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Arc One #1
Devil on My Back
When the slaves rebel against the rigid social order imposed on the colony by the all-controlling computer, Tomi, the son of the colony Overlord manages to escape beyond the computer's reach and discovers what it is like to be free.
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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325 people want to read
About the author
Monica Hughes
579 books117 followersMonica Hughes was a very popular writer for young people, and has won numerous prizes. Her books have been published in the United States, Poland, Spain, Japan, France, Scandinavia, England, and Germany. She has twice received the Canada Council Prize for Children's Literature, and was runner-up for the Guardian Award.
She is the author of Keeper of the Isis Light, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, which also received a Certificate of Honor from the International Board on Books for Young People; Hunter in the Dark, also an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and Sandwriter, among many other titles.
She is the author of Keeper of the Isis Light, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, which also received a Certificate of Honor from the International Board on Books for Young People; Hunter in the Dark, also an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and Sandwriter, among many other titles.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 26, 2011
Read this as a kid. I think it was my first bit of post-apocalyptic sci-fi. I'd been looking for it for years on Google, but kept misremembering the title. I was starting to think I'd hallucinated the whole thing.
Anyway, it was a great book for young adult fiction. It got me to think about a lot of issues I'd later see as an adult. The main premise of the book, which I appreciated years later is that of a Pluto Republic where your test scores determine your lot in life. Until reading the book, I would have thought that was a perfectly great way to organize society. I think I may even have suggested something similar to adults whenever I saw how ridiculous governments were acting.
I never knew it was just the first book in a series, I'll have to track the others and see if it's too juvenile or if I can still get into it. I find that well-written YA fiction can appeal to adults just as well as kids.
Anyway, it was a great book for young adult fiction. It got me to think about a lot of issues I'd later see as an adult. The main premise of the book, which I appreciated years later is that of a Pluto Republic where your test scores determine your lot in life. Until reading the book, I would have thought that was a perfectly great way to organize society. I think I may even have suggested something similar to adults whenever I saw how ridiculous governments were acting.
I never knew it was just the first book in a series, I'll have to track the others and see if it's too juvenile or if I can still get into it. I find that well-written YA fiction can appeal to adults just as well as kids.
April 19, 2016
It's weird to think this is the first dystopian story I probably ever read and that was nearly 2 decades ago now! The story was so powerful that I kept remembering it many years later and wondering what the book was and whether I'd dreamt it. I finally found the book again in storage at my parent's house. It's wonderful to think that good dystopian/sci fi novels can introduce new concepts to kids and challenge their views of world and be something that stays with them for many years to come. :-)
September 13, 2009
In the far future, after the earth's petroleum ran out and the environment was toxic, humanity retreated into cities enclosed in plastic domes. Generations later, young Tomi is nervous. He's about to get another information pack slotted into the plug in his spine. If his body can handle it, he's progressed another level up the ladder in his society. But if his nervous system can't handle it, he'll become a menial laborer at best--at worst, death or brain damage awaits him. But to Tomi's joy, he takes in another pack worth of pre-programmed knowledge without a hitch. But this idyll can't last forever--the inequalities within the highly regimented, computerized and "fair" society are about to blow apart every thing he ever knew.
Told in a no-frills, no-nonsense style, this is a gripping adventure of the uncomfortable necessity of examining--and if possible, abolishing--one's privilege.
Told in a no-frills, no-nonsense style, this is a gripping adventure of the uncomfortable necessity of examining--and if possible, abolishing--one's privilege.
June 6, 2009
I think I've read this book twenty times. In the future, civilization is almost entirely confined to huge domes to ride out a new Dark Age. In Arc One, they live in a very stratified society of slaves, workers, and citizens. Slaves are those incompatible with the Powerpaks that plug directly into the brains of the workers and citizens, giving them information at the blink of an eye. Tomi Bentt has just achieved full citizen status and hopes to one day be as hunched with knowledge (the Paks sit on your shoulders, forcing you to stoop constantly) as his father. Then a slave rebellion alters everything. . .
