Book #12

Seventh Son

Orson Scott Card

 

This is the first book of the Alvin Maker series, or as the author names them, The Tales of Alvin Maker.  From one viewpoint, they can be called alternate history stories.  It is sometime in the early 19th Century, but the present United States is actually three countries.  New England is still controlled by the English, under The Lord Protector, which would be the successor (probably a few generations of) of Oliver Cromwell.  In this time line there was no Restoration.  The Stuarts set themselves up in the South Coastal states as a Kingdom.  Between the two, you have the United States, which covers the coast from New Amsterdam (New York) down to the Chesapeake Bay, but also extends inland to the great lakes....or at least the first one.

 

Now, most things don't make a lot of sense as you start this book, but you pick up some along the way.  There are states of Suskwahenny, New Amsterdam, New Orange, New Sweden, and the strangest of all, Irrakwa, which is actually a Native American run state.

 

Our story starts at the Hatrack River in the Hio territory, where Alvin is born as his family is passing through.  The family then moves on to the Wobbish territory, further west.  We are truly taking the frontier of the America at the time.

 

Now, the other thing that is different about the Tales of Alvin Maker is...there is magic.  Most of the magic is very small, and referred to as a knack.  Take note of the small that I just mentioned, it is important.  There aren't really spells per say, though they do mention hexes, calmings and fendings, but most of it is just having a knack for doing something.

 

But, Alvin Junior is the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and that means something a little different.  Now, the story only follows Alvin to the age of ten, so we do not see a lot of what he can do and even he does not understand it, and.....I'm not going to give any more of it away.

 

I bought the books used some time ago, and never read them, because I wasn't sure I would like them.  I am somewhat surprised to say that I liked the first one.