card still doesn't manage to recreate the magic of the first two. In this book, the bulk of the tale is involved in Alvin facing trial for being wrongly accused of theft. Many characters are introduced based on characters created in an AOL chatroom by Card's fans and this book gives the impression much of it was written to coddle those fans and feature their characters. Not an entire waste of time but don't go into this series thinking each of the books will be as entertaining as the others.
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