Heartfire

Last updated
HeartFire
OSCheartfire.jpg
Front cover
Author Orson Scott Card
Cover artist Dennis Nolan
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series The Tales of Alvin Maker
Genre Fantasy, alternate history
Publisher Tor Books
Publication date
1998
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages336
ISBN 0-8125-0924-2
OCLC 41344560
Preceded by Alvin Journeyman  
Followed by The Crystal City  

Heartfire (1998) is an alternate history/fantasy novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. It is the fifth book in Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker series and is about Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son. Heartfire was nominated for the Locus Award in 1999. [1]

Contents

Plot summary

Alvin marries Peggy, and they conceive a daughter (not born by the end of the book).

Alvin, Verily Cooper, Arthur Stuart, and Mike Fink are joined by John James Audubon, a French-speaking painter of birds. This group go to a Puritan-dominated place near Boston and end up confronting the witch laws.

Meanwhile, Peggy has gone to the Crown Colonies - slave states that ruled by the Stuart dynasty in exile - in an attempt to free the slaves.

Purity is introduced, a Puritan girl whose parents were hanged for their knacks, which are considered witchcraft by the Puritans. Purity meets Alvin's band and Arthur Stuart tells her the whole story of their travels. Purity goes away convinced they are witches and tells a local witcher, Quill, who is evil and twists her words against her and the boys. Quill intends to hang them as well as Purity.

Alvin whisks away Arthur Stuart, Mike Fink, and Audubon by leading them into the greensong that lets them run hundreds of miles without tiring, but turning back without the others en route. Alvin gives himself up to the men sent to bring in the "witches" while Verily hides for the moment.

Quill has both Purity and Alvin running in tight circles to wear them down - a semi-legal form of torture, intended to make them confess to witchery. Verily comes by and loudly scolds Quill in front of the crowd, saying it's inhumane.

At the trial, Verily Cooper makes a case for overturning the witchery laws: in all previous witch trials, it was the witcher who brought up any connection with Satan, while the defendant had been too beaten down to resist. The judge, John Adams, is sympathetic, but realizes that a sudden overthrow of long-kept laws will cause social instability. However, based on Verily's evidence, he suspends the licenses of all witchers in New England for alleged misconduct; since, to reinstate their licenses, a witcher would have to prove his claims in a normal court, and since this is impossible, it effectively ends the practice of witch trials while leaving the laws on the books.

Calvin has come back to America from France with Honoré de Balzac, the French boy-writer. The two meet up with Peggy and Calvin gets himself in serious trouble.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salem witch trials</span> Legal proceedings in Massachusetts, 1692–1693

The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom were executed by hanging. One other man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death after refusing to enter a plea, and at least five people died in jail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Fink</span> American sailor and semi-legendary character (c. 1770/1780 – c. 1823)

Mike Fink, called "king of the keelboaters", was a semi-legendary brawler and river boatman who exemplified the tough and hard-drinking men who ran keelboats up and down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

<i>Lost Boys</i> (novel) 1992 novel by Orson Scott Card

Lost Boys (1992) is a horror novel by American author Orson Scott Card. The premise of the novel revolves around the daily lives of a Mormon family, and the challenges they face after a move to North Carolina. The story primarily follows the family's troubles at work, church, and the oldest child Stevie's difficulty fitting in at school, which lead to him becoming increasingly withdrawn.

Elizabeth "Betty" Parris was one of the young girls who accused other people of being witches during the Salem witch trials. The accusations made by Parris and her cousin Abigail Williams caused the direct death of 20 Salem residents: 19 were hanged, while another, Giles Corey, was pressed to death.

The Ender's Game series is a series of science fiction books written by American author Orson Scott Card. The series started with the novelette Ender's Game, which was later expanded into the novel of the same title. It currently consists of sixteen novels, thirteen short stories, 47 comic issues, an audioplay, and a film. The first two novels in the series, Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, each won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

<i>The Tales of Alvin Maker</i> Novel series by Orson Scott Card

The Tales of Alvin Maker 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Parris</span> Puritan minister during the Salem witch trials

Samuel Parris was the Puritan minister in Salem Village, Massachusetts, during the Salem witch trials. He was also the father of one of the afflicted girls, and the uncle of another.