Exciting, chilling, and even romantic, this was one of my favorite books as a kid!
Exciting, chilling, and even romantic, this was one of my favorite books as a kid!
February 8, 2023
Devil on My Back by Monica Hughes
I have a penchant for juvenile science fiction from the 1970s and 1980s, probably because it reminds me of my youth and the wonderful stories I read at that time by authors like John Christopher. I also revert to young adult literature from yesteryear when I am dealing with health problems and find it hard to concentrate on more mature works of science fiction. This is the first book by Monica Hughes that I have read, and my feelings about it changed as the novel progressed.
Devil on My Back was first published in 1984, and on the surface seems pretty typical of novels aimed at teenagers in that it includes adventure along with a coming-of-age story and dilemmas involving authority figures and the yearning to find a place where one really belongs.
Fourteen-year-old Tomi lives a privileged life in a domed city which was built to protect some of the survivors of a global breakdown of civilization. Life changes suddenly and drastically for Tomi when events beyond his control result in his ending up outside the protective environment where he grew up. How can he survive alone in the wilderness beyond the dome, and what will he learn by attempting to do so? Is there any chance of returning to his parents and the status he enjoyed before, and would such an outcome be desirable anyway?
First of all, I must say that although many similar ideas have appeared in books before and since Monica Hughes wrote Devil on My Back, this story is quite original in its content. I am sure that I would have thoroughly enjoyed it and found it highly memorable had I read it in my early teens. Some thirty-five years later, as a more seasoned and experienced reader of science fiction, I was reasonably certain that the plot would prove to be fairly predictable, and in some ways it did. Nevertheless, I was completely wrong in the ending I envisaged. The author cleverly employed a twist in the tale which renders the whole story much more meaningful and balanced than it would have been if she had settled for a more conventional ending. The finale also binds the narrative together more tightly, and makes sense of certain seemingly inconsequential details which were mentioned early on in the book. What originally seemed to be a blanket indictment of technology thereby takes on a much more reasonable aspect.
I had some trouble fitting this book to a particular age group. At first, I thought that it was likely aimed at readers in their early teens, but as the content and language developed (and a couple of examples of mild swearing appeared), I altered my opinion to include older teens. Thus, this work is probably suitable for young people aged anywhere between twelve and eighteen years. The sensitively-handled and understated love interest between Tomi and another character adds poignancy to the story and seems to confirm this conclusion.
Since Devil on My Back was well-written and enjoyable, I will now continue directly on to its sequel, The Dream Catcher, which is set in the same world.
Here are some quotations from the text of the story:
Seventy-Three suddenly looked up, straight into Tomi's eyes. It gave him a shock, looking straight into the eyes of a slave. They were as human as his and quite young. He wondered who Seventy-Three had been before the implant failure had led to a slave's life.
You have acquired some knowledge over these years: a week with a mathpak, a week with ancient history, a week with science. Now we have reached the most important day in your young lives: Access Day.
"Why do we access this way if it is so easy to fail?" He blurted out. "Is it only luck that separates us Lords from soldiers or workers or even slaves? I don't understand anything."
You ask if it is all luck? Perhaps it is. All life is luck if you look at it one way. It is luck that your ancestors were part of the ArcOne team during the Disaster. It is luck that your forefathers lived safely underground through the Age of Confusion. It is luck that you were born as sons of Lords. It is all luck. Now ask yourself: is that a useful thing to know?"
Even Seventy-Three congratulated him. But of course there was an honor in being the slave of one of the chief families: an honor to the House was also an honor to its slaves. Tomi nodded casually and went on thinking about the Togethering and the Feast. He never noticed the hurt expression on the slave’s face.
