The Crystal City: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Volume VI (Alvin Maker) by Orson Scott Card, Stefan Rudnicki, and M. E. Willis

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The Crystal City: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Volume VI (Alvin Maker) from Science Fiction

The Crystal City: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Volume VI (Alvin Maker)
Available from Amazon
Price: $30.87
Updated on 11-9-2008.

Features

Audio CD

Publisher: Macmillan Audio; Unabridged edition (September 9, 2004)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1593974868

ISBN-13: 978-1593974862

Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 4.9 x 1.6 inches

Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces ()

From Publishers Weekly
If not the best in the series, Card's latest Alvin Maker novel (after 1998's Heartfire: Tales of Alvin Maker V) still enchants. In the author's alternative American frontier world, Indians work the magics of nature, Africans transform themselves with trinkets and whites have knacks-magical talents that allow them to shape metal, find water, win the hearts of followers and more. Alvin, the powerful seventh son of a seventh son, can create things that cannot be destroyed. He also has more than his fair share of knacks as well as some Indian magic. Determined to stop suffering where he finds it, he dreams of building the Crystal City, which will help mankind live in peace. A large part of the appeal lies in the book's homegrown characters using their powers for ordinary purposes. A blacksmith's knack shapes axes that never dull, while a midwife can sense the health of her patients. Even as Alvin performs miracles to lead thousands of slaves out of bondage, he is filled with uncertainty about what to do with his life and self-doubt because he couldn't save his stillborn child. Alvin's fans will be relieved to know that the City is indeed begun in this volume, but those who were expecting the start of the civil war, previously billed as forthcoming, will have longer to wait.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From AudioFile
Set in a fantasy version of nineteenth-century America, the sixth novel of the Alvin Maker series follows the magical leader as he leads a massive band of slaves, Cajuns, and displaced persons on an exodus to freedom. Like the hero of this novel, Stefan Rudnicki, in his exotic baritone, leads a team of readers including Scott Brick, David Birney, Gabrielle de Cuir, and M.E. Willis through an alternate American landscape in which the United States, New England, Appalachia, and the Crown Colonies (Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia) are separate nations. With the action beginning in Nueva Barcelona (Spanish-held Louisiana), Alvin and his half-brother, Arthur Stuart, meet up with Abe Lincoln, William Blake, Jim Bowie, and Tecumseh along their way. Just as Alvin is able to make bridges and buildings through his mystical "knack," Rudnicki and team bring Card's fantastic tapestry to life with their own narrative knacks. S.E.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Crystal City: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Volume VI (Alvin Maker) (Mass Market Paperback) I felt a little let down by "Crystal City." The quality of the writing and of the characters is still excellent: that's not the issue. But it just didn't feel very climactic for what seems like it ought to be the last book in the series. Maybe if it hadn't been named "Crystal City" I'd have felt better about it being just a link in the chain. I also found myself scratching my head and wondering if I'd missed a book in between Heartfire and Crystal City. There seems to have been at least a year in between the stories, which in any of itself isn't a problem except that they keep referring to things that happened - the death of a baby, Arthur's breakthrough, meeting Abe and Coz, rescuing a boatload of slaves, the splitting up of the Verily / Fink / Alvin / Arthur / Audobon crew, Peggy's acquaintence with Squirel and Moose... there seems to be a good book or two in there that we didn't get to read. Maybe he will fill in some gaps later the way he's done with Ender's universe? Finally, the Crystal City story itself just didn't seem to be long enough. There was so much going on that didn't really get much detail - especially the role of Abe, Coz, and Verily in getting the charter, the invasion of Mexico, Arthur's return, the journey north, etc. It almost felt like some of those details were too boring to write about... but that doesn't make sense considering the time he spent on similar topics in "Journeyman" and even "Heartfire." The book ended in such a way that we were left hopeful for another installment. I certainly hope we get one: as a climax for a really great series, this just didn't fit the bill.

The Crystal City: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Volume VI (Alvin Maker)
List Price: $44.95
Available from Amazon
Price: $30.87
Updated on 11-9-2008.