The Crystal City / Orson Scott Card

 

The Crystal City by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is last published volume of this series and I have to say that I'm fine with that. This odd alternate history is really not my bag. At all.

This book finds Alvin in New Barcelona (referred to as Barcy) known to us as New Orleans. Because of political manoeuvring between the French, Spanish and Portuguese, Alvin ends up leading a large group of people out of the area by using his amazing Maker skills. He's very much a Moses figure, leading his people to the promised land of freedom and equality. In fact Card has a character expressly say this, just in case you're not quick on the uptake.

There's a side story consisting of Calvin signing up with Jim Bowie to go “deal with" the Aztecs of Mexica. This seems to be mostly to reacquaint the reader with how selfish and entitled Calvin is. He both loves and despises Alvin--I'm just not sure what he's supposed to be meaning to me as a reader. The Crystal City itself might be an interpretation of Salt Lake City, in keeping with Card's Mormon roots. The whole series seems to be thinly veiled allegory of a lot of Christian and LDS lore, troweled on thickly and rather confusingly. Card mixes his metaphors all over the place.

I have to say that I hate what the author does with historical figures like Abraham Lincoln. Yes, they were ordinary humans, but Card seems to be intent on kicking them off their pedestals and making them ultra-ordinary, even kind of goofy. Rather like Calvin is always attempting to do to Alvin.

Is his point that people are just people and that utopia is impossible? If so, thanks but we already know that. If he's used six books just to say that using our talents to build things is a good thing, even if our efforts don't last, well duh! I find his opinions and personal beliefs baked into these novels, but the point of that is not at all clear to me. I really liked Ender's Game, but having read these books, I find myself not liking the author very much. I don't think he's someone I would want to spend time with.

I hear that Card is planning to write one more book in this series, and I can see that there are still unanswered questions, but I am laying it down right here. No further will I read. I will celebrate freedom just as fervently as Alvin's followers.

Book number 421 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.



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