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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
Shame on me for ignoring Butler up until now.
Patternist is everything I look for in a sci-fi novel:
-A interesting and unique world and relationship between its inhabitants, in this case a hierarchy of telepaths that can KILL PEOPLE WITH MIND BULLETS <---Awesome.
The Clay Arks = Quadruped Human/Lion hybrids that shoot sniper rifles <----Awesome.
-No time wasted on frivolous world building that isn't needed. Just enough of a world to live in it for a few hundred pages without being bogged down by it learning how they make pottery for no reason.
-Characters that are likeable without being cartoons
-AMAZING pacing, so much sci-fi I read is tens of pages of needless description that drags the story
-A story that examines complex themes in a sci-fi way.
Reason that this is 4 instead of 5, I don't think I'd put this in my upper echelon of books but I certainly would read it again and recommend it to anyone who loves sci-fi.
Cannot wait to read through the whole series
Patternist is everything I look for in a sci-fi novel:
-A interesting and unique world and relationship between its inhabitants, in this case a hierarchy of telepaths that can KILL PEOPLE WITH MIND BULLETS <---Awesome.
The Clay Arks = Quadruped Human/Lion hybrids that shoot sniper rifles <----Awesome.
-No time wasted on frivolous world building that isn't needed. Just enough of a world to live in it for a few hundred pages without being bogged down by it learning how they make pottery for no reason.
-Characters that are likeable without being cartoons
-AMAZING pacing, so much sci-fi I read is tens of pages of needless description that drags the story
-A story that examines complex themes in a sci-fi way.
Reason that this is 4 instead of 5, I don't think I'd put this in my upper echelon of books but I certainly would read it again and recommend it to anyone who loves sci-fi.
Cannot wait to read through the whole series
Another author that I've always known of but somehow managed to never read.
Also: random: this is the 4th book of a series? It's not noted anywhere on the book itself, so I'm guessing it's a disconnected series, maybe like LeGuin's Hainnish stuff? Whatever the case, I simultaneously didn't feel like I was suddenly thrust into the middle of anything and did feel like I could see where the 3 books preceding this one might lay.
OK, weird. Wiki says this was her first published book? Crazy! And so good for a debut. I guess she went back and added prequels (as did so many others of that period - Asimov, etc.). OK, weird series-ness aside, it turns out this was perhaps the perfect entry point!
ANYWAY.
This was short and sweet. Great classic sci-fi and a perfect example of the 70s/80s sci-fi stuff that I love unearthing. For a quick moving story (quite short by current standards) there's a lot of depth in here, addressing class, power & gender politics and sexuality.
I love the cover on my edition as well - I much prefer it to the original.
FOUR STARS
Solid classic sci-fi. Great entry point if you're curious about her works.
Also: random: this is the 4th book of a series? It's not noted anywhere on the book itself, so I'm guessing it's a disconnected series, maybe like LeGuin's Hainnish stuff? Whatever the case, I simultaneously didn't feel like I was suddenly thrust into the middle of anything and did feel like I could see where the 3 books preceding this one might lay.
OK, weird. Wiki says this was her first published book? Crazy! And so good for a debut. I guess she went back and added prequels (as did so many others of that period - Asimov, etc.). OK, weird series-ness aside, it turns out this was perhaps the perfect entry point!
ANYWAY.
This was short and sweet. Great classic sci-fi and a perfect example of the 70s/80s sci-fi stuff that I love unearthing. For a quick moving story (quite short by current standards) there's a lot of depth in here, addressing class, power & gender politics and sexuality.
I love the cover on my edition as well - I much prefer it to the original.
FOUR STARS
Solid classic sci-fi. Great entry point if you're curious about her works.
This was my favorite in the loosely tied series that includes Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark and Patternmaster. What made me love it more than the others was the truly likable character acting out of human weakness, but made a better stronger and ultimately triumphant person by love. It's corny, but deeply satisfying as well. This type of thing is food for the soul. Butler manages to nourish that part of us while still being dynamic and thoughtful.
adventurous
fast-paced
This last volume of the series by the late Octavia Butler feels.. unfinished.
I can't help but think that, had she lived longer, she might have revisited her creation to tell us more about the fate of these competing societies of the future.
I can't help but think that, had she lived longer, she might have revisited her creation to tell us more about the fate of these competing societies of the future.
Octavia Butler is one of my favorite writers, but this is my least favorite of her books. It was also written first, earlier than the other books in the Patternmaster series, and all the rest of them are more nuanced and thought-provoking.
The setting is interesting, though. At this point, there are three different groups of humans living on the planet: the Mutes, the Clayark people, and the Patternists. Mutes are ordinary people, with no telepathic ability, and they are basically slaves. The Clayarks are like animals, having a communicable disease which causes people to mutate, and they are constantly at war with the Patternists. The Patternists are in charge, and have a rigid hierarchy, with women subservient to men. They are the ones with powerful paranormal abilities, such as being able to read minds, kill, and heal.
