E-Book Overview
rom the end of the eighteenth century into the early years of the nineteenth, Americans crossed the Appalachian Mountains and Northwest Territory, spreading west. They traveled to find new homes, new lands, and they brought with them the plain magics of plain people. It is from these roots of the American dream that award-winning writer Orson Scott Card has crafted a uniquely American fantasy. Using the lore and the folk magic of the men and women who settled a continent, and the beliefs of the tribes who were here before them, Card has created an alternate frontier America; a world where certain magic really works and has colored the entire history of the colonies. Charms, beseechings, hexes, and potions all have a place in the lives of the people of this world. 'Knacks' abound: dowsers find water, sparks set fires, blacksmiths speak to iron, the second sight warns of dan ger, and a torch can read the heart-fire of anyone within reach. Alvin Miller is the seventh son of a seventh son, born while all of his brothers still lived. Such a birth is a powerful magic; such a boy is destined to perhaps become a Maker, even though no Maker has been born for many a century. But Alvin is something special; and even before his birth, dark forces reached out to destroy him. Rejoin the tale of Alvin and his wife Peggy as they work to create the Crystal City of Alvin's vision, where all people can live together in peace. ORSON SCOTT CARD lives in Greensboro, North Carolina.
E-Book Content
THE CRYSTAL CITY THE TALES OF ALVIN MAKER VI ORSON SCOTT CARD A TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES BOOK NEW YORK This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. THE CRYSTAL CITY Copyright © 2003 by Orson Scott Card All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. This book is printed on acid-free paper. A For Book Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC 175 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10010 Page 1 www.tor.com For is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Card, Orson Scott. The crystal city / Orson Scott Card.—1sted. p. cm.—(Alvin Maker ; #6) ISBN 0-312-86483-3 (regular edition) ISBN 0-765-30874-6 (limited edition) 1. Maker, Alvin (Fictitious character)—Fiction. I. Title. PS3553.A655C79 2003 813'.54—dc21 2003055992 First Edition: November 2003 Printed in the United States of America 0987654321 To Chris and Christi Baughan Evenly matched Contents 1 Nueva Barcelona..... 2 Squirrel and Moose... 3 Fever.............. 4 La Tia.............. 5 Crystal Ball......... Page 2 6 Exodus............. 7 Errand Boy......... 8 Plans.............. 9 Expeditions......... 10 Mizzippy........... 11 Flood.............. 12 Springfield.......... 13 Mission............ 14 Plow........... 15 Popocatepetl........ 16 Labor.............. 17 Foundation......... Acknowledgments........ Maps…………… THE CRYSTAL CITY 1 Nueva Barcelona Page 3 IT SEEMED LIKEeverybody and his brother was in Nueva Barcelona these days. It was steamboats, mostly, that brought them. Even though the fog on the Mizzippy made it so a white man couldn't cross the river to the west bank, the steamboats could make the trip up and down the channel, carrying goods and passengers—which was the same as saying they carried money and laid it into the laps of whoever happened to be running things at the river's mouth. These days that meant the Spanish, officially, anyway. They owned Nueva Barcelona and it had their troops all over it. But the very presence of those troops said something. One thing it said was that the S