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cmbohn's review against another edition
5.0
Powerful and moving stuff. Much bleaker than the first book.
crowyhead's review against another edition
4.0
I found this, the sequel to Anderson's award-winning The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party to be a little bit of a let-down. It's still an excellent book, but it's twice as long as the first volume and yet does not seem as eventful. Perhaps the issue is that it lacks much of the eerie confusion of the first novel; unlike in the beginning of The Pox Party, where one isn't even quite certain whether the book is historical or speculative fiction, the reader is pretty much aware of the historical context surrounding Octavian. This makes it slightly less intriguing. We still want to follow Octavian on his voyage of discovery, but we already know the score in a way we didn't in the first novel.
Probably if I hadn't been so blown away by the first volume, I would be more enthusiastic about this one. But while I feel it was well-written and interesting, it didn't leave me excited or singing Anderson's praises quite so enthusiastically.
Probably if I hadn't been so blown away by the first volume, I would be more enthusiastic about this one. But while I feel it was well-written and interesting, it didn't leave me excited or singing Anderson's praises quite so enthusiastically.
couillac's review against another edition
3.0
Found this one less engaging than the first. Lots of war scenes that just didn't hold my attention, but Anderson does a good job of fleshing out the themes of liberty and what it means to be free. Deeper than the first book, but the action is harder to follow. Still, if you read the first one, don't miss this conclusion to Octavian's saga.
sarah1984's review against another edition
26/11 - This isn't impressing me as much as the first book. The language, the exceedingly thick and fake-torn pages, the characters - none of it is drawing me in to the story like the first book. The novelty seems to have worn off. The second book is also quite a bit longer than the first and my first thought when I picked it up at the library was "Wow, that's a lot bigger than I expected!" That sounds dirty, but it's not meant to be and no matter what word I substitute for 'bigger' (still in the same context - longer, fatter, thicker etc) it still sounds dreadful, so I'm not going to bother trying and will put up with the mockery I'm likely to get. This might be a DNF for me, simply because I think the first book could (should) have been a stand alone. To be continued...
11/12 - This didn't pass the litmus test of being given a second chance to be read while it sat on my bedside table. I had only a few passing thoughts of picking it up over one of the other books I was currently reading concurrently - that tells me that it hasn't, and probably never will, hold my attention. I read so little (maybe 20 pages), that I don't feel it's fair to rate it formally, but informally I would give it 2 - 2.5 stars.
11/12 - This didn't pass the litmus test of being given a second chance to be read while it sat on my bedside table. I had only a few passing thoughts of picking it up over one of the other books I was currently reading concurrently - that tells me that it hasn't, and probably never will, hold my attention. I read so little (maybe 20 pages), that I don't feel it's fair to rate it formally, but informally I would give it 2 - 2.5 stars.
kevinhendricks's review against another edition
3.0
If the length of the title is any indication as to the length of the prose, be warned. At 550+ pages of 18th century writing by a classically trained slave, this book is a chore to read. It doesn't help that very little happens. Which is all too bad. It's a fascinating story of an escaped slave joining up with the British and joining the Royal Ethiopian Regiment to fight the revolting Colonials.
christopher_pickert's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
kksorrell's review against another edition
2.0
I just couldn't finish this one. And I loved the first one SO much! This one, however, dragged on and on. It didn't have the variety of perspectives and storytellers like the first book did. It was pretty dry and boring. Maybe I'll try again one day, but I had to put this book down.
thisfoxreads's review against another edition
3.0
Tough to decide between 2 and 3 stars. I absolutely loved the first book. This one took a LONG time to even interest me. I listened to the audiobook version, or else I think I'd have just given up. I didn't feel any of the magic of the first book. The only redeeming factor was a good look at life for black soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
monty_reads's review against another edition
3.0
I can't wholeheartedly endorse the second volume of M.T. Anderson's Octavian Nothing series – it's a little too sprawling for its own good, and therefore given to redundancy – but it's an important book for Young Adult readers for one primary reason. Namely, that it lays bare the ugly hypocrisy at the heart of this country: that when our founders spoke of freedom and liberty, they meant it only for one very specific group. The title of the book, Traitor to the Nation, isn't a misnomer – it's deliberate and accurate. When Octavian flees from the College of Lucidity at the end of the first volume, he and his mentor, Dr. Trefusis, end up in Boston. Hungry and desperate, Octavian eventually takes up arms with the British army in Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment. Promised his freedom for enlisting, Octavian figures that turning his back on the rebels, who still view him as a slave, is the only reasonable course of action. And it makes sense.
