Master Alvin
The Tales of Alvin Maker concludes in Master Alvin, the final book in the historical fantasy series from the Hugo and Nebula award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Ender's Game.
Inspired by 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 a 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 builds 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.
In this final novel in the Alvin Maker series, Alvin’s journey leads him himself across the river—visiting his old friend the Red Prophet, across the country, and even across the Atlantic, where Irish folk with knacks are being persecuted. Through trials and tribulations, Alvin must learn when to use his extraordinary powers, and when to not, as he strives to safehold his people from a darkness that threatens everything they’ve built in the Crystal City, and in their very hearts.
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Orson Scott Card
Before Ender’s Game became required reading in classrooms and a touchstone for science fiction fans worldwide, it was just a short story—one that Orson Scott Card wrote while trying to understand how humanity might survive its own genius. That idea, born of curiosity and a deep interest in moral complexity, would eventually grow into a sprawling series exploring war, empathy, leadership, and the loneliness of brilliance.
Born in Richland, Washington in 1951 and raised mostly in Utah and California, Card grew up in a family where storytelling was a living thing—spoken, passed down, constantly evolving. Though he began his career writing plays and studying literature, he found his true voice in speculative fiction. And when he wrote Ender’s Game—and later Speaker for the Dead—he did something science fiction rarely dared at the time: he treated the genre as a tool for exploring the human soul.
The Tales of Alvin Maker
In an alternate early America where folk magic is as real as rivers and the future is written in visions, The Tales of Alvin Maker unfolds like a frontier myth whispered over firelight. It’s a world half-recognizable—filled with Puritan towns, wandering storytellers, and backwoods mystics—but charged with a sense of fate, wonder, and quiet danger that sets it apart from typical historical fantasy.
The Tales of Alvin Maker consists of six books and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
