Heartfire

Alvin's wife Peggy makes a perilous journey to Charleston to visit the exiled king of England to plead for an end to the madness between the free nations and slave nations of North America, while Alvin journeys north to Salem, Massachusetts, to confront a legacy of witchcraft

Fifth in Hugo and Nebula winner Card's immensely popular Tales of Alvin Maker, this installment of alternative American history centers around two grievous social wrongs. Arthur Stuart, exiled King of England, reigns in Camelot (Charleston), capital of the slaveholding southern Crown Colonies; in New England, meanwhile, "witchers" connive to execute anyone with the "knack," the ability to connect to the powers of the universe. Just before civil war erupts, telekinetic Alvin and his historical friends, such as John James Audubon, and legendary ones, such as riverman Mike Fink, set about to abolish New England's antiwitch laws, while Alvin's wife and mentor, Margaret, uses her ability to read human souls to offer the hope of freedom to the Colonies' slaves and to heal Alvin's malevolent brother before he can kill her husband. Card's antebellum settings, dialogue and historical figures seem authentic and thoroughly researched, and, as always, he offers excellent differentiation of characters. However, Card is as occasionally windy and preachy as ever, and the plethora of lengthy philosophical and/or psychological digressions make for considerably less fictional sizzle than fizzle. Consider this a good bet for fans of the series, but not for a wider readership.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Another in Card's superior fantasy series about Alvin Smith (Alvin Journeymen, 1995, etc.), set in an alternate world where magic workspeople are born with ``knacks''and America is divided among a tiny Union, various European colonies, and inviolable Red territory west of the Mizzipy River. Alvin, a Makerhis magic is creative, holistic, and used only for goodhas married his boyhood sweetheart, Margaret, and adopted the former slave boy Arthur Stuart. Margarether knack is to read a person's heartfire, and thus glimpse their futurewill travel south to meet the exiled king of England, Arthur Stuart, in his court at Camelot and attempt to persuade him to end slavery in the Crown Colonies (any alternative, so Margaret has foreseen, will be a dreadful slaughter). Alvin, meanwhile, journeys north to New England, where he will deploy both magic and legal wizardry to overthrow the corrupt and oppressive system of justice that declares those who have knacks to be evil witches. That mission accomplished, Alvin will raise his brother Calvin from the dead after Calvin will have been killed helping Margaret in her crusade against slavery. Alvin continues to mature and gain confidence, although neither accomplishment here brings him any closer to discovering how to use the living gold plow he has crafted, or to an understanding of the vision of the Crystal City shown him years ago by the Red Prophet. One more absorbing entry in this brilliantly conceived and fetchingly rendered series. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

While Alvin Smith, blessed with the magical knack of Making, travels to the Puritan-controlled lands of New England in search of a way to realize his vision of a Crystal City, his wife, Peggy, seeks to use her own knack of seeing into the hearts of others to promote the abolition of slavery in the Crown Colonies of the South. The fifth installment of Card's popular "Tales of Alvin Maker" series exhibits the same homespun charm of its predecessors and belongs in most fantasy collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Devotees of Card's Alvin Maker series will rejoice that the fifth book quickly follows the fourth and that it further demonstrates the historical and folkloric scholarship, insight into the religious impulse, ethical concern, and lucid prose that distinguish its historical fantasy predecessors. Alvin is with Mike Fink and other companions in New England to fight against the laws that make witchcraft a capital offense. He is condemned and imprisoned under them, but, helped by a local girl and old--but still hard-nosed in pursuit of justice--John Adams, he triumphs. Wife Margaret, meanwhile, though pregnant with their daughter, travels to the southern colonies to persuade them to abolish slavery. There she discovers that the slaves are being made passive by Denmark Vesey and a shamanistic partner, who are stealing their aggression. The release of all this aggression bodes a bloody slave rebellion that Alvin averts in the knick of time. The pace is brisker this time, although Card's attempt to tell two stories in one compact book may make some feel that something has been left out or that Alvin's increasing powers diminish suspense. Most who have come this far with Alvin will find this an exceedingly well told, satisfying continuation of a major fantasy saga. Roland Green