The Black Magician

The Black Magician is the story of George, a highly intelligent enslaved blacksmith who uses disguise and invention to free other enslaved people — men and women with gifts that slavery has denied them the freedom to develop. The novel follows the lives they build beyond bondage and, in its Epilogue, places their fictional stories beside later historical figures such as Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Lewis Latimer as thematic heirs rather than asserted descendants.

George is guided by his grandmother, who is in truth an African princess stolen from her homeland and trained from birth by the best warriors, doctors, and scientists of her people. She teaches him his royal family history, the inventive gifts that run in their blood, and how to use his own talents to bring others out of bondage. Along the way, they are helped by a young white woman, Shelby, and by a Native American man who owes them his life.

As the escapes multiply, George must contend with slave catchers and a great many other trials. But with each seemingly impossible disappearance, his intelligence, ingenuity, and ability to stay one step ahead of those hunting them become impossible to ignore. One by one, enslaved people begin to vanish without a trace, and the brilliant Black man behind the disappearances thus earns the name — The Black Magician.

The magic of the story ultimately lies not in the supernatural, but in human potential — the extraordinary things people can accomplish when given the freedom to become who they were always capable of being.