• Alvin Journeyman

  • Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 4
  • By: Orson Scott Card
  • Narrated by: Blackstone Audio
  • Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,697 ratings)

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Alvin Journeyman  By  cover art

Alvin Journeyman

By: Orson Scott Card
Narrated by: Blackstone Audio
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Publisher's summary

Alvin is a Maker, the first to be born in a century. Now a grown man and a journeyman smith, Alvin has returned to his family in the town of Vigor Church. He will share in their isolation, work as a blacksmith, and try to teach anyone who wishes to learn the knack of being a Maker. For Alvin has had a vision of the Crystal City he will build, and he knows that he cannot build it alone. But he has left behind, in Hatrack River, true friends as well as enemies. And his ancient foe, the Unmaker, whose cruel whispers and deadly plots have threatened Alvin's life at every turn, has found new hands to do his work of destruction.
Don't miss other titles in the Tales of Alvin Maker series.
©1995 Orson Scott Card (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"The best fantasy series now in progress." ( Publishers Weekly)
"This superb and welcome book continues the saga at the same high level as before....[The Tales of Alvin Maker] promises to be [Card's] most notable creation." ( Booklist)

What listeners say about Alvin Journeyman

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great series, but Orson tends to get long winded

I just finished Journeyman in this undeniably beuatiful series, but at several places in the book I got itchy and irritated. Orson Scott Card tends to weave more and more pious-sounding religious undertones into the story and, at least to my taste, diverges from his narrrative at several very suspenseful places to long-winded, not really interesting explanations, philosophical analyses and what have you. This is not to say you should stop reading the series, just that I often thought: man, get ON with it!
Nevertheless: a story that captures you.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Every Time

I've listened to this book (actually the whole series) multiple times. Card is a great writer and the voices are awesome. The Alvin Maker series is one great series worth listening to over and over.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A good addition

All I can say is this is another well wirtten and preformed piece of the Alvin Maker Story. Thou Mr. Card is clearly a master of novels of all kinds, he gives us here something far better than a Journeyman's piece.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Just keeps getting better..

This series is beyond epic. And EACH book blows me away just a little more than the last. It feels so real in a way that other fantasies dont. Highly recommended.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Is this going anywhere?

There’s so much to love about this series--the depth of the characters, the re-imagining of American history, the tolerance and sympathy the author evokes for slaves and Indians and his insights into the hypocrisy of politics and religion and the almighty arrogance of the hateful white folks. And yet, the love and deep commitment some of characters have for their family. I love the country-fied slang and the characters with all their knacks and hexes. It’s full of magic and truth--seeing past the facades folks present. However, imo, in this installation the author kinda goes off the rails. It’s like he didn’t know how to go forward with Alvin Maker. Alvin already became a journeyman in the last book so it was time for him to go forward and create a new world, but seems like the author didn’t know where to take him, so instead he brings him back to Hatrack River where Alvin gets indicted and thrown into jail and the whole rest of the story is about the c-r-a-z-y trial. I thought the most significant new character was Verity, the lawyer representing Alvin. Verity has his own makery skills. However, I just know I’m not gonna be listening to this one again. The characters in the trial were beyond weird. Maybe in the next installation OSC will pick up the story and go forward. I hope so cuz this series has so much going for it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Multiple readers = little boredom

The part of the story that fascinates me most, is how he twists and turns the plot so there's no way to know what is coming next. I love the historical periodic setting. And I especially love the potential that he builds into each character. I'm really learning to love these guys, it's a great story.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Law & Order: OSC

Basically just Law & Order: Orson Scott Card edition. It was enjoyable enough because of the character personas established in the previous books, but there were too many boring, mostly uneventful parts

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Getting better

The story line is improving, but still too much wordiness and too little substance, particularly with Cal

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Many lose ends tied. Great story set up

The way so many things were tied back together was flawless. Card has a magnificent way of creating personalities and has some true insight into the human psyche.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great continuation

Great continuation of an excellent, imaginative series. This is my second time through the books.

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