Uncommon Goods is another one of those really fun stores for geeks. I found the site and spent far too much time enjoying the selection. Lots of things that weren't my style at all, but tons that was.

I have all kinds of gift ideas for relatives now, so that I almost look forward to shopping. Too many of my family now know about Think Geek, so anything from Uncommon Goods will come as a real surprise. 

Alvin Journeyman continues the story of Alvin Maker as he tries to build the city he saw in his vision. He knows he needs help to do so, and has returned home to try and teach those of his home town how to be Makers as well.

Problems, of course, arise, as it proves incredibly difficult to train them. Worse, Alvin's younger brother, also the seventh (living) son of a seventh son, is quite jealous, as no one seems to realize that he ought to be a Maker too. He wants to be seen as Alvin's equal without all the work.

Alvin gets into trouble when he returns to Hatrack River, and the blacksmith he had been apprenticed to files charges trying to claim the golden plow Alvin made as his journeyman piece. He has a good case, and Alvin is arrested.

The story gets annoying at times, as Alvin refuses to let others suffer, and tries to keep their lies covered up, even though revealing them would help his case. He is accused of fathering a child out of wedlock by a girl from Vigor Church, but refuses to use the testimony that would prove it false, preferring to find another way, even though the testimony comes from a friend willing to prove that she knows how the girl really got pregnant.

Slavers also try to come and claim Arthur, the young black man Alvin rescued in the past. They also want Alvin charged with killing the slave hunter he had killed in a previous book who had been trying to take Arthur back to his rightful owner. However, since Alvin changed Arthur so that he doesn't match the skin and nail samples kept of him, and so the charges are dismissed, and slave hunters rebuked for trying to enslave a free man.

The story also gets into Alvin and Peggy's tumultuous relationship. Peggy is terrified that she will have to endure a loveless marriage, and continues to refuses to see that Alvin has come to love her. 

His brother Calvin, the other seventh son of a seventh son, is getting into mischief in Europe and learning what he feels he needs to know to prove that he's better than Alvin. He works his way into Napoleon's court and learns what he can of Napoleon's skills. In many ways, this is the more interesting part of the story, as Calvin's unashamed ambition makes more sense than Alvin's utter insistence on barely defending himself. 

In Red Prophet, you get a glimpse of the world outside what is directly happening to Alvin. William Harrison is introduced, as are others who will become important to the story.

When Alvin is sent out to become the apprentice to the blacksmith in the town where he was born, he and the brother he is traveling with are kidnapped and beaten severely by Indians who have been paid to start an incident. However, they are rescued by Ta-Kumsaw, and taken to live with his tribe for a time.

You'll meet all kinds of familiar historic characters... Napoleon and more. This adds such an interesting dimension. Some bear a strong resemblence to the men they really were, while others are much different.

You'll see Alvin learn to use his knack deliberately rather than accidentally. He learns from the Indians how to live peacefully with the earth. Alvin shares a vision with the Indian Prophet, which is vital to the rest of the series.

There's tragedy too, as Alvin's family sets out for revenge against the Indians they believe have murdered their sons. But you'll have to read the book to get more on that. 

Seventh Son starts out the Tales of Alvin Maker.

Imagine a 19th century America in which magic really works. Many people have a "knack," or gift.

A family is heading out to establish a new town. The mother is heavily pregnant, and as she labors, the wagon gets caught in a flooding stream. The eldest of the children dies but saves his mother. He lives just long enough that the new baby, Alvin, is the seventh living son of a seventh son. A Maker.

In this first book, Alvin is a child, using his knack unknowingly. Magic is a part of everyday life, and he doesn't realize just how special his skills are. Of course, the educated know that hexes and magic don't work, and the pastor of the church discourages their use.

The characters are quite believable, no one is all good or all bad. The Indians are connected quite deeply with the Earth.

There's just enough of the true history of the United States mixed in to make it all believable, even though there are far fewer states, and the technology is a bit different. 

I enjoy Eric Frank Russell's stories as a whole, but Sentinels from Space is far from my favorite. It has very little of the classic Russell humor and a moderately interesting plot.

Humanity has developed several different kinds of mutants, mostly due to space travel. Most of the known ones live on Mars and Venus, since everyone there has ancestors who traveled through space, whether or not they themselves have done so.

Mars and Venus are looking to establish their independence from Earth. Certainly any American citizen can sympathize with the desire to not be ruled by a distant power, at least if he or she has an understanding of history. But in this case, a war between the three worlds is inadvisable, even though no human knows it.

Yes, Earth, Mars and Venus are watched over by alien sentinels, who know that such a war is not a good idea, as alien invasion is a very real future problem. They would prefer to keep the planets united, and not allow Earth to be ruined, as it easily could be in such a war.

I found the range of mutants quite interesting and creative. Beyond the usual telepaths and teleports, there are "insectivocals" who can speak to insects, and other such mutations. I'll give some points for creativity, but still, this isn't one of Russell's stories that I will reread often. 

Imagine a time when Earth is so heavily populated that Cities are domed over, so that most of humanity never sees the sun or feels the wind. This is the Earth of The Caves of Steel.

There has been some colonization of space; however, the Spacer colonies are hostile and feel immensely superior to the men of Earth. But when a prominent Spacer is murdered in Spacetown on Earth, they request an Earth detective try to solve the case, with a humanoid robot assistant.

Earthmen do not trust robots on Earth, as they are taking over many jobs, causing people to lose all status and be sent to a subsitence living. Elijah Bailey, the detective, dislikes his partner immensely at first, despite his complete resemblence to a human, for that reason.

This is a great murder mystery story blended into science fiction. Daneel Olivaw, the robot, is a great character in his own right, and appears in many more of Asimov's stories in this universe, beyond the Robot series.

The science won't impress much these days, aside, perhaps, from the ability to create the Cities and feed everyone almost exclusively on foods created from yeast, but as this story is more than 50 years old, some things do have to be forgiven. The extrapolation on how to make life more efficient, to make the Cities possible, is both uncomfortable and realistic. Little efficiencies like dining halls for most or all meals rather than kitchens in every home, make sense, even if I wouldn't want to deal with it.