"We are all free, Rowan, remember. You are free to stay with us, Tomi, to share our shelter and food and learn to gather food yourself, to repair and clean...""That is not Lord's work." Tomi drew himself up. "Or you are free to leave." Swift went on as if Tomi hadn't spoken. "Free to move north or south, east or west. Free to be warm if you can make a fire, or to be cold if you cannot. Free to eat if you have the skill to snare an animal or go hungry if you cannot. Free to pick berries and dig roots, eat them and live—or die. Out here in the forest you are quite free."
Each person had something to add to the store of food: a basket of roots or berries, a string slung with fish, a couple of birds, a rabbit. Each returning person was welcomed by the others with a hug or a kiss. Savages, thought Tomi, unnoticed in the shadows. Why, his parents, the Lord and Lady Bentt, would never even touch each other in public, much less kiss. And nobody had ever hugged him that he could remember. He suddenly remembered the morning of Accession Day, when he had been so nervous and Seventy-Three had reached out and gently squeezed his foot. Had that really been the most loving moment of his life: the touch of a slave? He pushed the thought out of his mind. Just savages, he told himself firmly.
Another voice from across the circle took up the story. "The Arab States collapsed with the last of the oil in 2005 A.D. Then followed the Age of Confusion."
"Each small part of the nation had to make its own rules and its own plan for survival. One such plan was ArcOne. ArcOne was a magnificent dream."
She even taught him the proper way to climb a tree and how to stop the earth from spinning around when he looked down. "You are the center of wherever you are," she told him. "And you are doing. You are not being done to. You have to tell yourself that."
Then Rowan came running down the hill to meet him. "Here, give me one basket," she panted. "We share the loads, remember? "I wish you could share mine, thought Tomi. No, I don't. I take that back. You're so good. I wouldn't want you even to guess how horrible I really am inside.
"The son of the Lord-High-Muck-a-Muck was called Tomi. Him they killed in the slave rebellion last September. I saw him once. Fat stuck-up little bastard." He chuckled. "He was no loss!"
"You didn't have my advantages, you see." "Huh?" "Well, it stands to reason. I was next to free already, wasn't I? I didn't have nothing but my shovel and I threw that away. You had your family and your nice home and your robes and your paks and your head filled with knowledge. But you got free in spite of all that, didn't you?"
It was very difficult to be wise, Tomi was learning. It was so much easier to be generous.
He thought about Man and Woman battling the Ice Age, sustained by the great mammals that were their food. Then, as the ice receded, came the freedom to move and to gather food as you moved. Agriculture. The City. The whole history of societies built up and destroyed, knowledge building upon knowledge, knowledge shared and knowledge hidden, knowledge forgotten, subverted, misunderstood. So often nearly lost for ever.
In the Dark Ages, when life became in many parts of Europe a simple struggle for existence against disease, ignorance and the Viking hordes, it was the monks, on tiny headlands, and islands scattered through the seas around Ireland, Scotland and the north of England, who had kept the lamp of knowledge burning, so that Renaissance Man might build upon it.
I have a penchant for juvenile science fiction from the 1970s and 1980s, probably because it reminds me of my youth and the wonderful stories I read at that time by authors like John Christopher. I also revert to young adult literature from yesteryear when I am dealing with health problems and find it hard to concentrate on more mature works of science fiction. This is the first book by Monica Hughes that I have read, and my feelings about it changed as the novel progressed.
Devil on My Back was first published in 1984, and on the surface seems pretty typical of novels aimed at teenagers in that it includes adventure along with a coming-of-age story and dilemmas involving authority figures and the yearning to find a place where one really belongs.
Fourteen-year-old Tomi lives a privileged life in a domed city which was built to protect some of the survivors of a global breakdown of civilization. Life changes suddenly and drastically for Tomi when events beyond his control result in his ending up outside the protective environment where he grew up. How can he survive alone in the wilderness beyond the dome, and what will he learn by attempting to do so? Is there any chance of returning to his parents and the status he enjoyed before, and would such an outcome be desirable anyway?
