In Red Prophet, Card revisits key events in American history during the years 1811 and 1812. Although the story centers on historical events, the novel is primarily a work of fantasy, and the author has rearranged the historical record. In Card's fantastic history, magic is real. White settlers in America practice a kind of folk magic that allows them to control and direct natural events. Native Americans practice a magic that grows out of their sense of the living landscape. By cultivating a union with all that lives, they gain the power to choose with or against the life force that strives to create and sustain order. One important result that flows from the reality of magic in Card's story is that actual history is slightly different from what our history texts relate.

The story takes place mainly in the Wobbish (Wabash) valley, but extends through what is now the...