Heartfire: 5

Written by Orson Card

Narrated by Nana Visitor

The fifth installment of Orson Scott Card' s best-selling series The Tales of Alvin Maker

Peggy Guester is a Torch, whose power is so great that she can follow the paths of each person's future and know their most intimate secrets. From the moment of Alvin's birth, Peggy has protected him. Now they are married, but their destinies have torn them apart: Alvin has gone to New England, where knacks are considered witchcraft and their use is punished with death. On a quest for world peace, Peggy has traveled south to the British Crown Colonies and the court of King Arthur Stuart. There she waits in exile, her life at risk in the hands of Alvin's younger brother Calvin, who has no intentions of showing her any brotherly love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Phoenix Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 1, 1998
• ISBN: 9781597776516

Reviews for Heartfire

[altheaann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Card is an extremely good writer, and his books are always a pleasure to read, but at times I did feel that the stories here occasionally suffered for being too allegorical, and too much about Card's ideas of morality.

In the 5th volume, 'Heartfire' Alvin marries Peggy, the schoolteacher. All I have to say is, I'm not sure what Card is trying to get at here, but he seems to have a peculiar idea of marriage. Basically, they get together, conceive a child, and run off to totally separate parts of the country both doing their own political thing. Alvin can 'see' Peggy from afar, but no actual romantic love is portrayed in the story AT ALL. Very odd. Anyway, most of the story here, again, is a courtroom drama. This time, Alvin, his lawyer, Verily Cooper, Arthur Stuart, and John James Audubon (yes, the famous naturalist, here portrayed as a caricature of the French - it's kinda weird), encounter a young woman who suspects that she herself may be a witch. Of course, she accuses Alvin and his friends of witchcraft. But when the witch-hunter comes, she finds herself accused as well. Alvin feels the need to stick around and save her from herself. The judge in the case is John Adams (not, here, a President), and meanwhile, Calvin is hanging out with Balzac (the author). And yes, the gratuitous appearances of historical figures was annoying me (but that's just me).

[rrlevering · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Card seems to drag this series out in this fifth installment of the Alvin Maker story. I love the main ideas of this series and yes, I read them all. As they progress, however, they seem to be less and less about telling a story and more and more about forcing characters through a weak plot in order to explore the world he created. A great author creates amazing characters and then just has them react to the world - and does not have them make strange choices just to set up scenarios that the author wants. I feel like the decision to go force a witch trial in the anti-"magic" northeast and then go confront the king in the monarchical southeast is entirely fantastical (not in the genre way) and inappropriate.In addition, there are blatant reflections of an Atlas Shrugged theme of the main character collecting "special" people to form a better society that promotes individual talent. Alvin also tends to make speeches in a similar, albeit less wordy way, as Mr. Galt. Maybe Card should get together with Goodkind (an even more obvious objectivist) and they can start a little Ayn Rand fantasy club. :) Like I say about Goodkind's novels - I don't mind objectivism as a philosophy, I just don't want my books with hidden agendas. When all the good characters have one way of looking at the world and all of the bad characters have an opposing philosophy, it has gone beyond characterization and the author's views are now corrupting the story.As harsh as this seems, Card is obviously a good writer and he writes a book that I like to read. He may make a bunch of decisions in the story that I disagree with, but the book does flow well and after I got past my eye-rolling I didn't have problems finishing it.

[laileana · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Come live in an America that might have been. Where everyday people used hexes and charms in their homes and lives. Where a slave turned into a bird and flew to freedom with infant in her arms. Where Red men created a powerful magic with the sacrifice of their lives and in doing so created a barrier no white man could ever cross. Where a Weaver sits in her cabin weaving our lives-as her ancestress did in the old country-as her cousins in the old country do even now-and as her daughter in the Red mans land does as well. Where Ben Franklin was a Wizard and a Maker and George Washington was beheaded. Where the Iroquis-in the books the Irawaka are one of the original states that sign the constitution-known in the books as The Compact. A Compact that makes Red men-Native Americans- citizens as well as black men-no slaves. The books tell the tale of Alvin, who is the seventh son of a seventh son and a very powerful Maker-almost like a wizard. He fights against the Unmaker. The books also feature a very prominent Torch-or psychic. In these novels Card weaves a wonderful Continent full of powerful characters.

[delta351 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story presents an interesting juxtaposition of witchcraft trials in the North, and the evils of slavery in the South.

[comfypants · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Book five in the Alvin Maker series. These books had been steadily declining in quality as the series went on, but this one was was almost as good as the first. I think that's partly because the repetitiousness of the series didn't bother me because its been a long time since I read the last book. And partly because some new and genuinely interesting characters showed up, and making and playing with great characters is where Card is at his best.

[bigorangemichael_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After a rather lackluster entry for the fourth installment, I had high hopes Orson Scott Card's Tales of Alvin Maker would get back on track in book five. Yes and no. Yes, the story actually moves the overall plot arc forward a bit. But it also suffers from the same criticism I head of "Alvin Journeyman"--too much time spent philosophizing about the current state of things or having debates that don't really do much in terms of plot progression or character revelation. I get it, already....Calvin is jealous of Alvin. The two are mirrors of each other, working toward an upcoming conflict that, quite frankly, I wish would just get here already so we could move on

[justine_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Card makes a fantastic alternative to early american history

[hippielunatic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Heartfire was one of the quicker reads in the series for me, and while I enjoyed it immensely (as I do almost everything I've ever read by Card) it felt a bit too forced for me in parts. I realize that there is an end goal that Alvin Smith is attempting to reach, and each main character also has a set of goals that they live by, but these goals are smashed together.That is not to say that I am not fully wrapped up in each goal. I want to know how the slavery issue is finalized. I was ecstatic to see the path of witch trials in Card's alternate reality. I am, of course, interested in what needs to happen to make Crystal City a reality. Does Calvin learn his lesson?But even for a series of books, this number of goals seems too high. My attention is shifted over and over. Perhaps, deep down, I want as many Card books on my shelf as possible. I want a series for each goal... or at least a stand alone book for each.

[willowcove · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My personal feelings about the author aside. The first book was a fun read. Unfortunately, each successive book in the series got more and more disappointing.