First of all, I must say that although many similar ideas have appeared in books before and since Monica Hughes wrote Devil on My Back, this story is quite original in its content. I am sure that I would have thoroughly enjoyed it and found it highly memorable had I read it in my early teens. Some thirty-five years later, as a more seasoned and experienced reader of science fiction, I was reasonably certain that the plot would prove to be fairly predictable, and in some ways it did. Nevertheless, I was completely wrong in the ending I envisaged. The author cleverly employed a twist in the tale which renders the whole story much more meaningful and balanced than it would have been if she had settled for a more conventional ending. The finale also binds the narrative together more tightly, and makes sense of certain seemingly inconsequential details which were mentioned early on in the book. What originally seemed to be a blanket indictment of technology thereby takes on a much more reasonable aspect.
I had some trouble fitting this book to a particular age group. At first, I thought that it was likely aimed at readers in their early teens, but as the content and language developed (and a couple of examples of mild swearing appeared), I altered my opinion to include older teens. Thus, this work is probably suitable for young people aged anywhere between twelve and eighteen years. The sensitively-handled and understated love interest between Tomi and another character adds poignancy to the story and seems to confirm this conclusion.
Since Devil on My Back was well-written and enjoyable, I will now continue directly on to its sequel, The Dream Catcher, which is set in the same world.
Here are some quotations from the text of the story:
Seventy-Three suddenly looked up, straight into Tomi's eyes. It gave him a shock, looking straight into the eyes of a slave. They were as human as his and quite young. He wondered who Seventy-Three had been before the implant failure had led to a slave's life.
You have acquired some knowledge over these years: a week with a mathpak, a week with ancient history, a week with science. Now we have reached the most important day in your young lives: Access Day.
"Why do we access this way if it is so easy to fail?" He blurted out. "Is it only luck that separates us Lords from soldiers or workers or even slaves? I don't understand anything."
You ask if it is all luck? Perhaps it is. All life is luck if you look at it one way. It is luck that your ancestors were part of the ArcOne team during the Disaster. It is luck that your forefathers lived safely underground through the Age of Confusion. It is luck that you were born as sons of Lords. It is all luck. Now ask yourself: is that a useful thing to know?"
Even Seventy-Three congratulated him. But of course there was an honor in being the slave of one of the chief families: an honor to the House was also an honor to its slaves. Tomi nodded casually and went on thinking about the Togethering and the Feast. He never noticed the hurt expression on the slave’s face.
"We are all free, Rowan, remember. You are free to stay with us, Tomi, to share our shelter and food and learn to gather food yourself, to repair and clean...""That is not Lord's work." Tomi drew himself up. "Or you are free to leave." Swift went on as if Tomi hadn't spoken. "Free to move north or south, east or west. Free to be warm if you can make a fire, or to be cold if you cannot. Free to eat if you have the skill to snare an animal or go hungry if you cannot. Free to pick berries and dig roots, eat them and live—or die. Out here in the forest you are quite free."
Each person had something to add to the store of food: a basket of roots or berries, a string slung with fish, a couple of birds, a rabbit. Each returning person was welcomed by the others with a hug or a kiss. Savages, thought Tomi, unnoticed in the shadows. Why, his parents, the Lord and Lady Bentt, would never even touch each other in public, much less kiss. And nobody had ever hugged him that he could remember. He suddenly remembered the morning of Accession Day, when he had been so nervous and Seventy-Three had reached out and gently squeezed his foot. Had that really been the most loving moment of his life: the touch of a slave? He pushed the thought out of his mind. Just savages, he told himself firmly.
Another voice from across the circle took up the story. "The Arab States collapsed with the last of the oil in 2005 A.D. Then followed the Age of Confusion."
"Each small part of the nation had to make its own rules and its own plan for survival. One such plan was ArcOne. ArcOne was a magnificent dream."
She even taught him the proper way to climb a tree and how to stop the earth from spinning around when he looked down. "You are the center of wherever you are," she told him. "And you are doing. You are not being done to. You have to tell yourself that."
