This story line has officially lost my interest. Characters have gotten dull and the dialects are just annoying. Disappointing.

Rampant Jordan-ism. If there's a spot on his map, he has to set part of his story there--populated with new characters and challenges--even if it has next to nothing to do with the main story.

It ought to be rated a two, or maybe even one one, except that Card is such an extraordinary storyteller.

Just read and enjoy.

The fifth volume in The Tales of Alvin Maker series has the hero married, confronting the witch trials brought on by the Puritans in New England, meeting John James Audobon and Honore de Balzac as well as John Adams, the judge in the witch trial. Meanwhile his wife has gone to the southern Crown colonies to work against their practise of slavery. Magical elements presented include the greensong, which allows one to run for hundreds of miles without tiring, as well as the various 'knacks', or powers of people, some of which have led to their possessors being hanged as witches.

Not remembered.

Heartfire the fifth book in the Seventh Son series is a fun read, but it does has some downfalls. The book starts off with our companions on their quest to build the crystal city, but quickly get side tracked by a new character named Purity. To save you from spoilers, I will skate around details. This is where our first hitch in the road comes from.

As soon as we meet Purity, we know that the Crystal City will once again be put on the backburner and we are going to spend the entire book with her and her problems. On the other end of this story, is Alvin's wife, as she and Alvin's brother, Calvin, are running into problems of their own. If you have read other reviews of this book, a big complaint, is we are once again, finding our characters in court, rather than out in the wild.

When I read these complaints, I found myself dreading reading this book. However; I found myself excited for Alvin's chapters, and being bored of Margret's (Alvin's wife). That's not to say all of Margert's story is boring, quite the opposite. There are many twists and turns but it takes awhile to get to the action of her tale.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. When the action gets going, you really get sucked into the story. Card does a great job of story telling in this fantasy America. However; there are lulls in the books which can sometimes make it feel like chore to get through.

Before I wrap this up, I wanted to leave this remark. Almost every negative review of this series is based off the comparison of the Mormon religion. Does Card borrow from their religion? Sure. Is it enough to ruin the series? Not even close to it. I think people just enjoy to bash others religion at any chance they get. Take the story at face value, and stop trying to find all the comparisons, and I promise you, you will love this series.

4 and a half stars out of 5.

Read in a day and a half while I was home sick. This story was MUCH better than book 4, and in fact should have functionally replaced it. I rated them both the same though, because they both have serious flaws.

Alvin doesn't change or really DO anything in this book. He makes no decisions, does no Making... he's more of a backdrop for Verily, Margaret, and Calvin to carry the show. He has almost become like Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars Extended Universe. He doesn't go through any struggles; isn't ever in any real danger, and just kind of wanders around using his powers in just the right way each time. I was a bit disappointed by this, but the dual storyline of the New England witch trial and the Abolitionist were intriguing. Thematically, I struggle to connect the two though. The back cover promises that they will come together in the end, but they really don't. Alvin's in one storyline, and then he literally just gets up and runs to the other. It fell a bit flat.

So all told, this was a good read, but not at the same level of quality I've come to expect from Card.

Not a bad book by any means, but it was very similar to book 4; Calvin was off doing his thing while Alvin put up with another trial. Some characters were developed more, especially Calvin, but this was probably the worst of the series so far.

Heartfire, the fifth book in Orson Scott Card's "Tales of Alvin Maker" series, is a travesty. Card has ruined this formerly interesting history of an alternate America and Mormon allegory. Heartfire kills the series that came before it like Children of the Mind destroyed the Ender Quartet and Earthborn wiped out the Homecoming novels.

At the end of Alvin Journeyman, Alvin and Peg Guester were wed and travelled to the home of the Weavers in Appalachee. The beginning of Heartfire sees them departed on separate journeys, Peg has gone to the Crown Colonies to find a way to stop the oncoming war over slavery, while Alvin is wandering around the Northeast and eventually finds himself on trial (again) for witchcraft in Puritan-controlled New England.

