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Such a great yarn, so beautifully written, with this mystical twist that I love. Huge fan of Coates' writing: he manages to use just enough words to paint the scene but never more. And, yes, I appreciate this clear-eyed look at slavery that's often hard to read....as it should be. I can't really understand the full impact of slavery in the US, but this feels like a step in that direction.

Beautifully written, this book was one of the best I’ve read in quite some time. Highly recommended

Really engrossing book. Wished for a little less magical mystery, but it is a book that I’m still carrying around in my memory. Impactful and enlightening.

THE WATER DANCER is a beautifully written book that speaks from the heart about the ravages the institution of slavery wreaked upon the human spirit and decency itself. I loved UNCLE TOM'S CABIN and years after reading it, it remains my favorite book. THE WATER DANCER shares many similarities with that classic.

The lyrical writing and magical realism that follow Hiram Walker from his life as a slave, to freedom in the north, pulls you into a world where power is skewed and undeserving men determine the lives of everyone around them, ripping families apart at will, without guilt or conscience. Hiram Walker returns to the white father that held him in slavery and the fading tobacco plantation he grew up on as an agent of The Underground Railroad. He has one goal: to free the ones he loves from the oppression of slavery!

In his travels, he comes into contact with important historical figures, including Harriet Tubman. This is a amazing story. Read it!!!

After reading a three-star review of Water Dancer, I had to write my own and give Water Dancer five stars: Though he usually writes non-fiction, Coates ‘attempt’ at historical science fiction is better than many other books by many other authors out there and puts him squarely in the group of other wonderful writers I have been enjoying this year: Colson Whitehead, Richard Wright, Jesmyn Ward, and Alice Walker.
Hiram’s world in Water Dancer reminds me of Janie Crawford’s world in Zoe Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and of Richard Wright’s autobiography Black Boy. And also of the many motivations behind the African-American diaspora recounted in Isabel Wright’s account of The Great Migration. He does use the frame of the Underground Railroad for the plot—a topic at once tired, sacrosanct, and trending. Like many people, I wondered whether he could make that work. Then, like Colson Whitehead, he pulled it off with the panache and flair of a seasoned SF writer.
I’m fascinated about the role of African-Americans in the Philadelphia malarial plague of 1793 and about how “the story of the White family takes the real-life saga of William and Peter Still and their family as its inspiration.” I plan to read further on the source material Coates has credited. The movement of slave-holders and slaves from tired land on the east coast to places in Kentucky and further south is also a topic of interest.
In the living, breathing character of Hiram, I think that Coates has achieved what few writers have done--created a character whose ambivalence and awareness is always growing: He faces the world of the Task throughout. He carefully examines the damage done to all of the people he has known and loved in his life. He lives, as far as possible, an examined and authentic life. The limits, fears, hopes, dreams, physical debilitation, casual rape, and emotional suffering of slavery, ‘the Task,’ are all here in a swirl of the best descriptive language and imaging available—they have the weight of the supernatural and superhuman. Hiram’s personal struggle to have a vision/solution to his particular set of problems continually sets him apart: He seems way past being able to know and protect the people he loves in a consistent manner—the Task keeps rolling on—the laundry.

4 1/2 star read. This Oprah book club selection was a very different and engrossing read. Coates tells the story of Hiram Walker, a slave on the fabled Lockless plantation in Virginia. Hiram is a servant to his half brother Maynard and is a motherless boy, as his master sold his mother off. His journey begins with a tragic accident that could have killed him, but didn't. He realizes he has a special power but knows little about it. But others suspect he has the power and involve him in the Underground Railroad in hopes that he can uses his power to liberate others like himself. This book is heartfelt and an absorbing read. I thought it was quite a beautiful read about the time of slavery in the South.

Not a fan if the mystical elements woven into this story, as it seems to downgrade the work of Harriet Tubman. There are nice poetic turns, but I was surprised that the author didn't tell us what the protagonist looked like until the end of the story. I believe this book is an Oprah's book club selection because of the subject matter, but not because of great writing skills. This is an interesting story, but not a classic

Read an immersive tale to celebrate the Underground Railroad.
Ta-Nehisi Coates’s first work of fiction is as beautiful and wise as his essays!

An interesting read that nevertheless seemed to keep me at arms length throughout. I appreciated getting a better perspective of the different experiences slaves endured, and I wondered if because the characters had to section off their emotions if the author was writing in a way to create that same experience in the reader. I cared, but it was as if I was held back from being able to care too much. Not sure if that makes sense. The magical realism aspects were creative, but kind of took me out of the story. It was an interesting way to consider Harriet Tubman, but I almost felt it discounted the bravery and cleverness and strength required to actually cover all the miles that she trudged by foot. All in all - definitely worth reading, and probably a good choice for a book club because there are lots of things to discuss. And the bonus of listening to it on audiobook is the reader actually sings the snippets of songs--a definite plus.