Once in Lord Dunmore's army, Octavian realizes that the concept of freedom is just as malleable with the Brits as it is with colonists. Unlike the first volume, The Kingdom on the Waves is more or less a pure adventure story, from the grimy streets of Boston to the missions he undertakes as a soldier. In this way it's less thematically ambitious than The Pox Party, but the equivalent length means there's a lot of faffing about. It's possible M.T. Anderson dwells on the disease and squalor of Lord Dunmore's army (another description of smallpox? yay!) to make the point that Octavian was really no better off there than he would have been with the rebels, but I think the point could have been made in half the length. I often found my attention drifting, especially in the book's final third, and for a Young Adult book where momentum is everything, the occasional tedium made the book seem twice as long as its 500 pages.
But I'm painting an inaccurately bleak picture. The book is often genuinely thrilling and, as I mentioned above, it's very nearly essential reading for what it shows us about slave life and the paucity of choices available to them. Anderson goes to great pains in the afterword to point out just how much of this book is based in the historical record; it's a sobering fact that was an eye-opener to me, let alone a 15-year-old kid who only knows about slavery from less accurate sources in popular media.
Once in Lord Dunmore's army, Octavian realizes that the concept of freedom is just as malleable with the Brits as it is with colonists. Unlike the first volume, The Kingdom on the Waves is more or less a pure adventure story, from the grimy streets of Boston to the missions he undertakes as a soldier. In this way it's less thematically ambitious than The Pox Party, but the equivalent length means there's a lot of faffing about. It's possible M.T. Anderson dwells on the disease and squalor of Lord Dunmore's army (another description of smallpox? yay!) to make the point that Octavian was really no better off there than he would have been with the rebels, but I think the point could have been made in half the length. I often found my attention drifting, especially in the book's final third, and for a Young Adult book where momentum is everything, the occasional tedium made the book seem twice as long as its 500 pages.
But I'm painting an inaccurately bleak picture. The book is often genuinely thrilling and, as I mentioned above, it's very nearly essential reading for what it shows us about slave life and the paucity of choices available to them. Anderson goes to great pains in the afterword to point out just how much of this book is based in the historical record; it's a sobering fact that was an eye-opener to me, let alone a 15-year-old kid who only knows about slavery from less accurate sources in popular media.
eandrews80's review against another edition
2.0
I respect what Anderson was trying to do with this book, but I can't say that I enjoyed it very much. I enjoy the first book in the series because of its unusual setting: the College of Lucidity, its intellectual inhabitants, the strange relationships that blurred the line between slave and friend and royalty. While this volume spends a bit of time wrapping up those relationships, it's mostly a tale about war.
I have no doubt that most Revolutionary War narratives, at least those written by Americans both real and fictional, are rather one-sided in their approach to the subject. The Americans were right, the British were wrong, and the rebels who became our nation's founders were national heroes. Here, Anderson challenges this view; Octavian ends up fighting for the British, who offer freedom to black slaves willing to join the fight. The rebels are painted as racist, ignorant, and often cruel, and it's a stark reminder that there are two sides to every story.
Though Anderson's intentions are laudable, I found the story itself to be poorly paced, often boring, and filled with self-indulgent purple prose. If you are a history buff or like war narratives, I highly recommend this book. If you simply want to see what happens to Octavian -- which is why I slogged through all 550+ pages -- you may want to skip to the end.
I have no doubt that most Revolutionary War narratives, at least those written by Americans both real and fictional, are rather one-sided in their approach to the subject. The Americans were right, the British were wrong, and the rebels who became our nation's founders were national heroes. Here, Anderson challenges this view; Octavian ends up fighting for the British, who offer freedom to black slaves willing to join the fight. The rebels are painted as racist, ignorant, and often cruel, and it's a stark reminder that there are two sides to every story.
Though Anderson's intentions are laudable, I found the story itself to be poorly paced, often boring, and filled with self-indulgent purple prose. If you are a history buff or like war narratives, I highly recommend this book. If you simply want to see what happens to Octavian -- which is why I slogged through all 550+ pages -- you may want to skip to the end.