The first book of the Alvin Maker series, "Seventh Son" describes the life of Alvin, seventh son of a seventh son, and thirteenth child. In the "America that could have been", this gives him magical "knacks" far beyond those of a normal boy. It also gives him a powerful enemy, one who tries time and time again to kill young Alvin.

In this first book, we follow Alvin from birth up to the age of ten, during which time he is set on the road to controling his knack and first learns of his enemy. Besides the faceless "Unmaker", he must also struggle against a preacher who thinks he serves God but in fact serves his enemy.

Anyone who likes fantasty; however, I do not read much fantasy but definitely enjoyed this book.

the idea that everyone is born with a 'knack' or talent.

There was nothing I disliked. I have read this book ten or fifteen times and it still remains one of my favorites.

Start on the next book in the series, Red Prophet (and I did).

Like life was a mystery and magic was possible.

has a wonderful talent for bringing the story to life. Card has written many scifi and fantasy novels and has great talent.

It is great fun to read.

I can't think of a reason not to recommend it. As I said, even if you aren't big on fantasy, this isn't a unicorn/knight book; it is a retelling of American history with magic interwoven.

This is a great read, fun and fanciful, with just the right amount of tension.

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Created Dec 19, 2003 at 2:28pm • Submit your own review...