I enjoyed the whole Alvin Maker fantasy series. Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite writers!

Prentice Alvin is a wonderful edition to the tales of Alvin Maker. There is less action than in the first two books, because this book is meant to progress the characters more. Alvin practices and improves his making skills. All while he is prenticed to a terrible master. The unmaker gets more creative in his plots to get rid of Alvin. And the Hatrack community gets some new additions. If you liked the first two books, than you must read this one.

Prentice Alvin is the third book about Alvin Maker (nee Miller) set in an alternate American frontier where folk magic and hexes are real. In this story, teenaged Alvin finally makes it to Hatrack River township to begin his apprenticeship to the town blacksmith and meets the love of his life, Peggy Guester, the torch girl who saw his birth and has been protecting him from supernatural attempts on his life. Alvin also becomes the protector / father figure for Arthur Stuart, a young man born into slavery.

Card tries to incorporate Alvin's progression towards his fate as a demi-god promised in book one, but it reads like a square peg being forced into a round hole. And the whole business with the golden plow... well, as they say about television shows, this is where Alvin Maker jumps the shark.

The Alvin Maker series starts to lose a little steam in this third installment, which directs Alvin's attention to the problem of slavery in Card's alternate America. Finally beginning his apprenticeship, Alvin befriends an abolitionist family, especially Arthur, the mixed-race boy they adopt. Peggy the Torch also takes center stage for a while, although her choices are such that we wonder if it's really such an advantage being able to see the future. As Alvin has learned in the prior volume, Red Prophet, saving the world is a tall order, perhaps more than he can accomplish by himself. So he endures his apprenticeship to the unpleasant Master Makepeace Smith, while continuing his academic education through the agency of a mysterious schoolmarm, and refrains from using his growing magical power.

Related to the slavery issue is the problem of the outsider trying to fit in to society. Alvin and Peggy hide their extraordinary powers so as not to attract unwanted attention to themselves. Arthur, unable to hide his difference, has to undergo radical change in order to live a free man. Alvin accepts the abuse of his Master, perhaps as a pale echo of slavery, or perhaps as an indictment of the apprentice system and servitude generally. And ultimately, they all pay a price.

But if great power bestows great responsibility, our heroes fail the test. By hiding their powers under a bushel, Alvin and Peggy minimize themselves, and perhaps that's their goal. But by masquerading as ordinary people pursuing pedestrian lives, they become substantially less interesting to the typical sci-fi fantasy reader (and possibly others as well) and while Card may be making his point, he isn't necessarily telling a great story. The Alvin of Prentice seems to have little in common with the Alvin of Red Prophet, and what's more he's taking a step backwards, whereas good storytelling requires a progression. After the brutal massacre in Prophet, this small, personal story just doesn't have the impact we've come to expect. Looking back, it seems clear that Prentice should have been the second volume and Prophet the third, but clearly this series wasn't plotted out ahead of time, and Card's just letting the story formulate as he goes along. There's enough adventure and dramatic tension in this book to make it a decent read, and the series overall is powerful enough to keep us going, but this volume is not quite up to Card's usually high standards.

In this third book of the Alvin Maker series, we see Alvin grow into a man. Comparatively, the first two books took place over a shorter time span and put more effort into developing the fascinating world Card has created. In PRENTICE ALVIN, there is much more emphasis on character development and maturation. Characters really come into their own in this book as well as develop some very intriguing relationships among themselves. Interactions between Alvin, Peggy, Arthur Stuart, Makepeace Smith, and others make this book a joy to read and gives you a depth of understanding of those characters that make them come to life.

The bulk of the book describes events that happen during Alvin's apprenticeship to the blacksmith of Hatrack River. The Unmaker returns to hound and molest Alvin, and a few characters from the first two books are brought back and built up. Cavil Planter is a new a very interesting character that has disillusioned himself into thinking that he is doing to work of the Lord while committing heinous crimes. Central to the story is the introduction of the pickanniny mimic Arthur Stuart, who will undoubtedly have far-reaching consequences for the rest of the series.

The book is fast and entertaining, with the same great characters you love and a couple more that are sure to please. I can't wait to read the next installment!