There is so much wrong with this novel. The plot is sloppily resolved, and indeed it could be said that Peg's half of the story isn't resolved at all but simply abandoned. Card wraps up Alvin's trial in a mere two pages as if he has grown tired of writing this installment. Calvin's redemption seems like it never progressed past the draft stage. In order to hide his shabby plot and silly characterization, Card stoops to a prurient sex scene where Calvin forces himself on a resisting-but-willing dame like something out of a romance novel (of course, that's what the awful cover art makes the book look like).

Alvin Maker is now essentially omnipotent, communicating telepathically with Peg across huge distances and able to run the entire length of the East Coast in a single night (funny how Card constantly talks about how the greensong is too weak now, but has Alvin perform such deeds). This makes Alvin considerably less interesting as a protagonist, as there are no surprises or suspense. Gene Wolfe, in his Book of the New Sun cycle, was wise enough to end the series after the apotheosis of his hero Severian. Card, however, is going to drag us through two more volumes with this unbelievable character.

Ironically, however, Alvin doesn't figure very much in his own series anymore. Most of the novel relates the thoughts of Peg, Calvin, and Verily Cooper. Alvin is reduced to an "aw, shucks" country boy cameo. There's absolutely no progress in this novel towards the building of the Crystal City.

I used to recommend The Tales of Alvin Maker, its first two volumes were very entertaining, but after Red Prophet it has become worse with every volume. I daresay I'd now recommend avoiding this series.

Quotes:

Government is like watching another man piss in your boot. Someone feels better but it certainly isn’t you.

Cupid shoots his arrows where they’ll cause the most mischief.

Virtue is what you treasure until you feel desire, and then it becomes an intolerable burden to be cast away, and only to be picked up again when the desire fades.

But that was the way of the world – seducers and rapist rarely bore the consequences of their acts, or at least not as heavily as the seduced and the broken-spirited.

The seeds of all sins were in all people. If it were not so, how would it be virtue when they refrained from acting on those impulses?

There’s no one who doesn’t have memories he wishes he didn’t have. And there are crimes that arise from decent desires gone wrong, from justified passions carried too far. Crimes that began only as mistakes. I’ve learned never to judge people. Of course I judge whether they’re dangerous or not, or whether they did right or wrong, how can anyone live without judging? What I mean is, I can’t condemn them. A few, yes, a few who love the suffering of others, or who never think of others at all, worthless souls that exist only to satisfy themselves. But those are rare.

Well, don’t count on gratitude. It’s the most fleeting of all human virtues.

We continue the adventures of Alvin and Peggy as they try to abolish slavery, create other Makers and learn more about the Crystal City.

Peggy is trying to meet the King of the Crown Colonies so she can talk to him about abolition. The slaves are docile and it took her a while to figure out why.

When the slaves arrive, they put part of their soul/heartfire into a knotted rope and those are held elsewhere. Calvin gets his heartfire stuck there and he ends up letting all of the souls loose.

This is about to cause a revolution, but Calvin (and secretly Alvin) cause a huge natural disaster that keeps them all at bay.

It didn't feel like this book moved the story forward. It seemed like a lot of filler. I hope the end of the series offers more answers.

This one is so compelling and engrossing

I'm very torn. This was my favorite book in middle school, but rereading it really made me realize that it kinda sucks. Don't get me wrong, it's fun to read. I got through all six books in the series in about two weeks. Speaking of which, is he ever going to finish it? Nearly 20 years have passed since the last book was punished, and the story is definitely unfinished.
Some parts of the book are thought-provoking and profound, and others seem like a recruiting drive for the LDS church. It's sort of like reading Ayn Rand-- the author's opinion is very prevalent and interesting to consider, but it's also wrong and totally obnoxious at times.
I think it deserves 2.5 stars, but I'll round it up to three because Purity and Verily were integral parts of my bi awakening. Kinda embarrassing to admit that I had the hots for two fictional Puritans, but it seems like poetic justice considering everything I know about Orson Scott Card.

If you've read my review of Alvin Journyman, then I can almost just say "Ditto" in this review.

There is one critical scene in the book when I actually appreciated all the pontification (again, see my review of the previous book) and was anxiously awaiting a satisfying conclusion to a great argument. However, Card abruptly and prematurely ends the scene as the hero decides he has more pressing matters elsewhere and just walks out.

I got the distinct impression that Card couldn't come up with a satisfying ending for the scene and just gave up and changed the subject. It was very disappointing.