Next book

PRENTICE ALVIN: Vol. III of The Tales of Alvin Mak

Third volume of Card's Tales of Alvin Maker (most recently Red Prophet, 1988), set in an alternate America where magic works (people have "knacks") and a fledgling US peacefully coexists with various Crown Colonies, republics, and independent Indian nations. Alvin returns to the town of his birth, Hatrack River, to take up his apprenticeship with Makepeace the blacksmith; he will also, finally, meet Peggy, the "torch" (she reads people's futures, among other things), who has been Alvin's secret protector since his birth. Alvin hopes she can teach him the art of Making. But Makepeace turns out to be a harsh and mean taskmaster; worse, Peggy has disappeared (she loves Alvin, but can foresee nothing but disaster for them as a couple). Alvin, then, learns to extend his powers greatly, but does not yet discover what he needs in order to become a Maker. After various complications involving slavery (still institutionalized in the South), Peggy returns to Hatrack River magically disguised, to be the town schoolmarm. Alvin, furious with the unyielding Makepeace and inspired by the schoolmarm's gentle guidance (he still doesn't know who she really is), mingles iron and magic to craft a golden plow that, in some eerie fashion, seems alive. Finally, Alvin and Peggy reveal themselves to each other, then part once more, as Alvin—now secure in his knowledge of the art of Making—realizes that his true vocation is to teach the art to others. Another thoughtful, involving, immensely appealing yarn, bubbling with folksy charm: Alvin shows no sign of running out of steam.

Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1989

ISBN: 0812502124

Page Count: -

Publisher: Tor

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1989

Next book

THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA

A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.

A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.

Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.

A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Tor

Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019

Next book

DARK MATTER

Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.

A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.

Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.

Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.

Pub Date: July 26, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016

Close Quickview