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The Freedom Race

By Lucinda Roy
Series: Dreambird Chronicles
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Freedom Race by Lucinda Roy is a gripping speculative fiction novel set in a fractured future America, following a second Civil War. In the Homestead Territories, a new slave trade thrives as immigrants from Africa are forced into bondage. Ji-ji Lottermule, born and raised as a slave designed to produce more 'muleseeds,' faces a terrifying reality where freedom can only be attained by winning the annual Freedom Race. As an underground movement seeks to liberate her, Ji-ji holds an unknowing key to breaking the stranglehold of oppression. Her journey blends haunting visions with resilience and hope, offering a powerful call for justice in a dystopian world.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This novel is highly suited for readers interested in speculative fiction with strong social themes, particularly fans of Afrofuturism, dystopian narratives, and stories of resistance and hope.

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Lucinda Roy’s explosive first foray into speculative fiction blends The Underground Railroad and The Handmaid’s Tale in a novel of subjugation, resistance, and hope.

Lucinda Roy's explosive first foray into speculative fiction blends The Underground Railroad and The Handmaid's Tale in a novel of subjugation, resistance, and hope.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Freedom Race, Lucinda Roy's explosive first foray into speculative fiction, is a poignant blend of subjugation, resistance, and hope.

The second Civil War, the Sequel, came and went in the United States leaving radiation, sickness, and fractures too deep to mend. One faction, the Homestead Territories, dealt with the devastation by recruiting immigrants from Africa and beginning a new slave trade while the other two factions stood by and watched.

Ji-ji Lottermule was bred and raised in captivity on one of the plantations in the Homestead Territories of the Disunited States to serve and breed more "muleseeds". There is only one way out—the annual Freedom Race. First prize, freedom.

An underground movement has plans to free Ji-ji, who unknowingly holds the key to breaking the grip of the Territories. However, before she can begin to free them all, Ji-ji must unravel the very real voices of the dead.

Written by one of today's most committed activists, Lucinda Roy has created a terrifying glimpse of what might be and tempered it with strength and hope. It is a call to justice in the face of an unsettling future.

Series: Dreambird Chronicles

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  • The Freedom Race
    The Freedom Race
    The Freedom Race, Lucinda Roy's explosive first foray into speculative fiction, is a poignant blend of subjugation, resistance, and hope. The second Civil War, the Sequel, came and went in the United States leaving radiation, sickness, and fractures too deep to mend. One faction, the Homestead Territories, dealt with the devastation by recruiting immigrants from Africa and beginning a new...
    By Lucinda Roy
    Paperback
    $3999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics praise The Freedom Race as a "gut-wrenching" and "powerful" novel with a chillingly prophetic vision. BuzzFeed highlights its striking resemblance to past horrors, while Nikki Giovanni reflects on its dreamlike quality. Booklist commends Roy's immersive worldbuilding and compares Ji-ji's story to the works of Octavia Butler and The Handmaid's Tale. Maurice Broaddus likens its prescience and resilience to iconic speculative fiction, celebrating its emotional and spiritual depth.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781250809803

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 18 July 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: St Martin's Press

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 146.0mm

Height: 227.0mm

Weight: 454g

Pages: 416

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Lucinda Roy Sci-Fi & Fantasy Science Fiction Series: Dreambird Chronicles

About the Author

LUCINDA ROY is an award-winning novelist, poet, and memoirist, and a lifelong advocate for diversity and inclusion. She's lived and taught on three continents and is recognized for her keynotes on race and gender, creative writing, and education reform. Her commentaries and poetry have been published in numerous newspapers and journals, including USA Today, the Guardian, and the New York Times. She lives with her husband in Blacksburg, Virginia, where, as a distinguished professor, she teaches creative writing at Virginia Tech. For The Freedom Race, she relocated to speculative fiction because it allows her to imagine what form hope would take inside a damaged future world.

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  • The Bird Tribe
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    Yearning is the only compass you need to fly a way home. Two years after Ji-ji's miraculous flight on her own impossible wings, the Dream of Freedom has stalled. The Rising promised by Prophet Dreg has not occurred. Ji-ji's fellow seeds, living in bondage on plantings, had started to believe the legend of Flying Africans was more than just a...
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