I enjoyed them, but found them to be very mediocre overall. Like you, I thought Card had some fairly original ideas going, and it was also interesting to me as one of the only alternate histories that I've read. I liked it a lot in the beginning, but as it went on, it definitely dragged. I think the reason is because I kept waiting for Alvin to DO something. He was supposedly this almighty maker, but he almost never did anything at all. Sure, maybe it's a little unrealistic to expect to witness the rise of an all-powerful mage in the early United States (), but still, if you're going to focus a book around a character with interesting powers, I'd at least like to see those interesting powers used.

Anyway. Worth reading, but not much more.