The concept of alternate history is already kind of weird; combining it with fantasy just makes it weirder. There's a note at the beginning of Red Prophet explaining that the historical characters and events portrayed in the book aren't necessarily accurate, which left me wondering what exactly Orson Scott Card was trying to convey by setting this novel in an alternate-history American frontier at all. Not that it could have been set anywhere else-- the whole theme of the book is the conflict between Native Americans and white colonists-- but if the history isn't really being represented, what is? As far as I can tell, the answer is that it's an idealized ("ideal" as in archetypal, not as in good) vision of that time and place in history, and especially its culture-- with a generous dash of hindsight thrown in. If the knights-and-castles material of medieval fantasy can be described as "the Middle Ages as they should have been", then Red Prophet would be "1810's America as it should have been".

Does it work? Hard to say. It certainly makes visceral the monstrous tragedy of the early "Indian wars" in ways that I haven't seen any other book do. But in places it also leans toward the cliche of the "noble savage" and other misunderstandings. Meanwhile, Card has imported-- that's what it feels like-- his trademark metaphysical and spiritual vision into the middle of this story of conflict, in the form of the hero Alvin, a ten-year-old superman-in-training. Both halves of the book suffer from the predictable confusion that ensues between them. The writing is good as ever, urgent and haunting, with an American-dialect-infused voice. But after two books in this series I still don't understand where Card's story is going.

What I like most about this series so far is the alternate history of early America it tells- it's a real interesting take on certain historical figures. The story itself is also strong, but there are definitely times that events are rushed it characters don't quite act true to form. But a solid book overall.

Jópár év eltelt az első kötet olvasása óta, így az emlékek eléggé elhalványultak. Ennek ellenére nem volt gond belehelyezkedni a történetbe, kapunk jónéhány új szereplőt, szerintem mindegyikük kiválóan megalkotott, kellően árnyalt. Ezrét lehet, hogy hiába a tőlem távolálló kor és helyszín, mégis végig lekötött a könyv. Itt érződik, hogy Card mennyire jó író. A harmadik kötettel már nem várok ennyit.

This was particularly difficult to sit through. I think the points were well made about racism towards the Native Americans. It was just so hard to sit through all of the stereotypes and horrifying instances of prejudice. I almost didn't finish the book, but I'm glad I did. The ending doled out some well-deserved justice. Overall, pretty good.

The second novel in the Tales of Alvin Maker, this novel has Alvin Miller Jr. and his brother Measure encountering native Amerindians, principally Lolla-Wassiky, whom Alvin helps cure of his fateful love for alcohol, and his brother, Ta-Kumsaw who wishes the 'Reds' to counter the threat to their people's existence posed by white settlers with violent means. On the other hand, his brother believes that the natives should settle beyond the Mississippi. Nefarious influences from some whites, including WIlliam Henry Harrison, further complicate this narrative of alternative history - i.e., the development of the United States as it could have occurred, but didn't. Except for the magic, of course. Card is, after all, a fantasy writer. But he's also one with a profound grasp of and respect for history as many of his other works attest.

Not really remembered all that well.

I have read the first four books in the Seventh Son series, and book 2 was definitely the best. The story is great, and the lure around the native Americans and their “powers” they hold is a very cool concept. This book also starts Alvin on his goal in life and leave you wondering what and how he will accomplish it.

So, presumably, the choices were made a very long time ago. This living in-between these picture-people and all the noise, this nothingness, ever growing and tearing everything apart. Scientists say it's entropy and I thought it beautiful, and yet...

"So it wasn't any kind of man-wishing-for-a-woman feeling that he had, looking at her eyes. He just looked into them like he sometimes looked into a fire, watching the flames dance, not asking for them to make sense, just watching the sheer randomness of it. That was what. her eyes were like, as if those eyes had seen a hundred thousand things happen, and they were all still swirling around inside those eyes, and no one had ever bothered or maybe even known how to get those visions out and make sensible stories out of them."

The fantasy view of frontier America with key historical characters provides an interesting context, especially if you have studied the referenced people. I hate to think that Card has a disdain for the founding of America. I hope instead it is just a twist to provide a perspective on the fantasy that he desires to tell.

The book is well written and captivating. Many indirect references to lessons from the Book of Mormon. I believe a strong theme to be that we can make good things out of bad circumstances. A little violent, and sad. I continue to read because of my love for the characters created by the author's genius and creativity.

Starts off disturbingly racist and a sad mirror of of reality in the early days of the US. I really like tge alternate history idea with some magic thrown in. Its certainly facsinating the LDS influences scattered in (crystal city is the celestial kingdom in function, America is a promised and special land, etc). This book almost funtions as a narrative history that could have happened and is an enjoyable story as Alvin experiences more or life, the world and learning his abilities

The Noble Natives were good in all the ways the Wicked Whites were not. The story was ok, but the emphasis on the divinity of the Native "Reds" as a people just made them seem inhuman and unrelatable. White characters like Armor of God or Alvin Sr have more variety and nuance to them then the entire Red population.

There's no question of Orson Scott Card's abilities. He is a terrific writer. His characterisation is up there with the best, and the world he created for the Alvin Maker series is truly fascinating. And he has a rare inclination to temper his adventures with deeper philosophical questions. Unfortunately, I found the narrative of Red Prophet to be rambling and disjointed. It suffers from constant head-hopping and bizarre pacing. Key moments (in particular the finale) are rushed over, but tedious sequences of emotionally alienating (and kind of cliched) religious experience are dwelt on interminably. Despite some bravura moments, this was a book I had to fight hard to finish. That's a shame, because I loved the first in the series, but can't see myself continuing.

Fantasy meets-historical fiction and a continuation of Seventh Son (which I truthfully heard of because it inspired the similarly-named Iron Maiden song and album). Sometimes the author takes a heavy-handed, albeit overly simplified view of Native American struggles but overall it's an entertaining read with a fast-moving plotline.