Storyline: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Writing Style: 4/5
World: 4/5

I admit it; I was spellbound through the first in this series and for half of this second. The writing is lyrical, the magic enchanting, the characters ever-so-human. It's not an America I ever knew, yet it is an America I can recognize and relate to. The story itself is powerful and full of meaning.

The spell was never fully broken, but it surely ebbed when the placing of Mormon allegories superseded the telling of this folktale, the building of this American mythology. At times they were so heavy-handed and blunt that I felt condescended to. At other times they were just outright bizarre and ill-placed.

Also, despite this being longer than the first, it still felt rushed. In the first magic was something familiar but seldom spoken of, those with the "knack" were given special deference though not status, and miracles were still treated as miraculous. In the second there are far too many characters with supernatural abilities and the reaction from normal folk no longer carries with it the reverence and superstition it did earlier. Rather than seven 350-page novels, I would much rather have taken on a trilogy of a thousand pages per volume. Then this series might have stood a chance at being the great American fantasy. These relatively short installments are not only too packed, but they're a little too orderly. Card needed a little space to let chapters grow out of control and unevenly spaced. Something a little less formulaic and less tidy would have been appropriate for an American tale.

Awww...I was really excited to like this series since the 1st book was pretty great, but this book left me madder than hell. I think one star should reflect that I HATED IT.

One reviewer noted that The Alvin Maker series is a thinly veiled version of Joseph Smith's journey in America. I had heard that Card was a Mormon, but not knowing enough about Mormonism, I had never detected any sort of particular religious connotation in his writing. I was also surprised that a supposedly Christian sect (I know Mormons are kinda out there in terms of Christianity) would be so interested in folk magic--things I associate with paganism. I loved the Ender series from Card and I appreciated the idea about an alternate US history involving folk magic in the Alvin Maker series.

However, I was deeply put off by this 2nd book because it revealed itself to be a racist piece of crap which was poorly written at that. The romanticizing of Native Americans was atrocious throughout the story, but what really killed me was that at the end of the book ***SPOILER ALERT*** Takumsaw, the big warrior ends up being secretly married to a white lady! WTF??? And has a child by her!!! The character who throughout the book was adamant that white and red man can NEVER live together is in love with a white woman. Oh and get this, when he's around her, he puts on an English accent and they call him Isaac!!! Oh ok, Card, so this means that Native Americans are really cool and stuff, but you know, they never can be all that unless they whitefy themselves. Apparently this is the whole point of the book.

Held my attention throughout the story. It lost a star because Card made Lolla-Wosiky an obvious picture of Jesus. I didn't like that part at all. In fact, I thought about just putting it down because of this and the bigotry and racism that Card endorses in this novel, but I finished it and even somewhat enjoyed it.

This series started off amazing. The writing style was enticing, the characters were interesting, and compared to similar books where a lot of alternative US history fictions that fall flat, this story felt rich. The problem starts when the writing starts introducing Native American aspects and characters. There's a lot of willfully ignorant views on Native American culture, which is then morphed into something even further to fit the story while still treating it as if it's close to actual Native American beliefs. While done in what seems to be an attempted positive light, after some brief digging it seems even that changes the further you get into the series.

3.5 Maybe this is better if you are an American with a better appreciation of the historical characters.
A good read - uncomfortable with current day sensibilities about stereotypes, but then it is a fantasy novel about an alternate history, and frankly, the white man does not crown himself with glory in this book. As they didn't in history and still don't today. A bit moralistic at times, but complex, deep, surprising improvements and alternate perspective of characters that we knew from the first book. I like it when a character is not portrayed in only one light, but can be understood to have good and bad, or reasons for having an apparently antagonistic stance.
Hoping we get back to more Alvin in the next book.

Well that was surprising. I enjoyed the first book in this series very much, but this second instalment was rather annoying. Two hours into the story: no Alvin. Instead there were horrible whites and profound reds and the lack of nuance was irritating. I don’t know enough of American history to figure out what’s what: to me these characters are all fiction. It’s all so serious.

I didn't like this as much as book #1 but still couldn't put it down. I need to take a break from this series for a few days. If you are ready to feel like a turd for being a white person living in America, go ahead and read it. (I'm mostly kidding about that last statement. It does make you think. Fortunately, this is an alternate reality, so it's easy to dismiss. (Okay that is what I'm actually kidding about...)) wow...thoughts within thought. I'm lost.

I'm finally getting around to this series after reading the short story about Alvin meeting Abraham Lincoln on a slave ship.

I thought the first two were pretty good reads, though it's a weird swerve for me because I didn't realize he was going to be a little boy.

Still, they're well-written and the author reads the first two himself, which is always nice. I miss hearing Stephen King read his own work.

I'm going to read the rest of the series back-to-back, since I have a week of paid vacation starting today.

I suspect I'll enjoy them all. I hope it doesn't end poorly.

This is kind of a dorky series, but I had a good time going through it.

Obviously a story with many lifted parts to anyone aware of the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but Card takes an interesting path in choosing to examine the folk magic employed in those days as a part of the story of Alvin (read Joseph Smith pretty much).

It is an alternate history in both Church history and American history. I am fairly versed in both, so it was fun seeing how those things were changed in this story.

I also liked how the magic has been illustrated to not be good or evil, just a thing that is. People will use the things given to them as a reflection of who they are.

This pretty much holds as a review across all of the books. I think that they were all pretty good in their own rights.

Orson Scott Card a un don pour m'emmener dans une direction que je n'avais pas prévu : Je n'avais aucune idée de la tournure qu'allait prendre ce deuxième tome et ça c'était déjà un plaisir.
J'ai aimé l'histoire qu'il a choisit de me raconter et les personnages sont au top : ceux déjà connus comme ceux qu'on découvre dans ce tome-ci.
Philosophiquement ce livre est également très riche.
Dans ce tome ci le lecteur passe beaucoup de temps avec les natifs américains, ce qui m'a évidemment énormément plut. Je pense que ce ne sera pas le cas dans le prochain tome et cet aspect de l'histoire me manquera. Malgré tout je sais que je continuerai cette saga, qui pour l'instant me plait beaucoup.

Pretty fun, although it felt like more of an aside to build up some background than part of the real story. Nothing especially outstanding, except some world-building that I'm really starting to like - the alternate history fantasy America Card's built in this series is fascinating and feels authentic.

Sarjan ensimmäiseen osaan verrattuna toinen osa ei ollut mielestäni tarinaltaan läheskään yhtä hyvä, vaan keskittyi enemmän politiikkaan ja sotakertomukseen. Super mielenkiintoinen näkökulma oli kuitenkin kahden eri kulttuurin yhteentörmäyksen kuvaus alkuperäiskansan ja uudisasukkaiden välillä. Toivon seuraavan osan muistuttavan enemmän ensimmäistä osaa, mutta katsotaan.