The Crystal City : The Tales of Alvin Maker, Book Six by Orson Scott Card

The Tales of Alvin Maker continue in The Crystal City, the sixth book in the historical fantasy series from the Hugo and Nebula award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Ender's Game.

Using the lore and the folk-magic of the men and women who settled North America, Orson Scott Card has created an alternate world where magic works, and where that magic has colored the entire history of the colonies. Charms and beseechings, hexes and potions, all have a place in the lives of the people of this world. Dowsers find water, the second sight warns of dangers to come, and a torch can read a person's future--or their heart.

In this world where "knacks" abound, Alvin, the seventh son of a seventh son, is a very special man indeed. He's a Maker; he has the knack of understanding how things are put together, how to create them, repair them, keep them whole, or tear them down. He can heal hearts as well as bones, he build a house, he can calm the waters or blow up a storm. And he can teach his knack to others, to the measure of their own talent.

Alvin has been trying to avert the terrible war that his wife, Peggy, a torch of extraordinary power, has seen down the life-lines of every American. Now she has sent him down the Mizzippy to the city of New Orleans, or Nueva Barcelona as they call it under Spanish occupation. Alvin doesn't know exactly why he's there, but when he and his brother-in-law, Arthur Stuart, find lodgings with a family of abolitionists who know Peggy, he suspects he'll find out soon.

But Nueva Barcelona is about to experience a plague, and Alvin's efforts to protect his friends by keeping them healthy will create more danger than he could ever have suspected. And in saving the poor people of the city, Alvin will be put to the greatest test of his life--a test that will draw on all his power. For the time has come for him to turn to his old friend Tenskwa-Tawa, the Red Prophet who controls the lands to the west of the Mizzippy.

Now Alvin must take the first steps on the road to the Crystal City that was shown to him in a vision so long ago.

The Tales of Alvin Maker series

Seventh Son

Red Prophet

Prentice Alvin

Alvin Journeyman

Heartfire

The Crystal City

Master Alvin

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Praise for this book

Praise for Orson Scott Card

“One of the greats of contemporary science fiction and fantasy.”

—The Wall Street Journal

“Orson Scott Card is as fine a writer as we have.”

—The Los Angeles Times



“Card is a master storyteller.”

—The Seattle Times

About the Author

ORSON SCOTT CARD may be best known for his science fiction (including Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead), but, regretting the lack of fantasy novels set in the American past, he started the Tales of Alvin Maker, the epic of a powerful mage on the American frontier.

Card was born in 1951 in Richland, Washington, and went to school in Santa Clara, California; Mesa, Arizona; and Provo, Utah. After serving as a missionary for the LDS Church in São Paulo, Brazil, he earned degrees at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah, worked as an editor of books and magazines, and wrote plays and audioplays. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina with his wife, Kristine Allen Card. They are the parents of three adult children and grandparents of seven.

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Title: The Crystal City : The Tales of Alvin Maker, Book Six
Author(s): Orson Scott Card
Volume: 6
ISBN: 9781429964500
Copyright 2004
Release Date: October 01, 2004
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Countries: United States, Canada | Learn more about available countries
Language: English
Format: mobi,ePub | Learn More about our supported formats

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