Ratings45
Average rating4
15
Ratings45
Average rating4
'Butler writes with such a familiarity that the alien is welcome and intriguing. She really artfully exposes our human impulse to self-destruct' LUPITA NYONG'O 'An icon of the Afrofuturism world, envisioning literary realms that placed black characters front and center' VANITY FAIR From literary pioneer Octavia E. Butler, the acclaimed Lilith's Brood trilogy concludes with the story of Jodah, child of the Earth and stars, who risks the future of humanity just by growing up. Jodahs is a child of the Earth and stars, born from the union between humans and the Oankali, who saved humanity from destruction centuries before. But Jodahs is approaching adulthood, a metamorphosis that will take him beyond gender and family, and into a great but dangerous unknown. Frightened and alone, Jodahs must come to terms with this new identity, learn to master lifechanging powers and bring together what's left of humankind - or become the biggest threat to their survival. PRAISE FOR OCTAVIA E. BUTLER, THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR 'In the ongoing contest over which dystopian classic is most applicable to our time... for sheer peculiar prescience, Butler's novel may be unmatched' NEW YORKER 'Octavia Butler was playing out our very real possibilities as humans. I think she can help each of us to do the same' GLORIA STEINEM 'Butler's prose, always pared back to the bone, delineates the painful paradoxes of metamorphosis with compelling precision' GUARDIAN 'One of the most significant literary artists of the twentieth century' JUNOT DIAZ 'Octavia Butler was a visionary' VIOLA DAVIS 'Her evocative, often troubling, novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human' NEW YORK TIMES
Featured Series
3 primary booksXenogenesis is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 1987 with contributions by Octavia E. Butler and Octavia E. Butler.
Reviews with the most likes.
Shorter (I think) than the first two and not quite as strong. I liked it plot wise as an ending to the series, eg it felt full enough of a circle, but the signature character and relationship development I've usually gotten from Butler seemed less present, more rushed. I guess at some point you have a large enough cast of characters that it's difficult to juggle them all with real depth – although in this case, the final book was (unlike the others) written in first person, and it seemed to share one of the complaints I had about the Parables: the cyclical and even repetitive thinking of the narrator, parsing a philosophical question or ideal. To me it's clear that Butler shines best with multiple viewpoints. I also wish the story had done more to question the validity and righteousness of the Oankali (but perhaps that's the resister human in me). By the end of the series, none of the characters had any remaining real objection to the manipulation from the Oankali. Which is maybe the point. It is interesting to read a book that does not give as much narrative punch to the “humans resisting alien colonization” argument as to the “humans are irreparable, inevitably destructive, and maybe thus aliens aren't so bad” one.
The most frustrating aspect of Adulthood Rites and Imago is the same as in Survivor, the book Octavia disowned, which is the essentialism of race. In Survivor, blue Kohn are leaders; in the Xenogenesis series, humans and Oankali are also set in their respective singular tracks. It makes for more or less blank personalities and shallow relationships based solely on physiological addiction. The human sides of the constructs—stubbornness and fear of change—also keep the plot on the ground and off the ship. Imagine being endlessly curious yet having zero desire to explore space.
Nevertheless, Octavia's work is always effortless to read and I miss being immersed in her worlds.
It was enjoyable in parts but was a bit of a lacklustre end to the trilogy unfortunately. I felt the author went way to easy on the invaders and didn't explore the concept of free will given the very grey line of how the aliens get humans to acquiesce.
A magnificent ending to the trilogy. Like [b:Dawn 60929 Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1) Octavia E. Butler https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388290339l/60929.SY75.jpg 1008111] and [b:Adulthood Rites 116249 Adulthood Rites (Xenogenesis, #2) Octavia E. Butler https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390116834l/116249.SY75.jpg 249001], it was interesting, thought-provoking, and full of subtext. I really liked the concept of the “ooloi” (a third sex) and so enjoyed how this book gives us more detail about them. As always, I loved Butler's writing style and the way she tells stories.
