Prentice Alvin (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 3) [Mass Market Paperback]

Orson Scott Card (Author)

Book Description

Series: Tales of Alvin Maker | Publication Date: December 15, 1989

The Tales of Alvin Maker series continues in volume three, Prentice Alvin. Young Alvin returns to the town of his birth, and begins his apprenticeship with Makepeace Smith, committing seven years of his life in exchange for the skills and knowledge of a blacksmith. But Alvin must also learn to control and use his own talent, that of a Maker, else his destiny will be unfulfilled.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A country schoolteacher and the child of a runaway slave find their destinies entwined with that of Alvin Miller, whose talent for "making" has marked him for destruction by the evil force known as the Unmaker. Card's epic tale of a magical, alternate America demonstrates his skill in graceful storytelling. Recommended, along with Seventh Son and Red Prophet , for most fantasy collections.-- JC
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A tribute to the art of storytelling. . . highly recommended."-Library Journal

"Card has uncovered a rich vein of folklore and magic here, to which his assured handling of old time religion and manifest love of children is admirably suited: an appealing and intriguing effort."-Kirkus Reviews

"A beguiling book. . . robust but reflective blend of folktale, history, parable and personal testimony, pioneer narrative. The series promises to be a story of deep delight."--Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: Tor Fantasy; First Thus edition (December 15, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812502124
• ISBN-13: 978-0812502121
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Card, Orson Scott

More About the Author

Orson Scott Card is the bestselling author best known for the classic Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow and other novels in the Ender universe. Most recently, he was awarded the 2008 Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in Young Adult literature, from the American Library Association. Card has written sixty-one books, assorted plays, comics, and essays and newspaper columns. His work has won multiple awards, including back-to-back wins of the Hugo and the Nebula Awards-the only author to have done so in consecutive years. His titles have also landed on 'best of' lists and been adopted by cities, universities and libraries for reading programs. The Ender novels have inspired a Marvel Comics series, a forthcoming video game from Chair Entertainment, and pre-production on a film version. A highly anticipated The Authorized Ender Companion, written by Jake Black, is also forthcoming.Card offers writing workshops from time to time and occasionally teaches writing and literature at universities.Orson Scott Card currently lives with his family in Greensboro, NC.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The quality of this series, initially excellent, begins to decline, August 19, 2002

By 

Christopher Culver - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prentice Alvin (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

PRENTICE ALVIN is the third volume of "The Tales of Alvin Maker", Orson Scott Card's alternate history of an America which looks quite different from our own and in which fol magic is real. After his travels with Ta-Kumsaw in RED PROPHET, the young protagonist finally reaches his birthplace Hatrack River, where he is to become an apprentice smith.

As with RED PROPHET, the first 40 or so pages introduces the reader to faraway events that nonetheless are to have great effects on Alvin's life. Having shown the turmoil of the Native Americans under the westward migration of White settlers, Card now turns to America's other suffering people, the Black slaves in the Crown Colonies and Appalachee, and a slave owner who receives terrible instructions from Alvin's archenemy, the Unmaker. Alvin may have caught a glimpse of his destiny as a Maker from Tenskwa-Tawa in RED PROPHET, but in PRENTICE ALVIN he comes to learn exactly how to harness his knack and how he will eventually build the Crystal City.

While I enjoy this series, I found PRENTICE ALVIN to be a low point. Alvin arrives in Hatrack River seeming like a normal 11 year-old boy, but you'd think his year-long adventure with Ta-Kumsaw in RED PROPHET, who took him from Lake Superior to Florida and everywhere in between, would have made more of a mark. And while the novel can be read speedily, it still seems too long and full of awkward meditations. The violent ending and unveiling of Peggy also seems unbelievable.

Nonetheless, these form no reason for me to not recommend The Tales of Alvin Maker, I find this an immensely entertaining series and PRENTICE ALVIN has its place.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of the best American fiction in print, May 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Prentice Alvin (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

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!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The whole Alvin Maker series comprises Card's best work, May 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Prentice Alvin (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

These books are some of Card's best work. In my opinion they are better books than his more famous Ender series. They do for North America what The Lord of the Rings did for England - they create a new mythology for a geographical area (although in this case the mythology is also an alternate history). Card weaves an invented fantasy universe with American folklore of all kinds, from native tribal religion to European and American folk superstition and sorcery. Alvin, a young immigrant, is born under a host of omens and signs. He is the seventh son of a seventh son, and becomes intertwined with the destiny of the American frontier. He finds that he is the most important figure in the battle against that which he calls the Unmaker. Throughout the course of the book he attempts to quell the tide of entropy by "making" things. He unites people of many races, and tries to bind humanity together as he becomes increasingly aware of the spirit around him that ties everything - the land, the people, and the unfolding of history - together