Books about special children with magic powers being manipulated by binary forces are kind of boring. There seems to be a glut of them.As the 18th century draws its final, decade-long gasps, America looks a lot different than our history remembers. Dutch colonies and Aboriginal nations have become states. Washington was executed for betraying his British superiors; Benjamin Franklin was (though he denied it), a “wizard”. Faith and superstition have formed a tense equilibrium that could topple given just the right sort of pressure. The frontier remains wild, for now, but civilization continues its inexorable march west.Alvin is the seventh son of a seventh son, his father also coincidentally named Alvin. He’s from a family of millers, and he is good at everything—however, he is also prone to accidents, because a malevolent force wants him dead. Unlike certain other boy prodigies, Alvin does not have a love-powered lightning bolt scar on his forehead. However, he does have a well-meaning but anonymous protector who is watching out for him, so that’s something.I guess I was … underwhelmed by Seventh Son. The first few chapters were difficult, but once Taleswapper came in and Alvin grew up a little, the book fell into a rhythm that I enjoyed. Yet for all the interesting interactions between Taleswapper and the Miller family, between Reverend Thrower and the Visitor, between Alvin and his Shining Man, I never got the sense that the book was going anywhere. There’s conflict and a proper climax and falling action and everything that you need to make a story … but it’s a coming of age tale that never really comes of age, and that left me unsatisfied.My apathy (or perhaps harshness) might be a result of the setting. Revolutionary America does not tickle my fancy the way Tudor England does, and while I cannot apologize for my preferences, it’s possible those who find this era fascinating will be more charitable towards alternate history about it. But I keep thinking about how Seventh Son stacks up against Ender’s Game, and while that is a battle the former could never possibly win, I think it’s useful to examine why I liked one Card book so much and disliked another (albeit not with proportional intensity). Ender’s Game is a seductive, heartbreaking book. Card gives us a victory for humanity, but in so doing he breaks Ender in the way a child should never be broken. These are the two foci around which the ellipse of the story revolves: the moral impact of the book comes from that central question of whether Ender’s treatment (and, on the periphery, the treatment of all the children at Battle School) was justified by the threat to humanity. It’s an extremely deep yet also entertaining tale.In contrast, Seventh Son is about a kid with magic powers who breaks his leg. It has a vast and unknowable enemy that is Satan rebranded as a force of pure, neutral destruction—the Unmaker to Alvin’s role as Maker. It sounds titanic and epic and should be awesome—and that’s just the problem. Alvin’s a boy. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He can barely decide to use his power to heal himself, the result of an admirable but perhaps misguided attempt at creating some kind of personal code of ethics. Unlike Ender’s role in his story’s larger conflict, however, I don’t sense much ambiguity over Alvin’s destiny to oppose the Unmaker. As a larger-than-life force that, in some sense, is essentially impossible to defeat, the Unmaker is an ultimate Other.Unknowable enemies are almost as bad as crazy enemies. It’s unfortunate that Reverend Thrower seems to be going that way, because he starts the book as a fairly interesting character. I enjoyed getting inside his head and seeing his rational mind attempt to reconcile superstition, religion, and science (hopefully he understands why Newton decided to go into alchemy). Yet as the book progresses and the Unmaker seems to get more and more desperate, Thrower degenerates into a Renfield-like character with little intelligence or ambition of his own.For what it’s worth, Seventh Son is well-written, provided you can tolerate the dialect Card throws in for good measure. There were times when I could ignore my issues with the story and simply enjoy the experience of reading this book—and that is something to write home about. In the end, though, the road Card asks us to walk is a long one, and I’m not entirely sure the destination is worth it.
