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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this more than Dawn! It takes the deconstruction of humanity to a whole new level, and gives a sense of possibility while it’s at it. Like Paul in Dune, Akin has the burden of humanity on his shoulders at far too young an age, but unlike Paul, it seems to humble, rather than idealize him.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Butler builds upon the world she created in the first book wonderfully in this title. It was a bit slow and confusing in part 3 but it picked back up in part 4. Overall a really great sequel.
adventurous
mysterious
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
fast-paced
Book two of this trilogy is somehow unimaginably better than the first, which was already amazing.
Butler may be one of my new favorite writers. It's too bad she never put a lot of books out, so I may have to go through the rest of her books very slowly so as not to burn through everything she did too quick.
This novel picks up about thirty years after the first with humans and aliens settling on earth. Some humans refuse to have anything to do with the aliens. There are a lot of plot elements I could say here but they're a bit spoilery for the first novel. Anyrate, the gist of the plot is that some humans are stubborn and not at all receptive to their alien caretakers/overlords.
It creates a very interesting dynamic, the way Butler lays this all out. The Oankali [the aliens] and their human collaborators are our perspective in the novel, and so we kind of implicitly agree with their worldview, but that doesn't make it correct. It's sort of a seductive thing, because the Oankali are nonviolent and logical, while humans are violent and unpredictable, so we're drawn away from the humans. But I think, were I in this position, I may have fought violently against what was done to my species.
But the novel is seen through the perspective of one of Lilith's children. There's tons of worldbuilding here that didn't need to get done in the first novel. In the first novel, we see only glimmers of the Oankali's life and their structures, but here we get to really inhabit it and we come to understand better what they do to species they encounter.
Butler does something that almost no one else has ever done successfully: she creates a truly alien species with a truly alien society and unwraps it in such a natural way that it feels almost normal. It just feels like it must be this way, you know?
I think the only other novel I've encountered that does this even nearly as well is Mieville's Embassytown.
But, yeah, endlessly impressed with this novel and this trilogy so far. I'm actually about a third of the way through the third one because I'm having trouble putting these books down.
If you loved the first novel in the trilogy, you'll be even more blown away by this one.
Butler may be one of my new favorite writers. It's too bad she never put a lot of books out, so I may have to go through the rest of her books very slowly so as not to burn through everything she did too quick.
This novel picks up about thirty years after the first with humans and aliens settling on earth. Some humans refuse to have anything to do with the aliens. There are a lot of plot elements I could say here but they're a bit spoilery for the first novel. Anyrate, the gist of the plot is that some humans are stubborn and not at all receptive to their alien caretakers/overlords.
It creates a very interesting dynamic, the way Butler lays this all out. The Oankali [the aliens] and their human collaborators are our perspective in the novel, and so we kind of implicitly agree with their worldview, but that doesn't make it correct. It's sort of a seductive thing, because the Oankali are nonviolent and logical, while humans are violent and unpredictable, so we're drawn away from the humans. But I think, were I in this position, I may have fought violently against what was done to my species.
But the novel is seen through the perspective of one of Lilith's children. There's tons of worldbuilding here that didn't need to get done in the first novel. In the first novel, we see only glimmers of the Oankali's life and their structures, but here we get to really inhabit it and we come to understand better what they do to species they encounter.
Butler does something that almost no one else has ever done successfully: she creates a truly alien species with a truly alien society and unwraps it in such a natural way that it feels almost normal. It just feels like it must be this way, you know?
I think the only other novel I've encountered that does this even nearly as well is Mieville's Embassytown.
But, yeah, endlessly impressed with this novel and this trilogy so far. I'm actually about a third of the way through the third one because I'm having trouble putting these books down.
If you loved the first novel in the trilogy, you'll be even more blown away by this one.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced