Seventh Son (1987) is an alternate history / fantasy novel by American writer Orson Scott Card . It is the first book in Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker series and is about Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son . Seventh Son won a Locus Award and was nominated for both the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards in 1988. Seventh sons have strong "knacks" (specific magical abilities), and seventh sons of seventh sons are both extraordinarily rare and powerful. In fact, young Alvin appears to be the only one in the world. His abilities make him the target of the Unmaker , who recognizes Alvin's powers as those of a Maker, only the second ever, and it had been a long time since the first had walked on water and turned water to wine. The Unmaker works largely by water and tries to kill Alvin in his early years before he can master his abilities.
25-520: Seventh Son may refer to: Seventh Son (2023 novel) , a 2023 novel by Sebastian Faulks Seventh Son (novel) , a 1987 novel by Orson Scott Card 7th Son: Descent , a novel by J.C. Hutchins The Seventh Son (film) , a 1926 silent German film Seventh Son (film) , a 2014 fantasy film " The Seventh Son ", a "standard" blues song written by Willie Dixon Seventh Son , an album by Georgie Fame See also [ edit ] Seventh son of
50-489: A Maker. As the years pass, Alvin avoids numerous attempts of an unknown force trying to kill him and us often helped by the intervention of a mysterious protector. Alvin's father, a nonbeliever in God, believes that a water spirit is trying to kill Alvin. When Alvin is seven, a new Reverend, named Thrower, arrives in town and tries to build a church. Alvin's father refuses to help, but Mrs. Miller has all of her sons work on building
75-610: A blacksmith in the town on the Hatrack River in which he was born. Taleswapper meets Peggy. It is revealed that she, using her torch powers and Alvin's birth caul, had protected Alvin all of those years, and the Unmaker hurt Alvin with the millstone only because Alvin himself overrode her powers. The book's sequel, which is second in the tales of Alvin's life, is Red Prophet . The Unmaker The Tales of Alvin Maker
100-423: A millstone fall on him. Taleswapper encourages him to heal himself. Alvin does so but finds that he cannot heal himself part of his bone. He realizes that he might need outside help to heal. Reverend Thrower, acting as a surgeon, attempts to kill him but finds himself blocked by a mysterious force. Alvin heals himself with the aid of his brother Measure, who performs the surgery. Alvin is contracted as an apprentice to
125-447: A millstone. Here, one of Alvin's knacks is revealed since he singlehandedly cuts the millstone through hard rock. During the night, Taleswapper and Mr. Miller guard the millstone. Mr. Miller tells Taleswapper a story about how a force is trying to use him to kill Alvin. Taleswapper advises Mr. Miller to send Alvin away to somewhere he may be safe. The next day, the millstone is taken home. The Unmaker finally manages to injure Alvin by making
150-540: A seventh son , a concept in folklore Seventh Son of a Seventh Son , an Iron Maiden album Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Seventh Son . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seventh_Son&oldid=1176074947 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
175-532: A tree down the river to crush the wagon the pregnant Mrs. Miller is riding in. Her eldest son, Vigor, diverts the tree but is mortally wounded in the act. Because a seventh son must be born while the other six are alive, Vigor desperately clings to life until Alvin is born. Help is dispatched at the insistence of five-year-old "torch" (a person who, among other things, can see the life forces of people and, under certain conditions, their myriad alternate futures) Peggy Guester, who sees Alvin and Alvin's possible future as
200-569: A victory over his sisters. However, he then has a vision that he dubs Shining Man, who makes him promise to use his knack only for good. When Alvin is ten, "Taleswapper" ( William Blake ), a traveling storyteller, arrives in the town that Alvin's parents have founded. After stopping by the house of Alvin's brother-in-law, who directs Taleswapper to the Miller house, he visits the church and notices that its altar has been touched upon by an evil entity. Reverend Thrower kicks him out, and Taleswapper goes to
225-417: A world in which folk magic actually works and manifests differently by race. Many Caucasian characters have a limited supernatural ability, or “knack,” to do some task nearly perfectly, Native Americans manifest nature magic, and people of African ancestry can work voodoo . The stories involve a number of historical events and figures but are as a creation of alternate history . The primary divergence
250-803: Is a colony of a Republican England in which the English Restoration never occurred thanks to Cromwell’s survival.) A monarchy on the southern portion of the Eastern Seaboard (the real-world Carolinas , Georgia , etc.), known as the "Crown Colonies," was founded by the House of Stuart in exile. An autonomous region, known as "Apalachee," is centered on the Appalachian Mountains . Canada remains controlled by France , and Florida and Nueva Barcelona (the real-world Louisiana ) are colonized by Spain. The real-world Mexico
275-508: Is a series of six alternate history fantasy novels written by American novelist Orson Scott Card , published from 1987 to 2003, with one more planned. They explore the experiences of a young man, Alvin Miller, who realizes he has incredible powers for creating and shaping things around him. The stories take place on the American frontier in the early 19th century, a fantasy setting based on early American folklore and superstition in
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#1732787744876300-423: Is a supernatural force that breaks apart matter and aims to destroy and consume everything and everyone. Essentially, the Unmaker is entropy as a conscious and destructive entity. Aside from opposing all life, the Unmaker is the particular nemesis of Alvin Miller, who is a Maker of exceptional power and prodigious creativity and enriches life by constructing both objects and social bridges. That threatens and thwarts
