I can hardly remember a book that caught me half as much as Alvin's saga. You can see the characters change in the way they talk, and think, and act, throughout their life; and – whatever, I'm not a good writer, but Orson Scott Card is. And this is the kind of book that gives you a sense of loss when you have read the last page. ( )

My personal feelings about the author aside. The first book was a fun read. Unfortunately, each successive book in the series got more and more disappointing. ( )

Prentice Alvin is the third book of Orson Scott Card's imaginative Alvin Maker series. The premise of this series takes place in an America that never got its independence. Added to this, the old wives tales and lore, particularly the magic associated with it, seems to work. Most of the white men embrace Christianity and shun the magic ways as evil, particularly those in appointed religious positions, and slavery is still admissible in the South.

In the third Chapter, Alvin, the seventh son of a seventh son, apprentices himself to a blacksmith. It is here that he learns a trade, all the while, coming to terms with his own unique power as a Maker. Matters are made more interesting by the presence of a half-black boy who takes a great interest in Alvin's work.

If you are a fan of alternate history, particular alternate American history, especially that which contains a hint or so of magic, then the Alvin Maker series is for you. You may even like it if you have an affinity to indigenous American lore. ( )

I really enjoy this series. This book looks at the history of slavery and race relations. There are evil characters who are blatantly racist - believing that slavery is the correct condition for the black people. And there are many good people willing to risk life and limb to help free them.

Alvin finally arrives in the town of Hatrack River to start his apprenticeship as a blacksmith. Before he arrives, Peggy, the torch who saw at his birth that Alvin was destined to be a Maker, flees the town so that she can avoid the fate of ending up in a loveless marriage to Alvin. Over the next several years, Alvin becomes a skilled blacksmith and faces several tests that teach him how and when he should use his powers, and what it means to be a Maker.

The book is fairly slow-paced, and is really a series of moral lessons that Alvin and Peggy learn which enable them to better move Alvin's destiny in the correct direction. Some parts, such as Peggy's education in the way that a woman should be a proper subservient wife to a man got a little tedious and felt preachy. I still found a lot of the world and the story interesting though. ( )