Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006)

Although I was not enthusiastic about this book club choice, I am glad to have read it. It generated a lively discussion about the themes of slavery and oppression which arise when a modern (1976) African American woman finds herself travelling back in time to 1819 on a Maryland farm, forced to rescue an ancestor to assure his and her own survival, and she must live as a slave in doing so. The writing struck me as clear but not lyrical. There was almost too much dialog at times but the story is a good one and trundled me along to its unsatisfactory ending. The protagonist and her husband do a little historical research but never really resolve this strange occurrence and how it permanently changed their lives.… (more)

A thoughtful, wonderfully imaginative tale of a group of human beings who've been rescued by extraterrestrial unknown after a nuclear war has wiped out most of the human race. As she did in "The Parable of the Talents" Butler wrestles with the problem and burden of leadership. The titular character is a strong and able and has seemingly been selected by the humans' new hosts to prepare a group of human beings to resettle Earth. However, she doubts their good intentions, seems unwilling to give up her humanity after learning that they have perfected genetic engineering, and has to deal with human nature, which seems no less intransigent and self-defeating on a giant, living spaceship than it did on earth.

Both Butler's description of the aliens and their overwhelming strangeness and Lilith's initial repulsion to them are well-portrayed, as are the efforts she makes to bond with her indescribably weird hosts. There aren't your standard bulb-headed little grey men here -- obviously put a lot of thought into how a species as different as the Oankali and the Ooloi might consider the universe. And, like Butler's earlier novels, there's no doubt that this extraterrestrial encounter will not be entirely chaste: sex and a desire for closeness all play a part here.

In the end, though, this novel, interesting as it is, is too short to be really satisfying. Butler seems to be setting up a trilogy, and I suppose that that's fine: I don't know how she was planning out her work at this stage of her career. But I could have used a bit more of Lilith's story. I suppose that I'll just have to read the other two volumes in this series.… (more)

This book blew me away. I can't believe it's been around since 1979. It's a cross-genre marvel of a book, telling the story of a modern (1976) black woman who is inexplicably transported back to the antebellum south. Each of her inadvertent journeys is fraught with danger, physical and psychological. Butler asks questions of Dana, and by extension us, that are deeply uncomfortable. How can people tolerate seeing the abuse of others without interfering? How can people be abused over and over again and never retaliate? Brilliant book, would recommend it to anyone.… (more)