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Title: The Crystal City (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 6) by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0-312-86483-3 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 10 November, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.48 (23 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: I had hoped this would be much better
Comment: Maybe my tastes are changing. I've really liked almost every Orson Scott Card book since I first read Ender's Game many years ago. I searched out books that weren't as well known or as easily available and found even greater appreciation for his work (check out Folk of the Fringe, Lost Boys and Enchantment for great reading). I followed him through several different series, some of which were just okay (the Homecoming series) and some were great. One series, The Tales of Alvin Maker was just a step below Ender, in my opinion...until I read the latest entry, The Crystal City.
The characters were there, some action was there, but so much of the book was overblown soul searching that it got to the point where I was skipping paragraphs at a time, just to get on with the story. His wife misleads him, she does it for his own good, she should be with someone else, he should have more respect for his brother-in-law, he does what he thinks is best, his wife does what she thinks is best, Dead Mary loves Alvin, Dead Mary loves Arthur, Dead Mary doesn't really love anyone, blah, blah, blah.
Card has some points he wants to get across, and Hey! - He wrote the book-so it is his right! But, come on, naming his creation "The Tabernacle", is just a little obvious. And just to confuse things, this comes after another character had just named it "The Observatory". I went back to reread that section just to see if there was a reason for naming it twice, but if there was, Orson didn't really get it across.
When I had read the 3rd and 4th installments of this series, I actually thought this was going to be better than the Ender series. This was a huge let down. As a reader that has bought well over 25 Orson Scott Card books, I felt like this was a rip-off.
Rating: 4
Summary: Alvin moves on towards his destiny
Comment: Alvin Maker, or Smith, still after five books has not found himself or the Crystal City of which he dreams. Sent to Nueva Barcelona (New Orleans) by his wife Peggy, he more or less accidently becomes Moses to an Exodus of slaves and other downtrodden people. With yellow fever and soldiers not far behind, and the seemingly impenetrable Mizzippi ahead, he must try to lead these people to freedom. Meanwhile, his uncontrollable younger brother, Calvin, is stirring up trouble on an expedition to conquer Mexico . . .
Good, but not great, continuation of the Alvin Maker series. As you can tell by the title, Alvin finally begins his Crystal City (and not surprisingly, since much in this series parallels Latter Day Saints beliefs, it seems to be on the site of Nauvoo, Illinois.)
While we meet Abraham Lincoln in this series (an Abe who apparently did not buy a barrel of law books at a cheap price to enable him to study law on his own), Lincoln's explanation as to why he doesn't have a last name reflecting his profession is weak. Most of the people who don't have such last names are historical characters in our world (William Henry Harrison, for example). It's not a new complaint, but--Card should have thought this through. He's inventive enough.
With Alvin seeming to parallel Joseph Smith, and with his people defying the U.S. to some extent, the groundwork seems to be laid for this universe's equivalent of the U.S. attack on Nauvoo and death of Joseph Smith, which eventually led to Brigham Young and his people's trek to Utah. How this will play out in Card's works should be interesting.
Finally, Card really, really, should update his political maps to show the developments he has mentioned through the series--the new states, the closing-off of the Trans-Mizzippi, etc. The maps are the same as at the start of the series, though this book's version does show Springfield and Crystal City--the latter on the WEST bank of the Mizzippi. It's more an annoyance than anything else.
Recommended, if you've read the previous five.
Rating: 2
Summary: Another Orson Scott Card series peters out...
Comment: Like the Ender seriers did with Children of the Mind and the Homecoming series did with Earthborn, the Alvin Maker series sputters to a conclusion (hopefully) in The Crystal City.
Not that this book was terrible, but it just didn't seem to have any purpose other than gettin Alvin and his followers to the Crystal City, and there just wasn't anything interesting enough that happened along the way. I think they were all too good, and too powerful, that you knew they would always do the right thing, and you also knew that they always could, so there wasn't any doubt about the conclusion.
If you've read the rest of the series, you'll probably want to read this book just for closure, just don't expect much.
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Title: First Meetings : In the Enderverse by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0765308738 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 05 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Heartfire (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 5) by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0812509242 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Alvin Journeyman (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 4) by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0812509234 Publisher: Tor Fantasy Pub. Date: 15 September, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Prentice Alvin (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 3) by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0812502124 Publisher: Tor Fantasy Pub. Date: 15 December, 1989 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Red Prophet (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 2) by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0812524268 Publisher: Tor Fantasy Pub. Date: 15 July, 1992 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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