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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
That was weird but cool. Very weird to be thrown in the deep end of a fantasy world like that but I haven't read much high fantasy. Maybe that's normal. I wanna read the rest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia
Minor: Ableism, Biphobia, Sexual assault
I thoroughly enjoyed this read... although it doesn't "wrap up" the whole universe that we've delineated over the four-book series (and - at this point I don't think that's possible) it wraps up the story that it wants to tell, in a somewhat abrupt but still complete and satisfying way. Again I liked the same thing as of the other books: they could each be read alone (I think, at least), but knowing the whole world better adds a lot. Patternmaster, to me, felt a lot lighter than all the other books of Octavia Butler's that I've read, even though there's still plenty that is creepy, invasive, gruesome. Maybe I'm just desensitized, especially after Clay's Ark. But the structure of this narrative almost felt like a fairy tale!
For the record, Amber is one of my favorite Butler characters so far! And Coransee... maybe one of my most hated villains of hers, though her work has a lot of really hateable, but more nuanced than purely evil, antagonists. In this series in particular, in which differences in power play a huge role, feeling the protagonists' helplessness against their enemies really got me worked up.
For the record, Amber is one of my favorite Butler characters so far! And Coransee... maybe one of my most hated villains of hers, though her work has a lot of really hateable, but more nuanced than purely evil, antagonists. In this series in particular, in which differences in power play a huge role, feeling the protagonists' helplessness against their enemies really got me worked up.
It's very interesting that is was the first book written in this series and she wrote the other three later to give background. The third book in chronological order could stand alone and I definitely see how it was written just to explain who the Clayarks are and how they became them. And mind of my mind, the second book, is useful to give the historical context to the Patternists. Of course wildseed, the first book, is the origin of the whole series and all four books are written as complete stories so you really do not need to read them all.
This book came very highly recommended, and I did enjoy it. It just didn't blow me away as I was expecting it to. I've been told it's much more powerful in the context of the compilation [b:Seed to Harvest|60924|Seed to Harvest (Omnibus Wild Seed / Mind of My Mind / Clay's Ark / Patternmaster)|Octavia E. Butler|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553712s/60924.jpg|59256], and I hope to reread it in that context someday.
Solid ending to the series, and not bad for a first novel. Much better than Clay's Ark - which is interesting, since the Clayarks in this book had no character development whatsoever. It seemed mostly unrelated to Clay's Ark.
adventurous
dark
fast-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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Really fun and quick read. I like the concept of the patternist series so far. I think the 4 stars is probably colored by having just gotten through several LeGuin novels but still enjoyed. I didn’t think Teray was a particularly compelling character - obviously the story has to start somewhere, but I think the reader would have benefitted from getting more of his backstory and upbringing. Amber, the healer, seemed much more interesting to me.