"Neither master nor nigger be."

[The Hodag]

It's a provactive line that becomes a refrain in the young adult novel 47, written by Walter Mosely (he of the Easy Rawlins mystery novels). The novel's set in the days of slavery and as the line suggests, it's unflinching. What's most remarkable, however, is that its story is tinged with science fiction elements.

I read it last year on hearing it enthusiastically recommended on NPR...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5531667

...and it's very much stayed with me.

Has anyone else here read it?

[SgtPepper]

It's a provactive line that becomes a refrain in the young adult novel 47, written by Walter Mosely (he of the Easy Rawlins mystery novels). The novel's set in the days of slavery and as the line suggests, it's unflinching. What's most remarkable, however, is that its story is tinged with science fiction elements.

I read it last year on hearing it enthusiastically recommended on NPR...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5531667

...and it's very much stayed with me.

Has anyone else here read it?

Sounds pretty good.

Reminds me of a book I read, called The Cure.

http://www.amazon.com/Cure-Sonia-Levitin/dp/038073298X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219130667&sr=1-2

[The Hodag]

Sounds pretty good.

Reminds me of a book I read, called The Cure.

http://www.amazon.com/Cure-Sonia-Levitin/dp/038073298X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219130667&sr=1-2

I'll have to check it out. You're right, thematically it's mining a very similar conceptual territory.

And looking back at the NPR write-up for 47, I sort of wish they'd been less free with some of the details of the story. I suppose hearing those details was what got me to pick the book up...but it was some months later before I got around to reading it and I'm glad I'd forgotten a lot of them.

[Fourthman]

Mosely kind of lost me when he went into sci-fi. Article's not really selling me on it, either. Sci-fi applied to slavery kind of strikes me like how "Life is Beautiful" applied slapstick to a concentration camp. Yeah, a lot of people loved that film, but it wasn't for me.

[The Hodag]

Mosely kind of lost me when he went into sci-fi. Article's not really selling me on it, either. Sci-fi applied to slavery kind of strikes me like how "Life is Beautiful" applied slapstick to a concentration camp. Yeah, a lot of people loved that film, but it wasn't for me.

I dunno, the best sci-fi and fantasy often touch on extremely serious subject matters. If it's done thoughtfully and imaginatively, with empathy and an understanding for its topic...what's the issue? This isn't a cover-up story, just another perspective - one uniquely targetting younger readers who might could use a little hope when they read such a realistic depiction of one of the great horrors of American history.

I'm not saying everyone needs to run out and read the book, but I can assure you it doesn't trivialize slavery even remotely. Much of the book is very harsh, with the science fiction elements generally heightening the injustice of the era by introducing an alien of surpassing humanity into it. There is an escapist element, but always tinged with a sense of melancholy because it's so clearly fantasy.

Incidentally, the review mentions moments that are "hysterically funny." I don't recall that at all, and I think it's a bit of a mischaracterization of the content.

[Akira]

Mosely kind of lost me when he went into sci-fi. Article's not really selling me on it, either. Sci-fi applied to slavery kind of strikes me like how "Life is Beautiful" applied slapstick to a concentration camp. Yeah, a lot of people loved that film, but it wasn't for me.

Did you like the DS9 episode "Far Beyond the Stars"? It was a similar kinda situation. They applied racism and bigotry to a sci-fi context in a very blatent way.

[RebootedCorpse]

I love Mosley. He moves beyond genre to find deeper truth in everything he does.

[Fourthman]

Did you like the DS9 episode "Far Beyond the Stars"? It was a similar kinda situation. They applied racism and bigotry to a sci-fi context in a very blatent way.

Yeah, that episode was awesome. But applying sf to a general concept is pretty much what sci fi is for. That's not really what bothers me about the idea of the Mosely story. It's the specific situation that turns me off.

[Fourthman]

I dunno, the best sci-fi and fantasy often touch on extremely serious subject matters. If it's done thoughtfully and imaginatively, with empathy and an understanding for its topic...what's the issue? This isn't a cover-up story, just another perspective - one uniquely targetting younger readers who might could use a little hope when they read such a realistic depiction of one of the great horrors of American history.

I'm not saying everyone needs to run out and read the book, but I can assure you it doesn't trivialize slavery even remotely. Much of the book is very harsh, with the science fiction elements generally heightening the injustice of the era by introducing an alien of surpassing humanity into it. There is an escapist element, but always tinged with a sense of melancholy because it's so clearly fantasy.

Incidentally, the review mentions moments that are "hysterically funny." I don't recall that at all, and I think it's a bit of a mischaracterization of the content.
Even taking your word that it's not the worst book ever, I'm still not moved to read the book. I've kind of written off Mosely so it would take a really loud clamoring of praise to get me back into him.

[Dreg]

I heard the same review on NPR. Seems interesting.

[The Hodag]

Even taking your word that it's not the worst book ever, I'm still not moved to read the book. I've kind of written off Mosely so it would take a really loud clamoring of praise to get me back into him.

I've actually never read any Mosely previously, so his stature (or lack thereof) didn't figure into things for me. Was just a very fine young adult novel.

[RickLM]

Mosely is a comic fan. He wrote a book recently which is basically a page-by-page meditation on Fantastic Four #1.