Subscribe to Read | $0.00
Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!
Quick and Easy Sign Up!
It takes less then 1 minute to sign up, then you can enjoy Unlimited eBooks.
Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!
Quick and Easy Sign Up!
It takes less then 1 minute to sign up, then you can enjoy Unlimited eBooks.
Read Anywhere and on Any Device!
Rate this book!
Write a review?
The Alvin Maker series is a marvelously clever, folk-magical alternate history of North America, in which the author creates a fit forum for the brilliant, preachy, clever, and morally neurotic characters that seem to be his specialty. I think his take on famous historical characters is often marvelous, as is his frequent twisting and borrowing of details from his Mormon tradition. Despite this general admiration, I must say that this is clearly the weakest of the series and not just because as
Throughout most of the preceding books of the series, Alvin's ultimate goal has been to understand how he's supposed to bring into being the "Crystal City" he saw in the vision he had as a child. Here, the pieces of that puzzle will fall into place, bringing the series to a satisfying ending point, though not a tidy HEA to wrap everything up with a neat bow --in this world (and in our real one! :-)), Card makes clear, life and its challenges are an ongoing story.One of my Goodreads friends who r...
Like this whole series, it has continuity issues, which Card treats cavalierly in the acknowledgments. The central story itself is more compelling, though I found it frustrating that it picked up so long after the previous book without allowing us to see the culmination of storylines Card left hanging that I as a reader had invested in. Having Alvin only with Arthur Stuart through most of the novel and other core characters appearing so late and some minimally is also frustrating. The analogy of...
Originally posted at FanLit. http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...The Crystal City is the (maybe) final novel in Orson Scott Card’s TALES OF ALVIN MAKER. This series started off strongly with Seventh Son and Red Prophet, but it bogged down during books three and four (Prentice Alvin and Alvin Journeyman) and I was ready to give up. However, since I had already downloaded the audio version of the sixth book, The Crystal City, from my library, I decided to finish the series. (My library didn’t
Great conclusion to the series. I don't recall which book it was, but it was said of Alvin's brother: He was the life of the party, unless being so would show someone else to be a buffoon in which case, he would remain silent rather than embarrass them. (So people stopped inviting buffoons to the parties they invited him to.) Interesting cocktail party image.
Finally the end of the series. I'm glad I finished it, but not sure I really should have bothered. An average series that dragged on far too long, not one of Card's better endeavours...
To be honest, I am mad I spent the time on this series. This last book was rushed and did little to wrap up the series in any satisfactory way for me. Won't be reading any more of his books.
Ever since I started this series and realized that it wasn't finished. And that it's been 7 years since the last installment and that Orson Scott Card isn't dead, I've been mildly upset. But I listened to each book anyway and enjoyed them. I was pleasantly surprised that this book actually had a resolved ending. The series could end here and I would be content. The only loose string is Peggy's torchy vision of Alvin's future death when Calvin comes back around. I for one can be contented with ne...
Didn't read it, because the story seemed to be petering out in the last book.My one star review is for the lame cover art. I felt insulted by that bullshit, and don't want to be seen with that romance novel looking book in my hands. How do you tell someone with taste that this is a really clever alternative history of America while they are looking at Fabio floating there on the cover?The publishers are making their fantasy books impossible to recommend!Stop it!
The three's a gift for finishing the series . . . kind of.Card had mercy on us. It's easy to detect in the telling of The Crystal City where Card jumped over enough time and material to have written another novel between Heartfire and this book. Thankfully, he didn't.As I said before, the less you know about Card's religious beliefs, the more you'll enjoy this series (unless, of course, you share those beliefs).