Originally posted at FanLit."When you’re surrounded by light, how do you know whether it’s the glory of God, or the flames of Hell?"Set in an alternate American frontier, Seventh Son is the first in Orson Scott Card’s THE TALES OF ALVIN MAKER. Alvin Miller is the seventh son of a seventh son which makes him special and potentially a very powerful healer, or “maker” — at least that’s what many who practice folk magic, believe. They know that many folk have “knacks” and they’ve seen the effects of curses and charms. It’s obvious that there’s a supernatural war going on around Alvin Miller. He’s almost been killed many times (usually by water), but it’s clear that some other force is protecting him. While his family expects greatness from Alvin, some of his neighbors think he may be “devil spawn.”Reverend Thrower, the new Christian pastor who has just come over from Europe, finds all this folk magic to be rather creepy. He’s trying to dispel these superstitious notions while teaching his parish that any magic they think they see can be explained by scientific investigation. After interacting with Alvin’s family, he may be forced to reconsider his position. Is this folk magic superstitious nonsense, evil witchery, or a gift from God?Seventh Son begins with an emotionally gripping scene as one child dies and another is born to the Miller family. These first few scenes make up the Hugo and Nebula nominated novella Hatrack River. The emotion doesn’t let up, the world-building and characterization are admirably complex, and there’s a nice touch of folksy humor — especially in the episodes of sibling rivalry.I’ve heard it said that Seventh Son is loosely based on the life of Latter Day Saints prophet Joseph Smith, though I don’t know enough about Smith to notice the parallels. Orson Scott Card is known to be religious and conservative (and a member of the LDS church), but you wouldn’t know it from reading Seventh Son. Though religion is the dominant theme, Card’s religious characters are, at least on the surface, hard to sympathize with. For example, though Reverend Thrower’s intentions are good, his deeds are more evil than the deeds of the “immoral” people he opposes. It’s easy to see this from our perspective, but we can also see why Thrower thinks he’s doing the right thing. It’s a good parallel to some of the religious conflicts we see in our society today.I’m intrigued by Card’s alternate America where familiar politics and personalities are slightly different from historical facts. This played an insignificant background role in Seventh Son, but will surely become more prominent in future volumes of THE TALES OF ALVIN MAKER. I look forward to that.I listened to Blackstone Audio’s version of Seventh Son which was narrated by a full cast including Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, Stephen Hoye and Stefan Rudnicki. This is a superb cast who did a great job individually. The parts were split up by chapter rather than by role, so on a couple of occasions I was initially confused at the different accents used for the same character by different narrators. Included in the audiobook version is an afterword by Orson Scott Card which explains the origin of Hatrack River and Seventh Son.Published in 1987, Seventh Son was nominated for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards and won a Locus Award. It’s a beautifully written emotional story set in an original fantasy world.
What do You think about Seventh Son (1988)?
The "Alvin Maker" series was my second contact with O.S. Card after the "Ender" series, and I'm delighted to say it's different and it's still good. :) It was an interesting mix of history, religion, magic and insights into human morals and what motivates our actions. The magic is treated very "practically", like an extra talent that you need to work on to develop, and thankfully it doesn't take over the book while still being an important part of it. The one negative thing is that I didn't get into the main character's skin like I did in the "Ender" series, but not because the characterization isn't good (it's actually one of the strongest points of Card's work). I'm not exactly sure why, I'll have to reread it (or at least look over it again) to find the reasons. I'd give it 3.5 stars for that, verging on 4.
—Radu Stanculescu
DNFI can't quite put my finger on why I didn't like this book. I read about 80 pages and just couldn't go on. I found the story to be pretty boring, and it seemed very bogged down in religion. On top of this, I found the character names to be inexcusably silly. Maybe I just don't 'get' it? I read The Ender Quintet and Enchantment in high school, and really loved the story lines. Because of my previous positive reactions to other Orson Scott Card works, I thought that this was a no-brainer. I wouldn't be opposed to giving this another try in the future, but as of now I'm moving on.
—Kristen
Alvin Miller, Jr is the seventh son of a seventh son. He's born into an alternate version of 19th Century America--one in which the Revolutionary War hasn't happened and where folk magic is a strong, powerful and very real force. Alvin is a maker, a strong and potentially powerful force in the world. And he's got an equally strong, unrelenting enemy, the Unmaker who stop at nothing to ensure Alvin doesn't grow up and into his power. Much of the novel looks at the efforts the Unmaker uses to try and destroy Alvin. It also examines the story of how Alvin comes to realize he has abilities and how he can and can't use them. At one point, Alvin selfishly uses some cockroaches to terrorize his sisters, leading to several fo them dying. At this point, Alvin makes a vow to not use his powers for selfish gains, a decision that becomes pivotal in the final stages of the novel.As with "Ender's Game" the strength of Orson Scott Card's story is his ability to relate authentic, believable young characters. While not quite as complex as Ender, Alvin is still interesting and relatable while still feeling and acting like a young boy would in the circusmtances. Alvin doesn't seem to realize he has a destiny, though he does realize he has something that sets him apart from others around him. The story is far more episodic than "Ender's Game" though. The first portion of the novel, relating the day Alvin, Jr is born was originally a short story. Card then decided to expand the universe and does so here, as we check in with Alvin at various other points in his life. It ends up feeling a bit too episodic at times and while the novel is supposed to introduce us to Alvin and his universe, I still can't help coming away feeling like the overall experience was incomplete. Alvin learns to use his powers, yes. And we know that the Unmaker is after Alvin, set to destroy him. But beyond that, nothing much really happens to Alvin, except for a number of potential attacks on him that we get to see Alvin avert. A few more happen off stage as well, referenced by various characters during the course of the story.This feels like a long prologue to a greater saga. I know there are five other novels in the story but I found myself yearning for something a bit more substantial once the final page was turned. It's easy now that I can go out and find the next book, but I imagine those who read the story when it was first published walked away frustrated at having to wait at least a year for the next installment to hit bookstores.
—Michael
