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Wild Seed

by Octavia E. Butler

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Patternist: Chronological order (1), Patternist series (4)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,820835,010 (4.09)138
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:As the acclaimed Patternist science fiction series begins, two immortals meet in the long-ago pastâ??and mankind's destiny is changed forever.
For a thousand years, Doro has cultivated a small African village, carefully breeding its people in search of seemingly unattainable perfection. He survives through the centuries by stealing the bodies of others, a technique he has so thoroughly mastered that nothing on Earth can kill him. But when a gang of New World slavers destroys his village, ruining his grand experiment, Doro is forced to go west and begin anew. He meets Anyanwu, a centuries-old woman whose means of immortality are as kind as his are cruel. She is a shapeshifter, capable of healing with a kiss, and she recognizes Doro as a tyrant. Though many humans have tried to kill them, these two demi-gods have never before met a rival. Now they begin a struggle that will last centuries and permanently alter the nature of humanity.
Hugo and Nebula awardâ??winning author Octavia E. Butler's sweeping cross-century epic places her "among the best of contemporary SF writers" (Houston Chronicle). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Octavia E. Butler including rare images from the author's e
… (more)
  1. 20
    Clay's Ark by Octavia E. Butler (aaronius)
    aaronius: If you liked Wild Seed but don't necessary want to jump into other novels in the series, this is a short but great alternative by the same author with equally interesting characters and themes.
  2. 00
    Bones Become Flowers by Jess Mowry (thesmellofbooks)
  3. 11
    More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon (thesmellofbooks)
  4. 00
    The Silent City by Élisabeth Vonarburg (Sarasamsara)
    Sarasamsara: Wild Seed takes place in the past while The Silent City explores a post-apocalyptic future. Thematically, however, they are eerily similar. Vonarburg and Butler share similar sensibilities.
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» See also 138 mentions

English (82)  Dutch (1)  All languages (83)
Showing 1-5 of 82 (next | show all)
Oh! This series!! Incredible. A friend gave me a book of short fiction inspired by Octavia Butler a few years ago. I figured I should probably read Octavia Butler. It is so original, and please, please, don't let anyone try to replicate it. ( )
  chailatte | Feb 5, 2024 |
This book was incredibly uncomfortable.
One of the main characters forces people to marry and have children with their siblings and other relatives. He coerces people with threats of murder and other violence. And in the end, he gets a happy ever after without any real consequences for his actions except the *possibility* of losing someone he cares about.
The long-suffering other main character gradually corrupts her own morals to try to get along with him. She never gets justice for the many abuses she suffers.

I might have been okay with the ending if there was more about Doro's "redemption", rather than the ~15 minute explanation at the end of 'he's different now'. If there'd been more examples of how he felt remorse, how his values changed, etc. it might have made the ending a satisfying one. But instead it felt very rushed, and after the intensity of the abuses he'd committed earlier in the book I just feel upset that no justice ever happened. It feels like the ending trivializes the abuses. ( )
  EmberMantles | Jan 1, 2024 |
I have such feelings about Octavia Butler. I mean, she was so incredibly talented, a master of her craft, a profound influence on her genre, her paint, her characterization, her social criticism and understanding of humanity and the incredibly intriguing scenarios she interrogates...

But her books are just so fucking painful to read.

I loved Anyanwu, and she kept me hanging on in this novel, but THE INTENSITY WITH WHICH I WANTED TO YEET DORU INTO THE SUN. This book has interesting things to say about different kinds power and how they might shape/warp morality/worldview, and I do want to read more adventures of Anyanwu and her legacy and their (hopeful) eventual victory over Doro, BUT THAT WOULD MEAN SPENDING MORE TIME WITH DORO and that's a tough ask.

The world building in this though, from village life in Africa to the slave trade to New England colonies to plantation life in the Deep South. BUTLER AND HER MIND. ( )
  greeniezona | Aug 1, 2023 |
It was difficult not to give this five stars because as with so much of Butler's oeuvre, there are parts of it that are simply extraordinary. Butler's capacity to create worlds within worlds that seem simultaneously urgently relevant but also extraterrestrial is spellbinding. The protagonist, Anyanwu, is an immortal who can alter herself at the cellular level to heal herself, change identities, and in some cases, species. Much like Lauren Olamina in Parable of the Sower, Anyanwu is a multi-faceted, sometimes ambiguous, incredibly strong protagonist. Her antagonist, Doro, is a megalomaniacal spirit who has lived for thousands of years, who prolongs his life through cruel and terrible means. Fixated on forming his own society, his humanity is so deeply buried as to be thought lost.

Themes of community and kinship made this an important contribution of Afrofuturism when it was published, and it remains so today. It takes a multi-pronged approach to engaging with colonialism and in turn, postcolonialism. While much of this is transparent, Butler does not every lose sight of the storytelling and her characterization. This is where it is necessary to give Robin Miles, the reader of the audiobook, absolute accolades. Nuances in accents and intonation abound and each character, major or minor, shines through her portrayals.

Where I struggled with the book was near the ending. I found some of the plot directions difficult to reconcile, and while I generally like that Butler does not feel it necessary to explain all contexts for all events, there are several significant events that happen toward the end of the novel that were uncomfortably dissonant with the characterization. While Butler is making a case, perhaps, for transformation, the changes seemed rush and disproportionate to the major narratives that take up the book.

Aside from that, however, it is a book that, while it shares similarities with works here and there, manages to blend social commentary, speculative fiction, and fantasy in a seamless and organic way. ( )
  rebcamuse | Jul 15, 2023 |
Okay, I'm very late to the party, I know. Octavia Butler, my word! What an amazing story. SO creatively done, filled with wisdom and also very twisted. I especially loved Anyanwu and the descriptions of her taking animal form are glorious. I will most definitely be reading the next one in this series. ( )
  Andy5185 | Jul 9, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 82 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (5 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Butler, Octavia E.primary authorall editionsconfirmed
Barlowe, WayneCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Flynn, DannyCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Miles, RobinNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Palencar, John JudeCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Platten, WillTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Dedication
To Arthur Guy
To Ernestine Walker
To Phyllis White for listening.
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Doro discovered the woman by accident when he went to see what was left of one of his seed villages.
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Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:As the acclaimed Patternist science fiction series begins, two immortals meet in the long-ago pastâ??and mankind's destiny is changed forever.
For a thousand years, Doro has cultivated a small African village, carefully breeding its people in search of seemingly unattainable perfection. He survives through the centuries by stealing the bodies of others, a technique he has so thoroughly mastered that nothing on Earth can kill him. But when a gang of New World slavers destroys his village, ruining his grand experiment, Doro is forced to go west and begin anew. He meets Anyanwu, a centuries-old woman whose means of immortality are as kind as his are cruel. She is a shapeshifter, capable of healing with a kiss, and she recognizes Doro as a tyrant. Though many humans have tried to kill them, these two demi-gods have never before met a rival. Now they begin a struggle that will last centuries and permanently alter the nature of humanity.
Hugo and Nebula awardâ??winning author Octavia E. Butler's sweeping cross-century epic places her "among the best of contemporary SF writers" (Houston Chronicle). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Octavia E. Butler including rare images from the author's e

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Hachette Book Group

3 editions of this book were published by Hachette Book Group.

Editions: 0446606723, 0445205377, 0446676977

 

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