The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume IBy: M. T. Anderson Andersons imaginative and highly intelligent exploration of . . . the ambiguous history of Americas origins will leave readers impatient for the sequel. The New York Times Book Review Young Octavian is being raised by a group of rational philosophers known only by numbers but it is only after he opens a forbidden door that learns the hideous nature of their experiments, and his own chilling role them. Set in Revolutionary Boston, M.