I've never read anything quite like this; the combination of Gothic novel with a racial twist, a subversion of the heroic story of the American revolution, letters and notices standing in when the protagonist cannot tell his story in his own words, the horrors of early medicine... it really is astonishing. ( )

This is the story of a young slave during the Revolutionary War. Octavian's mother was bought while pregnant with him by a scientific group looking to show whether or not African's were inferior to white Europeans and Americans. Octavian does not realize that he is a slave until his is told by one of the others.

The most interesting part of the book to me was the idea of not knowing your station in life, and how that affects your point of view. Octavian did not start his life, or his slavery, with hard feelings because he was unaware of his circumstances. When Pro Bono, another slave in the household, tells Octavian the truth of his station in life, he also tells him "That will be the last time in your life when you're free." It raises the question: if you do not know you are enslaved, then are you truly enslaved?

Apart from this, the book seemed to be building up to a point that was never revealed. Octavian is the subject of the study of the College of Lucidity, he learns he is a slave, but it takes a long time for him to react to this information. In fact, it is not until the College is taken over by a new man, who changes the way that Octavian is taught, that he rebels in any way. I hope that the second novel picks up the pace, and finishes what this book promised in the end.

Octavian lives in a house where only he and his mother have names and he is treated like a prince. Can it last forever?
This is an extraordinary book. One of the problems with studying American History is that we have been a very busy country and events and themes constantly overlap. This book takes an interesting look at the years before the Revolution, but also at the lives of the slaves. It also uses the idea of the College of Lucidity to look at humanity and how socialization can form personality and lead to success.
This is called a Young Adult Book, but it reads at a very high level and uses a lot of "$10 words." It seems more appropriate for college students. It is an important novel, though, and it raises a lot of important questions. ( )

Incredible use of language! ( )

Story of a boy and his African queen mother enslaved and educated in the name of science and philosophy.

Run away from at first lofty and then brutal enslavement by the Novanglian College of Lucidity, young Octavian fights with the colonists, and late in Vol. 1 is recaptured.

"'You have not eaten for three days,' they said.
"'I am Observing,' I replied, 'as you taught me.'
"'What have you observed?'
"'The solidity of shackles. They increase the solidity of the body. When I walk free, I am not conscious of my solidity.'
"'Yes. Shackles, like all matter, are defined by resistance.'
"'Do not tell me,' I said to them, 'what is defined by resistance.'"

Revolutionary era and language marvelously captured but in its detailing of various experiments the novel seemed almost to revel in perversity. Not an easy read in any sense of the word.

As M.T. Anderson writes in his end note, the book is fact-based but "much of the material is Gothic and fantastic in mood."

Books for the Beast recommended the audio version, narrated by the wonderful Peter Francis James. Despite his marvelous interpretation, a lot is lost in listening rather than reading this book. Passages such as the following are meant to be contemplated, not heard and forgotten with the next sentence:

"... I knew in dark houses, there was torture, arms held down, firebrands approaching the soft skin of the belly or arm; and still -- there is screaming in the night; there is flight; mothers sob for children they shall not see again; girls feel the weight of men atop them; men cry for their wives; boys dangle dead in the barn; and we smoke their sorrow contendedly; and we eat their sorrow; and we wear their sorrow; and wonder how it came so cheap." ( )