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pictusfish's review against another edition
2.0
It's like he took so long to write this one that he forgot how to write the story and it just lost all its personality.
margyly's review against another edition
5.0
If you enjoy the Ender series, be sure to read the Alvin Maker series.
benlundns's review against another edition
3.0
An okay ending to an okay series. Made me miss the Ender series though. All the "folksy" talk and the 2 dimensional characters gets tiring after a while.
neglet's review against another edition
A pretty good volume in a remarkably built series. Character and world-building are the strength here; plotting is not as good as the earliest volumes. Also worthwhile if you like alternate history.
davidkeithley81's review against another edition
3.0
Final book (?) of the “Alvin Maker” series. I am so glad I was able to complete the entire series this time! Having said that, I felt that “Crystal City” was probably the weakest entry. I enjoyed the novel, it just didn’t pop for me. I do think Card ties up most of the major loose ends. I truly hope one day he writes the mystical “Master Alvin”, but if not, I am satisfied.
randomprogrammer's review against another edition
2.0
pitiful end to an increasingly mediocre series.
especially in the first 4 or so books, the characters were woefully one-dimensional, like a moralizing children's tale that is required to have clear delineations of right and wrong, good and evil. This makes for a tepid read, where even if there's technically action or plot, it somehow manages to bore.
And as the series reached it's end, long built-up relationships and conflicts just fizzled out pitifully. The supposed great conflict arc between the two brothers had no climax, much less a conclusion. And the way the two used their powers was consistently lame. The first couple books were great, as a young Alvin explored the limits of his skills. But grown-up Alvin was such an unbelievable bore. And writer Orson Scott Card completely lacked the ability to wow the reader with the scenes that were certainly intended to be amazing.
A shitty bridge across water is the coolest thing Alvin ever does? Um, you mean like ice? As a maker how just tells molecules how they should be, and they carry on the instructions, the basic fundamentals of the magic system make it clear that creating an ice bridge should be trivial. And yet for some silly reason we are asked to be amazed by this "crystal" bridge he builds. Not to mention this lame-ass plow he carries around everywhere.
I suspect that much of the lame plot stemmed from a need to maintain some type of symmetry with Mormon myths and "symbolism" in early books.
I've recently recommended some other Orson Scott Card books to people, like Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide, and I shudder to think that childhood may have clouded my vision, and in fact these books are as bad as the Alvin Maker series.
In summary, Orson managed to take a freaking awesome premise -- magical realism in early 1800s frontier america -- and bore the reader to tears with one-dimensional characters, lame mormon shout outs, characters that refused to use their magic in interesting ways, and a weird absence of a meaningful climax or resolution.
especially in the first 4 or so books, the characters were woefully one-dimensional, like a moralizing children's tale that is required to have clear delineations of right and wrong, good and evil. This makes for a tepid read, where even if there's technically action or plot, it somehow manages to bore.
And as the series reached it's end, long built-up relationships and conflicts just fizzled out pitifully. The supposed great conflict arc between the two brothers had no climax, much less a conclusion. And the way the two used their powers was consistently lame. The first couple books were great, as a young Alvin explored the limits of his skills. But grown-up Alvin was such an unbelievable bore. And writer Orson Scott Card completely lacked the ability to wow the reader with the scenes that were certainly intended to be amazing.
A shitty bridge across water is the coolest thing Alvin ever does? Um, you mean like ice? As a maker how just tells molecules how they should be, and they carry on the instructions, the basic fundamentals of the magic system make it clear that creating an ice bridge should be trivial. And yet for some silly reason we are asked to be amazed by this "crystal" bridge he builds. Not to mention this lame-ass plow he carries around everywhere.
I suspect that much of the lame plot stemmed from a need to maintain some type of symmetry with Mormon myths and "symbolism" in early books.
I've recently recommended some other Orson Scott Card books to people, like Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide, and I shudder to think that childhood may have clouded my vision, and in fact these books are as bad as the Alvin Maker series.
In summary, Orson managed to take a freaking awesome premise -- magical realism in early 1800s frontier america -- and bore the reader to tears with one-dimensional characters, lame mormon shout outs, characters that refused to use their magic in interesting ways, and a weird absence of a meaningful climax or resolution.
charlibirb's review against another edition
3.0
This one flagged, for me. Lots of loose ends, felt like a lot of cop outs. Not a very satisfying conclusion, but not the worst, either. Overall, the series is worth it, but Card's break showed.
spickett's review
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Wow it took a long time for something to happen with the plow! But it wasn't enough. Orson Scott Card seems to be trying for impressive word play and playing at philosophy, but it doesn't quite hit the mark or ring true for me personally. Clearly it has for many though - maybe I'm just not a maker.
jacalata's review against another edition
3.0
I think I enjoyed this both more and less because of how long it was since I'd read the rest of the series.
cozycreativewitch's review against another edition
4.0
I liked it. A lot. Good concepts, good ideas, good questions. Good story too, not least of all by any means. But I strongly feel that the story itself got lost somehow in the telling. Perhaps Card is a bit like Peggy- he ended up knowing too much and eventually got lost in it, not knowing what to tell. Too many stories in him. Not enough time in the world. I know he turned out to be more than a little like Alvin himself. He saw the vision clearly, first of all, and felt the making of it, but somehow it got away from him over time. Too many things happened that he did not expect and he had to search for the natural ending to things. Not what he expected. And not exactly what he seemed to offer when he began the writing of the series. But mighty fine, all the same. As I said, I liked it. A lot.