Seventh Son

By Orson Scott Card

This is a review of an audiobook I listened to on my commute. I'm a fan of Card's work and have been for several years. My brother got me hooked by lending me the novels Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead. Since then, I've read several Card novels (and don't bother to wait for Bob to send them to me—I buy them myself). But I was reluctant to read this series. I didn't know too much about it, but that somehow it involves some sort of prophet and someone named "Alvin." I know the series was based on a poem Card wrote called "Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow". It's included in Maps in a Mirror, which I own. But I couldn't make heads or tails of the poem, and in the Afterward of this book, Card admits that the poem is impenetrable to most people (he says his mother is the only person who's read it in its entirety). But that's all I had to go on, and so wasn't interested. But this was the only Card book the library had, and I had to listen to something, so I gave it a shot. After all, if it sucked, it wouldn't cost me anything. I'm glad I took the chance.

Seventh Son starts out a little slow. Like most of Card's fiction, it presents terms to the reader as if they already know what's he talking about (e.g. "Torch"). But he's such a skillful writer that he makes himself clear and educates the reader without being patronizing. It took me about three chapters to get interested in the story. After that, I was happily engrossed.

The story centers around Alvin Miller, a seventh son of a seventh son—a child predestined for greatness. The story takes place in an alternate past during the westward expansion of the United States. It references many historical figures, such as Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, but gives them alternate biographies (for example, George Washington is beheaded in Card's history, the Native Americans have their own, real state). In this alternate past, folk magic is heavily practiced—and it actually works—though scorned and discouraged by Christian authorities (even though most of those practicing it are Christian). And many people are born with "knacks"—special supernatural abilities that enale them to do something better than average people. The use of these, too, are discouraged by the Christian authorities.

Alvin's life is filled with mystic events. He is saved more than once by a supernatural force. Even as a child of six, he can command and craft stone and wood more skillfully than even those with known knacks for such things. His abilities only augment as he gets older.

For years I've been puzzled as to why Card calls his website "Hatrack River". Is it a river he lives nearby? Is it an obscure reference to one of his books? Is it an obscure reference to some other literary work that I am too poorly read to grasp? Alas, this book holds the answer. The Hatrack River features prominently in this book. However, it is always referred to as evil and selfish. So why did he name his website after it? Hmm...

One of the things I enjoyed about the audio book presentation of the book was its use of several different readers. Each chapter of the book normally focuses on just one character, so it is read by a narrator appropriate to that person. While not really necessary—a single narrator with a clear voice would do just fine—the use of different readers really helped me understand each character better. The voice for Alvin and his father is somewhat folksy, the reader for the preacher sounds proper and faintly Scottish, and the girls are voiced by a woman. And Orson Scott Card, the author himself, reads the Afterward. I never heard this done before, but I really enjoyed it.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It kept me interested and wanting to know what was going to happen next. And I was disappointed when it ended, eager to read the next book, Red Prophet (which, luckily, has been out for several years).

External links

• An overview of Seventh Son from Card's website
• Chapter One of Seventh Son from Card's website