Reviews

Imago by Octavia E. Butler

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calicolavender's review against another edition

4.0

I have many thoughts on this book, and the series as a whole, but I will summarize it in that I love the common theme of planting seeds for a new way of living found in Octavia Butler’s works.

boaze's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A decent read. It rehashed the first books so I rank it a bit lower since it doesn't make any interesting leaps from the previous books.

ennieeva's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

fmacarthy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

hcgoodno's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

libellum_aphrodite's review against another edition

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4.0

The first human-born ooloi was a fantastic conclusion to the trilogy. In Jodahs, the readers finally get to understand the ooloi (and thereby the Oankali species) much more deeply, his human half being the bridge that makes any of this understanding possible.

**spoilers**

Jodahs is also the first inkling that the Oankali are not fully in control of their species merger project. They have certainly made mistakes from misinterpreting or misunderstanding the humans up to now, but these errors are always able to be rectified with decisive action and never on the genetic side of the equation. Signs of fallibility put Oankali and humans on a more even playing field for the first time: for example, Jodahs’ humans and Oankali parents must work together to handle a truly unknown and unexpected situation of what to do with their new ooloi children, how to keep the rest of the family together and safe, and how to handle the despondency and literal devolution of the mateless ooloi in metamorphosis. Not only did the Oankali not expect a human-born ooloi yet, they also did not predict those oolois' deep need for human mates nor their irresistibility to the humans. At the end of the novel, we are left with hope for a better relationship between the two species and the hybrids, all thanks to accidents and unexpected results.

That optimism seemed elusive for a while there. When Jodahs briefly states his future despair when his human mates died, I sat on pins and needles thinking they'd be killed in the novel; however, Butler scared the crap out of me for no reason, as they emerge from the conflict unscathed.