Then Rowan came running down the hill to meet him. "Here, give me one basket," she panted. "We share the loads, remember? "I wish you could share mine, thought Tomi. No, I don't. I take that back. You're so good. I wouldn't want you even to guess how horrible I really am inside.
"The son of the Lord-High-Muck-a-Muck was called Tomi. Him they killed in the slave rebellion last September. I saw him once. Fat stuck-up little bastard." He chuckled. "He was no loss!"
"You didn't have my advantages, you see." "Huh?" "Well, it stands to reason. I was next to free already, wasn't I? I didn't have nothing but my shovel and I threw that away. You had your family and your nice home and your robes and your paks and your head filled with knowledge. But you got free in spite of all that, didn't you?"
It was very difficult to be wise, Tomi was learning. It was so much easier to be generous.
He thought about Man and Woman battling the Ice Age, sustained by the great mammals that were their food. Then, as the ice receded, came the freedom to move and to gather food as you moved. Agriculture. The City. The whole history of societies built up and destroyed, knowledge building upon knowledge, knowledge shared and knowledge hidden, knowledge forgotten, subverted, misunderstood. So often nearly lost for ever.
In the Dark Ages, when life became in many parts of Europe a simple struggle for existence against disease, ignorance and the Viking hordes, it was the monks, on tiny headlands, and islands scattered through the seas around Ireland, Scotland and the north of England, who had kept the lamp of knowledge burning, so that Renaissance Man might build upon it.
August 16, 2013
I really enjoyed re-reading this book since I just picked up the sequel at the library.
150 years after the Age of Confusion following the End of Oil (which the author predicted would happen in 2005 - she could not anticipate frakking) there exists ArcOne which was built to protect the knowledge of human beings, the way monasteries did during the Dark Ages. Unfortunately, the knowledge is now being controlled in specific classes by the Lords, and only the slave class is free of a connection from the computer that regulates life under the dome.
Following a revolt of the slaves, the son of the Overlord accidentally falls down the garbage chute and is taken far down river. He must survive Outside, and his journey brings home the realization that although his life was comfortable, he was just as much a prisoner as the slaves.
A lovely tale of growing up and finding freedom in the wilderness, and one of sacrifice and courage too. Compared to other similar stories (Across the Universe) the characters are so much more balanced, and the YA frustration of not having adults to help make decisions is not present in this book, which makes it a lot better.
150 years after the Age of Confusion following the End of Oil (which the author predicted would happen in 2005 - she could not anticipate frakking) there exists ArcOne which was built to protect the knowledge of human beings, the way monasteries did during the Dark Ages. Unfortunately, the knowledge is now being controlled in specific classes by the Lords, and only the slave class is free of a connection from the computer that regulates life under the dome.
Following a revolt of the slaves, the son of the Overlord accidentally falls down the garbage chute and is taken far down river. He must survive Outside, and his journey brings home the realization that although his life was comfortable, he was just as much a prisoner as the slaves.
A lovely tale of growing up and finding freedom in the wilderness, and one of sacrifice and courage too. Compared to other similar stories (Across the Universe) the characters are so much more balanced, and the YA frustration of not having adults to help make decisions is not present in this book, which makes it a lot better.
May 12, 2012
Just re-read this and revised my rating from 5 to 4. This is a really good book, and it's much in the same vein as some of the recent post-apocalyptic or Dystopian young adult fiction.
Tomi's character is very hard to like at first, and that is the whole idea of the book. Of a transformation that is needed in the society, but must first start in the people in the society.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys post apocalyptic fiction and wants a fast read.
Tomi's character is very hard to like at first, and that is the whole idea of the book. Of a transformation that is needed in the society, but must first start in the people in the society.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys post apocalyptic fiction and wants a fast read.
April 13, 2025
"I do not do slaves' work. I have accessed more information than any New Lord in the history of the City."