<i>Seventh Son</i> (novel) 1987 novel by Orson Scott Card

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", 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tituba</span> 17th-century slave girl

Tituba (Barbados) was an enslaved woman who was one of the first to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692–1693. She was brought to colonial Massachusetts from Barbados by Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem Village. She was pivotal in the trials because she confessed to witchcraft when examined by the authorities, giving credence to the accusations. She accused the two other women, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, of the same crime. She was imprisoned for over a year but never went to trial. It is unknown what happened to her after the case against her was dismissed by a grand jury in May 1693.

<i>The Crystal City</i> 2003 novel by Orson Scott Card

The Crystal City (2003) is an alternate history/fantasy novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. It is the sixth book in Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker series and is about Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son.

<i>Red Prophet</i> 1988 novel by Orson Scott Card

Red Prophet (1988) is an alternate history/fantasy novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. It is the second book in Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker series and is about Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son. Red Prophet won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 1989, was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1988, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1989.

<i>Prentice Alvin</i> 1989 novel by Orson Scott Card

Prentice Alvin (1989) is an alternate history/fantasy novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. It is the third book in Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker series and is about Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son. Prentice Alvin won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 1990, was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1989, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1990.

<i>Maps in a Mirror</i> 1990 book by Orson Scott Card

Maps in a Mirror (1990) is a collection of short stories by American writer Orson Scott Card. Like Card's novels, most of the stories have a science fiction or fantasy theme. Some of the stories, such as "Ender's Game", "Lost Boys", and "Mikal's Songbird" were later expanded into novels. Each of the smaller volumes that make up the larger collection as a whole are centered on a theme or genre. For instance, Volume 1, The Changed Man, reprints several of Card's horror stories. The collection won the Locus Award in 1991.

<i>Alvin Journeyman</i> 1995 novel by Orson Scott Card

Alvin Journeyman (1995) is an alternate history/fantasy novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. It is the fourth book in Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker series and is about Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son. Alvin Journeyman won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 1996.

<i>Ender in Exile</i> 2008 novel by Orson Scott Card

Ender in Exile is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, part of the Ender's Game series, published on November 11, 2008. It takes place between the two award-winning novels Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead. It could also be considered a parallel novel to the first three sequels in the Shadow Saga, since the entirety of this trilogy takes place in the span of Ender in Exile. The novel concludes a dangling story line of the Shadow Saga, while it makes several references to events that take place during the Shadow Saga. From yet another perspective, the novel expands the last chapter of the original novel Ender's Game. On the one hand, it fills the gap right before the last chapter, and on the other hand, it fills the gap between the last chapter and the original (first) sequel. Ender in Exile begins one year after Ender has won the bugger war, and begins with the short story "Ender's Homecoming" from Card's webzine Intergalactic Medicine Show. Other short stories that were published elsewhere are included as chapters of the novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orson Scott Card</span> American science fiction novelist (born 1951)

Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur William Hodge</span> British Virgin Islands murderer

Arthur William Hodge was a plantation farmer, serial killer, member of the Executive Council and Legislative Assembly, and slave owner in the British Virgin Islands, who was hanged on 8 May 1811, for the murder of one of his slaves.

"Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow" is a poem by Orson Scott Card. The poem was the basis for Card's The Tales of Alvin Maker series.

Ender's Game is a series of comic book adaptations of a series of science fiction novels of the same name written by Orson Scott Card and published by Marvel Comics that began in October 2008. However, some have new content never before released in the novels. The series, like the novels they are based on, is set in a future where mankind is facing annihilation by an aggressive alien society, an insect-like race known colloquially as "Buggers" but more formally as "Formics". The central character, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, is one of the child soldiers trained at Battle School to be the future leaders of the protection of Earth. The year is never specified, although the ages of the Wiggin children are bound to change throughout space, taking in the relativity of space and time.

<i>Wyrms</i> (novel) 1987 novel by Orson Scott Card

Wyrms (1987) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. The story examines desire, wisdom, and human will. Card describes a version of the tri-partite soul, similar to that articulated by Plato in The Republic.

References

  1. "1999 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-16.