325-549: Is an indigenous empire but faces the prospect of war from the United States and from European powers. In addition, many historical figures are presented as caricatures or bear only superficial resemblance to their historical life. Some historical figures are also accorded knacks, such as Benjamin Franklin (appearing only briefly but being repeatedly mentioned), who is said to have been a Maker, and Napoleon , who has
350-420: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Seventh Son (novel) Alvin's family is migrating west. When they try to cross the Hatrack River, an unknown force, known as the Unmaker, tries to stop the still-unborn Alvin from being born since Alvin would be the seventh son of a seventh son and therefore have incredible powers as a Maker. The force sends
375-607: Is the survival of Oliver Cromwell from the illness that killed him in reality since a physician secretly has a magical healing knack (Cromwell considered such knacks evil witchcraft ). The Colonial United States is divided in the books into a number of separate nations, including a smaller United States , whose capital is Philadelphia and largest city is a Dutch -settled but increasingly- English -speaking New Amsterdam . The series displays much stronger Native American influence in its culture and society between New England and Virginia that extends westwards to Ohio . (New England
400-549: The Millers' place, where his timely intervention stops Mr. Miller from killing Alvin. Taleswapper is welcomed in and helps to put a name to the unknown force that tries to stop Alvin from realizing his true powers as a Maker: the Unmaker . Meanwhile, the Reverend Philadelphia Thrower becomes a tool of the Unmaker, the evil force that touched the altar. Soon, the Miller family goes to a quarry to cut out
425-415: The Unmaker, which repeatedly attempts to do away with Alvin, at first by inducing accidents at Alvin's childhood, especially by drowning since eroding water has a natural affinity to it, and later by influencing people to challenge and repudiate him. To make something is to oppose the Unmaker, but a point often made is that is futile. By natural law, the Unmaker can tear down faster than any man can build. On
450-437: The abilities to make others adore and obey him and to see others' great ambitions. Famous Native American figures include Tecumseh , who is called "Ta Kumsaw" in the books, and his brother Tensquatawa is also featured, as "Tenskwa Tawa." The characters in the book display features that are similar to those of both real-life famous Native Americans. The famous Battle of Tippecanoe in which both brothers were involved occurs in
475-504: The church. When the ridgebeam is being placed onto the church in construction, it shivers and breaks and seems about to fall on Alvin. However, mid-air, it breaks in two and misses Alvin, which is yet another example of Alvin's near-death experiences. When Alvin goes home, he provokes one of his sisters by poking her and so they get revenge on Alvin by putting needles into his night gown. Alvin avenges himself by using his knack to send cockroaches after his sisters. The plan works, and Alvin has
500-582: The events in Seventh Son are similar to stories about Smith's childhood. Alvin has visions of creating a Crystal City, which is similar to the church settlement of Nauvoo, Illinois . Alvin has had premonitions that he may die after building the Crystal City, which suggests Smith's death in Carthage, Illinois . Alvin was also the name of Smith's eldest brother . Race also plays a large part in
525-462: The most effective shape. A priest would see an avenging angel, a slave-owner would see a great overseer, etc. It does not appear to those who destroy willingly since they serve its cause already. Alvin has some characteristics similar to Joseph Smith , the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . Card is a member of this denomination, which is known informally as Mormons . Some of
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#1732787744876550-452: The other hand, making cares nothing about natural law. As Taleswapper reveals to a seven-year-old Alvin, the creation of what is known as the Crystal City could defeat and even destroy the Unmaker. That becomes Alvin's mission in life. The Unmaker is usually undetectable to most people, but Alvin can detect its attention as a shimmering around his field of vision. It manifests when it needs to tempt people into war and destruction and then takes
575-561: The second book, Red Prophet , but its outcome is different from the historic one. Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son , discovers that his knack far surpasses that of everyone else. He can change both living and nonliving matter simply by force of will and so has the title "Maker." This power comes at a cost, however, since Alvin feels a great responsibility to use his power for good, and there are also forces that actively seek his death. Alvin must discover how to use his abilities, apply them for good, and struggle to survive. Along
600-428: The stories, particularly in how culture shapes the abilities that people of different groups develop. " Whites " have knacks or cultivated skills that appear to be derived from the folklore and traditions of Colonial America and Western Europe . " Reds " align themselves with the rhythms of nature but also use blood to perform some of their magic. " Blacks " channel their skills into creating objects of power like in
625-555: The way, he is helped by a number of people who have knacks that are not as strong, but they see in Alvin a way to use their wisdom and abilities to contribute to a greater good. Some people try to misguide him or exploit his abilities for their own purposes. Alvin Miller is Card's reimagining of Joseph Smith , founder of the Latter Day Saint movement . These are characters who are mentioned but do not appear. The Unmaker
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