Patternmaster

Patternmaster forms part of a series of books, of which it was the first to be published. Later on, the books were renumbered and the suggested reading order changed to match the chronological order of the stories, in which case this book would be read last. However, judging by many reviews this looks to have been a mistake; people complain that the chronological first in the series, Wild Seed, is by far the best and that Patternmaster makes for an anticlimactic end to the storyline. These reviewers reckoned that publication order was the best one to read the series in, and clearly so far I have to agree – going in with few expectations, I really enjoyed Patternmaster.

The novel takes place on a world at war – the Patternists, humans show more who are all connected to one another through a psychic network called the Pattern, are fighting the Clayarks, a sphinx-like species who fight with guns and can transmit the dreaded Clayark Disease. There are also non-psychic humans, who are treated by most Patternists as little better than livestock (clearly evoking institutional slavery). The Patternists' society, despite existing in our distant future, has reverted to a feudal structure with an all-powerful king-like figure (the Patternmaster), with powerful feudal lords (Housemasters) owning vast swathes of territory and many of the people on them. All of this is introduced clearly without great swathes of exposition, and the characters' use of the Pattern is written to feel natural.

The story's protagonist is Teray, who at the beginning is embarking on an apprenticeship with Housemaster Joachim and marriage with Iray. However, before he can really make a start with either, he is (illegally) sold into the custody of a more powerful Housemaster, Coransee. It turns out that Teray and Coransee are brothers, and both sons of Patternmaster Rayal, and Coransee wants to ensure that Teray won't challenge him for the the crown. Teray has no intention of doing so, but cannot stomach the deal Coransee offers him to guarantee it, so the two are drawn into an inescapable conflict.

This book is incredibly strong on characterisation. Everyone is flawed, but nearly all are sympathetic, and the one who isn't makes for an interesting villain. Although I'd thought the beginning of the book was a little dry, I quickly became entranced by all the inner conflicts of the major characters and just had to keep reading to find out what they would do. There are also some interesting moral dilemmas posed: whether Teray was right to turn down Coransee's deal, for example. We also get a strong hint – when Teray talks to one in the first half of the book – that the Clayarks are higher-order beings than the Patternists make out, but this doesn't stop massacres occurring later on. This is a short, fast-paced book (at least once it gets going), but my investment in the characters built up as if over a much longer book. It's also no surprise to me that, having finished this book, Butler did feel the need to write prequels to it – there's so much to this setting that I've yet to see explored.

The book reminds me a little of The Left Hand of Darkness, but it is much faster-paced (“fixing” the only reservation I really had about that book, which is also brilliant). Both are character-centric explorations of far-future human societies with traits from our history (feudalism) as well as pointed differences (ambisexuality in The Left Hand of Darkness, the Pattern here). Just as I would unhesitatingly recommend that, I would just as much recommend this… and how exciting that the series reportedly gets even better! (Jul 2019) show less

This is the first book Octavia Butler published, and it's fantastic. It gives a great view of a wholly different world, so different you don't realize it's still Earth until you read the next in the series (chronologically, this is the last, but by publication date, the next one is "Mind Of My Mind", which is one of my all-time favorite books). This one shows us the struggle a young Patternist named Teray faces as he tries to stake his claim to his own part of the world (his own life, really), and the trials he faces between people who fear his power and power he's afraid of taking. Wonderful stuff. I don't visualize much as I read. Butler's protagonists are almost universally Black, and it's only that knowledge that gives me a mental show more image of any of them at all. However, in this book in particular, not a lot of attention is paid to race. I wonder if that's deliberate as it was her first novel and she needed more of a foothold to establish herself before making race more of a face-front issue in her work. show less

Another 5 star read from Octavia E. Butler! I’m reading the Patternist series in publication order rather than chronological order, so I started with this one. It features Butler’s classic complex worldbuilding combined with a writing style that’s easy to follow and comprehend. And her books always feature well-written women that are strong, independent and excellent problem solvers - in Patternmaster, it’s Amber! While this was incredibly good, it’s not where I would recommend starting off reading Butler’s work. Kindred or Parable of the Sower are better jumping off points if you’re reading her for the first time.

Now that I've read the whole series, I understand how it all leads up to this book. I had a little trouble getting into this book at first, because I wasn't a fan of how much the hierarchical society restricted things compared to the end of Mind of My Mind. I loved the character of Amber, and am impressed that Butler included a bisexual character and someone who completely accepted her queerness back in 1976. I kept rooting for Teray, even though it frequently felt hopless.

Overall, a great series to read.

An underwhelming conclusion to the Patternist series. The protagonist has interesting psychic powers, but no real distinguishing characteristics to set him apart from every fictional Chosen One. He never really has to answer for his chronic lack of consideration for the women he's closest to, which surprised me given Butler's reputation as a feminist writer. If, say, Amber the healer had been the protagonist instead, this could've been a much more interesting book. To be fair, this was written early in Butler's career, when she no doubt had to conform to existing genre conventions (including sexism) to get published.

I enjoyed this quite a lot but I feel like I should have enjoyed it more, given its focus on power dynamics and mind control of various forms of subtlety. Maybe the setting kept me so focused on trying to work out how the world was put together (even apart from vital cultural hierarchies, it was a long time before it was fully inclued that this was a post-apocalyptic Earth rather than a fantasy world) that I had less energy to spare on empathising with the protagonist, who came across as a bit of a blank slate at times.

But I did like it; especially once we get to know Amber, unapologetically independent and bi; and considering we see nothing directly of Rayal past the prologue, the ending is unexpectedly powerful.

This is the fourth book in the chronology of the Patternist series, though it was written first and then the history filled in later (an interesting choice). I read them in chronological order, thankfully, as this would be hard to digest without the backstory.

The story is of Teray, a new graduate of whatever passes for school in the Patternist community, and follows him as he heads to the house he has signed on to as an apprentice. The story takes place many generations after the formation of the Patternists, told in Mind of My Mind. Earth is basically split between the Patternists, telepathically connected super-humans formed as the result of a careful breeding program described in previous books, and Clayarks, human-alien hybrids show more whose origin story is told in Clay's Ark. Normal humans, or "mutes", are controlled by the Patternists through their telepathic abilities- if they come in contact with Clayarks they will be infected and turn into one of them.

Teray is essentially kidnapped by Coransee, a powerful Patternist lord and, it turns out, Teray's brother and the son of the current Patternmaster, who is ill and close to death. He is concerned that Teray will be a threat to him as he tries to take over the Pattern after the current Patternist's death. I won't spoil more of the plot.

Butler's writing is easy to read and gripping. The book is short. Butler is generally seen as a giant in science fiction, with stories characterized by metaphors to racial issues (the author was African American). But I didn't really see it in this book- we see the Patternists society as pretty ruthless, with power valued above all. There's no character in the book representing any kind of critique of the society, just a power struggle within it.

Enjoyable overall anyway, glad I read the series. show less