Captives of Time

by Malcolm Bosse

In this stunning epic set in 14th centu ry Europe, a young woman helps build the first timepiece. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Medieval, Fiction, Young Adult, Adventure

Paperback

First published September 1, 1987

About the author

Malcolm Joseph Bosse (May 6, 1926 – May 3, 2002) was an American author of both young adult and adult novels. His novels are often set in Asia, and have been praised for their cultural and historical information relating to the character's adventures. Bosse mostly wrote historical fiction novels after the publication of The Warlord, a historical fiction work set in 1920's China, which became a best-seller.
He also won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1983.

Bosse was born in Detroit, Michigan and died in New York City. He was a graduate of Yale University and served in the U.S. Navy. Bosse was also an English teacher in City College of New York in Manhattan.

Reviews

[drowningmermaid · Rating 5 out of 5]

So excited to be reading this one again! After more than doubling my age since the last read...

Thanks so much to Gaeta1 from "What's the Name of that Book?" I NEVER would have found this again without help.

[Bill Doughty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in 8th grade, so I don't remember a lot, but it's basically about a girl in the Middle Ages who apprentices herself to her clockmaker uncle and then has to carry on his work, despite living in an era when people didn't trust science very much and trusted girls who could read even less. She also had to care for her mute brother, and fell in love with a knight whom she proceeded to have "more graphic than I was expecting in a book assigned for school" sex with a bunch of times. My whole class enjoyed those parts a lot, as I recall. But all concerns of curricular erotica aside, I seem to remember liking this pretty well, but I don't know how well it'd hold up, hence the 3 star rating.

[a. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this well over twenty years ago. I was in middle school and I clearly remember thinking that I had no idea how this had ever been approved for young people. It's a fantastic book but it contains everything that an accurate depiction of the Black Death and the ensuing social chaos should include.

The one bright point in the main characters life, when she falls in (admittedly ill-advised) love ends with her lover being fatally injured with a gut wound and then gang raped whilst he bled to death. Its just that kind of book!

I looked this up after hearing about 'modern' banned books and thought to myself that its a good thing I got my formative years of reading in before the censors bothered culling all the really good stuff.

[Soy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, moving, brutal, philosophical coming of age story, necessarily framed in religious faith (and doubt) during the Middle Ages. The brother's and sister's love and devotion to each other, as they struggled to survive as they wandered the countryside, is what I remembered most about it from having read it almost 30 years ago. That and the brother's white hair from being struck by lightning (not a spoiler, you learn this in the first couple pages).

I remember feeling this was the first real, mature novel I read, in that figuring out what it was about took some reflection. It's just as good and beautifully written as I had a feeling it was, and I was happy to find it in a trove of childhood books, because I couldn't remember what it was called. It's interesting that even at a young age, non-condescending art can be recognised and leave an impression for so long.

[Willie Unger · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This book will haunt your dreams" crazy to hear such nonsense from what they call a "Young Adult" standard. Although you would be a fool to believe that its for young teenagers (rape, murder, rats that kill you in more ways than just disease, evil character's who wouldn't think twice of doing you in themselves if there was profit or gain, real dark ages gritty stuff)

Personally, it's my favorite young adult novel of all time (I like dark, I like gritty) read it about 20 years ago and picked it up again recently and I was blown away just like I was back then by the content. It's well written and if you're like me and love a great, heart rendering tragedy turned on it's head with a bit of redemption for the main characters sprinkled in for good measure...look no further than Captives of time

[Athena · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book and memorable enough that I still think about it from time to time today, many years after reading it. But at the time I was pretty shocked by some of the content. Good for YA readers, but only if they're mature enough to handle some adult situations.

[Nina McAuliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books in middle school. I still remember it which is very surprising. It must have left a mark.

[Jill Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book portrays the medieval time period with stark realism. The amount of brutality that the main character and her brother witness and experience is shocking. You really come to know and care about the main character and her brother. Despite the violence and death, the story has a strong message of resilience and hope. It would probably be better in the adult section due to the brutality; readers had better at least be in high school for this. (I see that some other reviewers read it in middle school - yikes!) Overall, it was a very well-written book that I would definitely recommend to mature readers interested in historical fiction about that time period.

[Kholoud Sadek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just amazing. A smooth and enjoyable special way of narration that I did't experience before. A huge part of me enjoying this novel is believing events happening there and having faith in their beliefs and depping into their at the moment emotions that sometimes are just sad where moments become hectic. Here you'd have every kind of human emotions and you'd believe every single thought and soul out there even if characters with no voice though. Recommended for whoever want to start or come back to practice English literaure reading. It's legend.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is not much joy in this book.....

.....but it does capture the harsh realities of survival in 14th century Europe. The highlights for me were the main protagonist learning clock making from her uncle and her and her younger brother’s relationship with Rabbit. Enjoyable but grim at times.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has been on my shelf for years. I am determined to read a book before I discard or donate. I don't feel this book should be passed along. I will go directly to the bin.
I am shocked that this book was read by some in school. If you are a fan of multiple rapes then this is the book for you. Horrible foolish choices by the main character stupidity read on.

[Mary A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! A gripping and horrifying novel which starkly depicts the brutality and unpredictability of life in medieval times, while managing to be uplifting and hopeful as well.
So many characters came in and out of the novel (as happens in real life) and horrible experiences were interspersed with the relief of kindness and mercy.

[Svein M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read and I enjoyed it when I first read it. At second reading, quite a few years later, it was still a nice read but I noticed some glaringly historical mistakes, like a character sitting down to enjoy a pipe of tobacco. In 14. Century Europe there was no tobacco around :-)

[Tony Moss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Captives of time

Not the best book I have ever read. Far from the worst though. Malcolm Bosse captures the essence of the time. Definitely needs a follow-up.

[Larrullo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cannot recommend this book. From the first chapter the book is a string of terrible things happening...violent and immoral...so many that for the majority of the book I was cringing with each page just waiting for the next awful event.

Though the author may have been describing with some accuracy the medieval period, particularly the mindset of many of its people...it was simply disturbing to me. I'll give the author credit for not going into graphic detail the awful things he writes about, and I'll also have to warn any reader that even without detail, some of the events gave me enough of a mental image to disturb me for days after. This book is best described as a medieval portrait of the evil man can commit upon man.

I review most books regarding their value for my children. I will not be having them read this book. The main character had poor moral character, the plot was thin and moved along through murders, beatings, sodomy, pillage and plunder with some truly low points in the main character's own moral behaviors. There was very little in this book to uplift or even inspire one to deeper thought.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm currently reading Plague In The Mirror which brought this book to mind. I read it in 6th grade (literally half my life ago) and it has stuck with me since then. I recall enjoying this book, partially for the delicious and slightly unsettling darkness about it. The world was scary and ugly which seemed so perfect for a book in medieval, Black Plague Europe.
With that said, I had trouble remembering the title of the book but was able to find it instantly by adding "rape" to my google search string for "young adult fiction plague time". Obviously a memorable mature theme.
Recommended, but only for the mature reader who can handle darkness and difficult themes.

[Dee Maselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite its darkness, this was a favorite when I was a teen. I liked the immersion into the survival quest of a young woman in the Middle Ages. Sometimes terrifying, sometimes tragic, but uplifting in the end. Because of this book, I *still* ask myself how I would survive the worst of the Middle Ages -- what would my marketable skills be; what health measures could I introduce?

[Lee Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teen book

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

The history of the dark ages comes alive with this book, albeit in the worst ways possible.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must have liked this. After all this time I would expect to remember nothing. I did have to look it up, but I recognized it in the first few words.

[Ronald Roche · Rating 4 out of 5]

History and technology all in one

First of all, I have to admit that I've always enjoyed historical fiction- so I am somewhat biased as a reviewer. Still, since this is probably not that unusual from a reader's standpoint, it's a wash.

That aside, I must say I did very much enjoy Bosse's work here. Seeing what was then neophyte technology being developed on the fly as it were- and also how the attitude of the church played a role in all this- made for an interesting read.

The struggles of Anne and Niklas to just survive were equally compelling as a story; these 2 major plot lines combined very effectively as a narrative, in my opinion.

The only issues I had with Captives were: a) the dreams for future use of clocks Anne's uncle spoke of struck me as a bit too convenient, and more so in my opinion b) tobacco. Tobacco wasn't introduced to European society until the 15th century, so it's use in a story that takes place in the 14th century is, to me, a major error. Granted, many readers would possibly not be bothered by this as I was, but even though I've never expected historical fiction to always be historically accurate, this one to me was a bit much to just let slide.

Despite my issues with this detail, I still enjoyed reading Captives of Time. Inaccuracy aside, Anne's struggles to survive still make compelling reading.

[Jim Galford · Rating 3 out of 5]

set in the 1300's, the story weaves the tale of two siblings growing up in the plague years of the middle ages. The reader comes to grip with all the violence, disease, poverty, and external forces that attempted to prevent people of the times from prospering.