Wild Seed

Octavia Butler was a master of her craft, and Wild Seed is no exception to her work. It is wonderfully complex, ambivalent, and questioning, delving into issues such as gender, slavery, race, and divinity. In this, it is very like Xenogenesis, with characters making choice and getting involved in situations that, while obviously unhealthy, still might be their best option. The idea of two immortals locked in a world of impermanence but with wildly divergent philosophies about how to spend their time is intriguing, one valuing and creating life at every chance she gets and the other destroying and refining life in the hopes of creating something better. This latter is a problematic character, but one who nevertheless earns the sympathies of the reader and his protagonist counterpart. I don't really feel like a skilled enough writer to review Butler's works, but I will recommend this to all fans of science fiction with a dose of social philosophy.