"Much good it's done you! You'd have died of starvation or poisoned berries without us."
"Now Devil-on-your-back can't make you pay. And your children will be free," sang someone quietly.
In Arce One, knowledge is power, and the Young Lords are trained to possess it. But when Tomi, son of the Overlord, escapes from violence within the City into the savage world outside, he finds himself among ignorant strangers. They aren't impressed by the weight of inopaks he wears on his back. And what is the secret they are keeping from him?
As the truth gradually dawns, Tomi makes a shattering discovery about the tyrannical computer control system of Arc One.
This simply told but deeply wise book left a powerful emotional impression on me. Hughes takes the considerable risk of making her protagonist deeply unlikeable at first, but it makes Tomi's painful transformation all the more powerful. The relationships he builds with the free people are deeply touching and when he made his heroic decision, I put off reading the final chapters for a while as I couldn't face what I expected to be a devastating ending, which I knew Hughes was capable of after having read The Keeper of the Isis Light.
But when I finally pushed through I was happily surprised by the final intelligent twist in the tale that gave the whole narrative an even deeper meaning. I have a few minor quibbles: Tomi's wandering in the wilderness goes on too long, and suddenly two sets of grandparents appear in the final chapter who had never been mentioned before. But these are very minor issues in a masterfully told story which I know would have resonated with me deeply as a teen.
"Much good it's done you! You'd have died of starvation or poisoned berries without us."
"Now Devil-on-your-back can't make you pay. And your children will be free," sang someone quietly.
In Arce One, knowledge is power, and the Young Lords are trained to possess it. But when Tomi, son of the Overlord, escapes from violence within the City into the savage world outside, he finds himself among ignorant strangers. They aren't impressed by the weight of inopaks he wears on his back. And what is the secret they are keeping from him?
As the truth gradually dawns, Tomi makes a shattering discovery about the tyrannical computer control system of Arc One.
This simply told but deeply wise book left a powerful emotional impression on me. Hughes takes the considerable risk of making her protagonist deeply unlikeable at first, but it makes Tomi's painful transformation all the more powerful. The relationships he builds with the free people are deeply touching and when he made his heroic decision, I put off reading the final chapters for a while as I couldn't face what I expected to be a devastating ending, which I knew Hughes was capable of after having read The Keeper of the Isis Light.
But when I finally pushed through I was happily surprised by the final intelligent twist in the tale that gave the whole narrative an even deeper meaning. I have a few minor quibbles: Tomi's wandering in the wilderness goes on too long, and suddenly two sets of grandparents appear in the final chapter who had never been mentioned before. But these are very minor issues in a masterfully told story which I know would have resonated with me deeply as a teen.
February 4, 2020
The age of oil ended in 2005 when the oil ran out, leading to general anarchy, and some scientists deciding that they need to create an Arc to preserve human knowledge and build on it.
This is Monica Hughes, who rarely found a tech scenario that wasn't a hidden dystopia that her teenage protagonists could deal with by connecting with friends and perhaps discovering an important ecological message.
In other words, a huge influence on a young me. Very unfortunate cover. A very large amount of story covered with very few pages. There is a sequel.
This is Monica Hughes, who rarely found a tech scenario that wasn't a hidden dystopia that her teenage protagonists could deal with by connecting with friends and perhaps discovering an important ecological message.
In other words, a huge influence on a young me. Very unfortunate cover. A very large amount of story covered with very few pages. There is a sequel.
May 9, 2018
I was maybe 11 when I read it but it was a good one since as I saw it later on second hand bookstore I had to get it. Im deginetely planning to reread it and offer better review. From what I can tell Finnish localisation in character names that was kind of a trend back in 80's through 90's books.
What I remember was collision of two different worlds and quite horrible dystopia on Arc One's side.
What I remember was collision of two different worlds and quite horrible dystopia on Arc One's side.
Read
October 18, 2021I just remembered that I read this book as a young teenager! I remember being really taken in by it.
