Imago

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.

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.

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.

In “Dawn,” Lilith wants a choice, and it is denied to her at every opportunity. She has to live with that, and we as readers have to decide if her captivity is morally acceptable. We are as human as she, and we share her conflict.

In “Adulthood Rites,” Akin wants a chance and has to fight to allow that Human part of him its expression, its freedom. Akin is a construct, and while we obviously side with him, we are given a deeper understanding of the Oankali morality.

In “Imago,” Jodahs wants a challenge and must take an active role in self-fulfillment. As an ooloi construct, it is our first window into truly Oankali thinking. For once, we are sympathizing with the Oankali perhaps more than the humans. We feel the needs and pressures that its Oankali nature presses on it, and we can't help but sympathize even as it does really reprehensible things like binding unsuspecting humans to it. We watch, like Lilith, hoping it'll succeed and wondering what that says about us as humans. Jodahs is the fruit of the Oankali mission, and Imago is fruition of this trilogy. It is a thoughtful and thought-proving look at human nature and morality, continuing to make the reader question themselves, their choices, and their suddenly ambiguous values.

I'm very glad it's summer vacation and I could just devour this trilogy in one go. Butler's prose is a thing of beauty and regularly pulls on your emotions enough that setting the book aside is pretty much impossible. The book both stands on its own and provides a solid conclusion to the series, something that is not at all easy to do or common in modern trilogies. To be fair, all three books suffer a bit from abrupt endings, but this was the first one that disappointed me because there is no story to follow. Still, I can see why Butler would leave that prediction up to the reader. Even without more to read, it is a story that will stay with me.

There are interesting ideas here, but the trilogy is painfully dull. I felt no interest in or attachment to any of the characters.
I found the Earthseed books much better but there's something about Butler's writing style that creates a sort of detachment from the characters. Maybe it's too matter of fact for me.
Still, I admire her take on alien life, their crazy biology and social structure etc.

“Mi pueblo va a venir aquí, pero mi pueblo no os matará. No mató a vuestros ancianos: los arrancó de entre las cenizas de su guerra, los curó, se unió con aquellos que lo desearon voluntariamente, y dejó que los demás se marchasen. Si mi pueblo fuera un pueblo de asesinos, vosotros no estaríais aquí. Y no habría una colonia humana en el planeta Marte, en donde los humanos viven y se reproducen totalmente en libertad, lejos de nosotros.”

Me ha gustado muchísimo la trilogía de Butler, encontré que Ritos de madurez fue la más fascinante para mí. La prosa de Butler es realmente impresionante. Repito la estupidez que dije en algún momento y que me la robé de Matrix: como limpiarse el culo con seda.

Aunque prefiero las novelas de contacto alienígena con un corte más tirado a lo militar y armamentista, hay que resaltar que, con Xenogénesis, Butler tal vez haya logrado uno de los contactos más realistas y mejor contados, con personajes bastante bien construidos. Con los oolois construidos parece que una ya ni siquiera tiene la opción de decidir por cuenta propia, que las decisiones son solo una ilusión y que del amor al odio no hay absolutamente nada en el medio. Tal vez nunca tuvimos posibilidades con estos malditos demonios de cuatro brazos, si tuviera uno al frente le parto el cuello de un solo.......... ¡atríenme!.

Muy, muy recomendada la trilogía. ¿Qué sigue? ¿Tal vez Parentesco?

Butler occasionally traveled for pleasure, including her journeys to Peru and hiking Huayna Picchu, the tallest mountain peak in Machu Picchu. But some of these travels were also for the purpose of research. Travels to the Amazon rainforest informed her famed Xenogenesis trilogy.

Short review: I have been working through all of Butler's fiction. This was the next to the last book. Butler is a good writer and I am always intrigued by the questions she raises in her writing. But I am also always disturbed by the conflict. Sex is often not fully consensual (this series is really about a forced breeding of humans and aliens, so that is not surprising). There are always power dynamics at play. In this series humans cannot continue to live without aliens, but if they are with aliens, they are mated in groups and forced to breed. They are given a type of love and dependency for their alien mates, but they still always know they are not really free.

It is meant to be disturbing and it is. The series is incomplete. There was a planned fourth novel but it was not written before Butler passed away.

At the end of the series, I am not sure I would really recommend any of it. It isn't that she is not a good writer (she is a great writer). And it isn't that she doesn't raise interesting issues (she does). But this just isn't the top of her game and the incompleteness of the series combined with the subject matter mean that this is part of her lesser work. There are just better books by Butler, so unless you are trying to read all of her books, I would read the better books first.

My full post on Imago is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/imago/