Reviews

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

paig35mith's review against another edition

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4.0

What I thought the book was about and what I actually got out of it was two different things, which is a positive thing in this instance. I don't know what to say that wouldn't give some of the story away, which I try not to do when leaving reviews, but I can say the story and time period she chooses go hand in hand and caused me to see the story in a different light if it took place during a different period

tas_f's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

saturdayreaderinpink's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

General Thoughts

So, wow. This was my first Octavia Butler read. It was good! So good that I read five-hundred-and-thirty pages with little wear or tiredness of the story. It took me two or three hundred pages before I even noticed how long the book was.

Butler has a way with words. With most modern writing style the curt/plain writing disconnects me with the characters. But I felt both that Butler took care to share the thoughts and vivid experiences of her characters and the plainness  I did find did not wear on me as much and suited the story.

I am too tired and still digesting the story to properly comment on it. But it is smart. It, on the part of pov switching, does a fantastic job weaving the story between two main characters. It terms of history, Butler’s Wild Seed is not squeamish. Violence and abuse
on Black bodies is not censored, and in the main Antagonist's’ case, not disapproved of. Forced birth, breeding, and rape (though it’s not called that) is normalized and done to woman and men in this book. It’s not considered moral by the narrative but in the service of telling the story like the characters would tell it; this is not named as such or fully condemned.
But I never felt like this was an accident. When Butler describes brutality, it is always with intent and on purpose.

The dynamic between the two immortals is more imbalanced (
Doro is Anyanwu’s abuser
) than I expected coming in. The story between them is told sometimes in inches and sometimes in broad strokes. In that sense, it’s like someone would expect between two immortals. They both develop a lot. I think their ending felt cut off— but publishers have word limits, and this is part of a series.

I would recommend this book if you like explorations of amorality, immortals, animal traits ascribed to humans through metaphor or otherwise, or a book that pushes the envelope on what is acceptable to write.

Favorite Quotes


I will finish adding these later

She followed him almost grimly, wondering what it would be like finally to be married to a man she could neither escape nor outlive. The prospect made her cautious and gentle. Her earlier husbands would not have known her. She sought to make him value her and care for her. Thus she might have some leverage with him, some control over him later when she needed it. Much married as she was, she knew she would eventually need it


“Could you have done it? Your son?” “Anyone,” he said.



timeforgsopinion's review

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dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bonriki's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0


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arghmargh's review

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dark tense medium-paced

4.5

shandraaa's review

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4.0

this was great, but it was missing something for me and very much felt like a set up for the series

cecrenshaw's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

sp0resdruid's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Amazing. Once again using the lens of horror to examine issues of race and consent and ownership while setting the story among one of the hardest periods in human history.

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bookish_wanderer's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Read for afrofuturism vibes, complicated characters, a love/hate relationship and power struggle that span multiple centuries and continents. 

To be honest I don't know how to review this, or how I really feel about it. 
The writing was good, as expected from this author, and the plot was interesting: two immortal black beings with  specific powers, one wanting to do good for others, and the other one wanting to use others for his own benefit. 
There were interesting themes too, amongst them genetic manipulation, but also race, consent and ownership, patriarchal dominance and control over bodies... I'd say it is also overall a feminist read.

Yet I just couldn't seem to understand where she was getting at. This is a prequel to a series so there is obviously more to come, but I don't really feel the urge to pick up the next one. I found Doro, one of the main characters, despicable and felt like the relationship with Anyanwu didn't evolve much until the very end which felt a bit complacent. I kept thinking "what was this all for?"

I did want to finish it but closed the book and felt a bit... unsated? And I'm not entirely sure I'll be reading the series just yet. 

Probably will try another standalone novel, because I loved Kindred, and heard great things about Parable of the Sower