I have no idea if it would work today, but remember looking it. It might be interesting to read a bit more about it.
Is from my, I will read anything fantasy or science fiction I can find, because I have run out in the genre section in the YA area of the library. This was the dark ages, I mean 90s
The Danish cover is a lot better by the way!
I have no idea if it would work today, but remember looking it. It might be interesting to read a bit more about it.
Is from my, I will read anything fantasy or science fiction I can find, because I have run out in the genre section in the YA area of the library. This was the dark ages, I mean 90s
The Danish cover is a lot better by the way!
October 12, 2024
Very solid MG science fiction; the plot and premise were great although the characters felt underdeveloped.I read this as a kid and the story feels thinner than I remember; it's funny how much we flesh out stories in our own heads.
May 8, 2021
Read this as a kid, and it's is just as good re-reading it as an adult.
May 23, 2025
Tomi is a young clueless lord living in a sheltered community of Arc One - he's distinguished from the common rabble by his ability to receive information packets from the computer that controls the Arc. On the day when he was supposed to become a full-fledged lord, a slave riot breaks out. In the confusion of escape, he suddenly finds himself outside of the Arc and has to figure out how to survive - and how and why to return...
Well this was intriguing. I think I read this book ages ago when I was a kid, because my mother had run across some computer-related books in the library. Yep, this is "computer-related". I completely forgot what this book was called, and I think I remembered it foundly a while ago but couldn't quite find the title. Then I randomly ran into it in a thrift store, the title sounded vaguely familiar and recognised the cover immediately. Woo!
I think this is a really great example of young-adult SF. Evil computers, nasty dystopic societies, folks facing the fact that they may not know everything to survive - or face the fact that they don't really think things through or *really* know what's going on or, for that matter, really know themselves either. This was written in 1980s so it might feel be a bit aged at this point, but I didn't think it was significantly less intriguing as a result.
Well this was intriguing. I think I read this book ages ago when I was a kid, because my mother had run across some computer-related books in the library. Yep, this is "computer-related". I completely forgot what this book was called, and I think I remembered it foundly a while ago but couldn't quite find the title. Then I randomly ran into it in a thrift store, the title sounded vaguely familiar and recognised the cover immediately. Woo!
I think this is a really great example of young-adult SF. Evil computers, nasty dystopic societies, folks facing the fact that they may not know everything to survive - or face the fact that they don't really think things through or *really* know what's going on or, for that matter, really know themselves either. This was written in 1980s so it might feel be a bit aged at this point, but I didn't think it was significantly less intriguing as a result.
July 10, 2014
In the distant future, Tomi is one of the elite: he has access to unlimited knowledge (through "paks" that can be attached like software to implanted hardware humans in this society are installed with), and his future is bright. He pities the slaves--people on whom the installation did not work, making them unfit for anything but labor, unfit for education--but treasures his good fortune to be born the way he was. And though his generation is taught that the only real civilization is inside the domes where they live a dignified life, he soon finds out how fragile his existence is, how ill-prepared for life he is, and what freedom is all about.
It's interesting what extent the author went to to dehumanize her privileged citizens--giving them alien-like characteristics and joining them physically with technology to the point that if you're lucky, you'll get so much software piled on you that you'll be warped physically by having to carry it. And when Tomi gets accidentally ejected from the home he's known all his life, he truly thinks living outside the dome is impossible or that everyone he meets is going to be savages. Instead, he realizes the importance of freedom and how shackled by expectations and programming he really was, and how much he was lied to by his own society. The idea is not at all new, but the execution was pretty unusual.
It's interesting what extent the author went to to dehumanize her privileged citizens--giving them alien-like characteristics and joining them physically with technology to the point that if you're lucky, you'll get so much software piled on you that you'll be warped physically by having to carry it. And when Tomi gets accidentally ejected from the home he's known all his life, he truly thinks living outside the dome is impossible or that everyone he meets is going to be savages. Instead, he realizes the importance of freedom and how shackled by expectations and programming he really was, and how much he was lied to by his own society. The idea is not at all new, but the execution was pretty unusual.
June 11, 2013
Really interesting story behind this one... I originally read it when I was about 12 years old, sitting in the library, and it made such an impression on me that I remembered it all these years, but couldn't remember the title or the author. Finally, this year, I wrote to the library where I had read it as a kid, described it, and asked if they could help. Sure enough, they knew the book, and I finally had a title! I immediately ordered it on Amazon, and after 23 years, finally got to read it again. I was amazed how accurate my memory of it was! I also realized that this book had a lot to do with subconsciously shaping my views on nature, our modern way of life, survivalism, and not becoming too dependent on technology. It is a kid's book, but has a really good message...
June 26, 2022
2022: Published in 1984, I suppose this book is too dated to reprint (Monica Hughes foreshadows Google, but not the miniaturisation of technology, and ). Nonetheless the narrative structure and character development is very good. Monica Hughes won a number of awards including the 2000 Phoenix Award from the Children's Literature Association, and I would love to read more of her work. I have ordered a second hand copy of the sequel to Devil on My Back.
2017: I don't know why the library wanted to sell this off. It's good.
2017: I don't know why the library wanted to sell this off. It's good.
September 3, 2008
This book contained an intriguing concept for me when I was a kid. Basically it was about a far-future society in which people enhanced their brains with computer "paks," and if your body rejected the implant that let you add these weird things to your brain then you ended up in a dead-end service job and never had a chance to pursue greatness. It could happen to anyone. But some people who are still living wild outside this society have rejected this way of life, and the main character ends up finding out more about them. . . .
September 19, 2007
I read this book as a kid and found it used as an adult and added it to my bookshelf. What struck me about this book that was interesting was a whole society based on Slaves, their watch police and then the people who had the knowledge. The knowledge was through packs that they wore on their backs where as slaves' bodies rejected them. It was a interesting look at a potential society and opression and the fight for freedom.
November 20, 2013
I read this book in junior high school and loved it. It isn't available where I live so I have tracked down an old used copy to save for my own boys. I think the story is still very relevant today as we rely more and more on the The Internet. I think back to this book anytime I hear talk about potential cell phone implants.
January 16, 2010
Re-read of a book I read a long time ago. Still plenty of fascinating ideas: planned society - almost Plato's classes, except for the slaves, contrasted to freedom outside, in a tribal system (with one free to leave if one chose), and the idea of gradually fixing a broken system.
April 8, 2016
Read this book to my 4th grade class, but I think it was too deep for most of them. I like books that get young minds to think about how we treat each other. My fourth grade class really did like the twits, and that does the same thing, but I don't like it was well.
July 21, 2014
I remember reading this while growing up and how I enjoyed it. Who would have thought that what was envisioned by the author back then is basically a reality now with computers and smart phones. I did not know there was a sequel (I'll have to see if I can locate it).
May 25, 2015
I'm reviewing the books I remember reading as a pre-teen in an effort to figure out how the heck my friends kids don't like reading! This was another great sci-fi find in my personal sea of 30 year old fantasy novels, wish I could get this as an eBook to revisit!
November 3, 2008
I like this book a lot but the plot is nothing original. People living in an underground city controlled by a computer. still a fun read.
September 22, 2009
This SciFi novel was introduced to me as a middle schooler and I fell inlove with the YA book. With captivating characters and good writing, I know I will never out grow this story!
February 8, 2012
I read this one as a child and have to say it still fascinates me. I never knew it was just the first book but I will be sure to pick up the others!!
March 11, 2015
I remember reading this book as a kid and it blowing my freaking mind. To this day I remember the poem from the end of it. I completely connected with this book.
February 4, 2020
Reread this whole series a lot growing up!
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January 1, 2024Have read before many years ago, but read again 2023
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