The Tales of Alvin Maker

The Tales of Alvin Maker is a series of novels by Orson Scott Card that revolve around the experiences of a young man, Alvin Miller, who discovers he has incredible powers for creating and shaping things around him. It takes place in an alternate history of the American frontier in the early 19th century, to some extent based on early American folklore and superstition.

ummary

In Card's world, many people have a limited supernatural ability, or "knack" to do some task to almost perfection. Alvin Miller, who is the seventh son of a seventh son, discovers that his knack far surpasses those of everyone else. In particular, he can change both living and nonliving matter simply by force of will (hence the title "Maker"). This power comes at a cost, however; not only does Alvin feel a great responsibility to use his power for good, but there are forces that actively seek his demise.

Alvin must discover how to use his abilities, and how to apply them for good, all the while struggling to survive. Along the way, he is helped by a number of people whose knacks are not as strong, but who see in Alvin a way to use their wisdom and abilities to contribute to a greater good. There are also those who try to misguide him or exploit his abilities for their own purposes.

The stories involve a number of historical events and figures. However, history takes a number of different turns from the real world. What was historically Colonial America is divided into a number of separate countries, including a smaller United States, with much stronger American Indian influence in its culture and society, between New England and Virginia and extending westwards to Ohio (New England itself is still a colony of a republican England where the Restoration never occurred), and a monarchy on the Eastern seaboard founded by the House of Stuart in exile. In addition, many of the historical figures are either caricatures or bear only superficial resemblance to their real world equivalents. Some of the historical figures are also accorded knacks, such as Benjamin Franklin (not a character, but repeatedly mentioned), who is said to have been a Maker, and Napoleon, who has the ability to make others adore and obey him, and to see others' great ambitions.

Race also plays a large part in the stories, particularly in the way that culture shapes the abilities that people of different groups develop. Whites have knacks or cultivated skills that we might recognize from the folklore and traditions of colonial America and western Europe. "Reds" align themselves with the rhythms of nature but also use blood to perform some of their magic. "Blacks" channel their skills into creating objects of power, in a manner somewhat similar to the beliefs and practices of voodoo.

A recurring and main theme of the books is the conflict between Creators and Destroyers—namely, Making such as Alvin does, and Unmaking that he confronts.

Card, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, loosely based some events and themes in this series on the life of Joseph Smith, the founder of the religion. It also draws upon the millennial traditions of the faith, as well as teachings that Native Americans will play a role in establishing the millennial society.

Works

Books in the series

* "Seventh Son" (1987)
* "Red Prophet" (1988)
* "Prentice Alvin" (1989)
* "Alvin Journeyman" (1995)
* "Heartfire" (1998)
* "The Crystal City" (2003)
* "Master Alvin" (forthcoming)

hort works in the series

* "Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow" - poem, published in "Maps in a Mirror" (1990)
* "The Grinning Man" - short story, published in "Legends" (1998)
* "The "Yazoo Queen"" - short story, published in "Legends II" (2003)

Other works

* - a comic book series
* Alvin Maker Game - a MMORPG - in development [http://www.hatrack.com/news-reviews/news/2005-01-05.shtml eGenesis to Develop Alvin's World as a Multi-player Online Game] ]

References

ee also

*List of works by Orson Scott Card
*Orson Scott Card

External links

* [http://www.hatrack.com The official Orson Scott Card website]