Heartfire: Tales of Alvin Maker V

The fifth book in the Alvin Maker series has two main arcs. The first centers around Alvin and his gang in "New England" where they attempt to save people accused of witchery. The second covers Alvin's brother Calvin in "Camelot" aka Charleston South Carolina, where King Author sets in exile in the "Crown Colonies") The courtroom

The roles of the historical figures are the most intriguing part of the book. John Calhoun makes a brief appearance as an anti-black southern firebrand. John Adams, however, is a pure thinking jurist who uses his intellectual powers to correct the evils in New England.

The most intriguing pseudo-historical portrayals were of Frenchmen. Audubon was portrayed as an extremely talented French painter who had to kill his animals to paint them. He later joins Alvin's "group" where Alvin's friend, Author Stewart, stops birds for him to paint (so he doesn't have to kill them.)

Balzac, on the other hand, met up with Calvin in France. He is portrayed at once as both a "head in the clouds" dreamer, and a down-to-earth pragmatist. At first, he appears to be a major creep. Even when Calvin is doing evil, Balzac can still be his friend. However, Balzac is simply 'studying' humanity as work for his novels.

In the end, Witchery laws are abolished and the south has inched closer to war over slavery, but not much has been done to advance the overall series arc.