Alvin Journeyman: The Tales of Alvin Maker IV (urspr publ 1995; utgåvan 1995)

Alvin is well on his way to creating the Crystal City. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop though. ( )

Card is an extremely good writer, and his books are always a pleasure to read, but at times I did feel that the stories here occasionally suffered for being too allegorical, and too much about Card's ideas of morality.

In the 4th book, 'Alvin Journeyman' Alvin tries to strike out on his own, with his visions of creating a 'Crystal City' (kinda like Augustine's City of God?) before him... however, he is accused, falsely, of theft, and his concepts of justice impel him to sit in jail and face charges, even though his powers mean that he doesn't have to. Too much of the book is really spent in courtroom drama, and Alvin begins to really just seem annoyingly 'moral.' As a foil, the character of his younger brother Calvin is drawn - Calvin also has quite a lot of magic powers, but none of Alvin's desire to use them only for good - he kinda rides a line between being amoral and actively malicious. ( )

There is a lot about this series to like, but I fear that the more books in it I read the less I'm finding those likeable aspects. At this point, it feels very much like the characters are being thrown into random trials for the sake of plot, rather than simply living their extraordinary lives like they were in the first books.

That being said, I'm sucked in now, and need to see what happens, so I'll doubtlessly finish the series. ( )

So far in the Alvin Maker series of books, I found this one to be the weakest. The first several books were so different and captivating, its only by comparison that this one fell somewhat flat. However, I'm committed to the series so on to Heartfire! ( )

Originally posted at FanLit.http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/alvin-journeyman/

Alvin Miller is finally a journeyman blacksmith and a Maker. He�??s back home in Vigor Church, trying to teach others his Making skills because he believes he needs Makers to create the Crystal City heƒ??s dreamed of. But the Unmaker is hard at work, trying to unravel Alvinƒ??s plans. With the help of a girl who has a crush on Alvin, the Unmaker manages to get Alvin to flee back to Hatrack River where Makepeace Smith is waiting to sue him for that golden plow. The prosecutor is none other than Daniel Webster.

Alvinƒ??s brother Calvin, who is jealous of Alvin, has gone to Europe to learn from Napoleon Bonaparte. While heƒ??s there, he meets a young lawyer who is also a Maker and, inadvertently, sends him to Alvinƒ??s defense. Meanwhile, Peggy, who continues to watch over Alvin and Calvin, is on a crusade to end slavery. Sheƒ??d also like to ruin William ƒ??Tippecanoeƒ? Harrisonƒ??s chance of being elected president. When she realizes that Alvin is in danger, she goes to warn him and picks up a transformed Mike Fink along the way.

Alvin Journeyman, which won the 1996 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, is the fourth book in Orson Scott Cardƒ??s TALES OF ALVIN MAKER. There were some great moments in Alvin Journeyman, such as when the slave finders try to identify Arthur Stuart, but at this point in the series, the plot has slowed drastically and this book feels like a detour. Alvin spends most of his time in jail and most of the word count consists of charactersƒ?? verbal sparring with each other, usually in a teasing manner. Some of this is clever, but it becomes increasingly tiresome. The same thing happened with Cardƒ??s ENDER WIGGIN series. Orson Scott Cardƒ??s characters talk too much. Iƒ??m ready for everyone to shut up and get moving. Come on, letƒ??s go!

Iƒ??m still listening to Blackstone Audioƒ??s version which is very good. To their credit, the narrators donƒ??t appear to be as bored as I am. ( )