There’s so much killing in this novel that I got a bit overloaded with it. At one point, Teray, the hero, massacres hundreds of Clayark people. The novel is basically about a power struggle between two Patternist men, Teray and Coransee, for the top spot in the organization. They can kill each other with their minds, and they are always threatening to do so. There’s a lot of macho posturing, and of course, Butler is only describing it, not advocating it. But there’s nothing here to counter it.
Teray is the young one, just out of school, but he has such psychic potential that the older, stronger Coransee sees him as a threat. Coransee is aiming for the job of chief Patternist, after the current one, Rayal, dies. Teray and Coransee are brothers, both sons of Rayal, but there’s no sense of family connection. Teray is portrayed as a little more humane than Coransee, more concerned with the plight of helpless Mutes, less likely to abuse his position. He is also accompanied by a woman, Amber, who has maintained her independence for a long time, at great cost, and he treats her respectfully. I would say that she’s the most interesting character in the book.
Octavia Butler often wrote about the tensions between two different cultures or world-views, but that’s not really happening in this novel. The basic structure of this world is not particularly challenged by anyone. And it’s a bleak world, especially for women and non-psychic humans.
The setting is interesting, though. At this point, there are three different groups of humans living on the planet: the Mutes, the Clayark people, and the Patternists. Mutes are ordinary people, with no telepathic ability, and they are basically slaves. The Clayarks are like animals, having a communicable disease which causes people to mutate, and they are constantly at war with the Patternists. The Patternists are in charge, and have a rigid hierarchy, with women subservient to men. They are the ones with powerful paranormal abilities, such as being able to read minds, kill, and heal.
There’s so much killing in this novel that I got a bit overloaded with it. At one point, Teray, the hero, massacres hundreds of Clayark people. The novel is basically about a power struggle between two Patternist men, Teray and Coransee, for the top spot in the organization. They can kill each other with their minds, and they are always threatening to do so. There’s a lot of macho posturing, and of course, Butler is only describing it, not advocating it. But there’s nothing here to counter it.
Teray is the young one, just out of school, but he has such psychic potential that the older, stronger Coransee sees him as a threat. Coransee is aiming for the job of chief Patternist, after the current one, Rayal, dies. Teray and Coransee are brothers, both sons of Rayal, but there’s no sense of family connection. Teray is portrayed as a little more humane than Coransee, more concerned with the plight of helpless Mutes, less likely to abuse his position. He is also accompanied by a woman, Amber, who has maintained her independence for a long time, at great cost, and he treats her respectfully. I would say that she’s the most interesting character in the book.
Octavia Butler often wrote about the tensions between two different cultures or world-views, but that’s not really happening in this novel. The basic structure of this world is not particularly challenged by anyone. And it’s a bleak world, especially for women and non-psychic humans.
Octavia Butler is so good, but so intense. A satisfactory ending to the Patternmaster saga (saga is a better description than series, as the books are only peripherally related, and span thousands of years).
If one says "Octavia E. Butler", the overwhelming response is "Patternmaster". So, it's about time I got to this classic. Note: I have the audible book but didn't find it on the list, but that is what I'm reviewing. Second note: even though I bought it and read the description, I completely missed that this was book 4. I normally hate coming into the middle of a series but I feel this was written so that while I am sure I missed a lot of references, I did not feel like I had huge holes in plot or character development. So kudos to her writing that well. I think it could be a stand alone if needed but I enjoyed the story so I will be going back to read the first three. It'll be interesting to find out how this world came to exist.
Science Fiction is a way for writers to discuss political and social matters of today withou making he reader feel preached at or morally squeamish. This is useful because it always the writer to say what they want without having their audience tune out because of political differences. Given today's political landscape, I find Butler's commentary on slavery and the choices one makes regarding freedom very poignant. Can one be truly free is one is physically free but not mentally? Is it worth physical captivity and servitude on the chance that one can earn their full freedom? And introspectively, how far would you go to gain your freedom? Would you enslave others? Would you kill? Would you abandon your loved ones, your children, your friends? Is safety and security and peace worth losing a bit of yourself and your freedom?
And she asks all these pointed questions in an amazing world peopled with fascinating characters. And she tells a fun and adventurous tale.
So yeah, if sci-fi is your thing and you haven't read this, add it to the pile. You won't be sorry.
Science Fiction is a way for writers to discuss political and social matters of today withou making he reader feel preached at or morally squeamish. This is useful because it always the writer to say what they want without having their audience tune out because of political differences. Given today's political landscape, I find Butler's commentary on slavery and the choices one makes regarding freedom very poignant. Can one be truly free is one is physically free but not mentally? Is it worth physical captivity and servitude on the chance that one can earn their full freedom? And introspectively, how far would you go to gain your freedom? Would you enslave others? Would you kill? Would you abandon your loved ones, your children, your friends? Is safety and security and peace worth losing a bit of yourself and your freedom?
And she asks all these pointed questions in an amazing world peopled with fascinating characters. And she tells a fun and adventurous tale.
So yeah, if sci-fi is your thing and you haven't read this, add it to the pile. You won't be sorry.
Overall, I loved this final book in the series (or at least the series as set up in the Seed to Harvest book collection). It is now my mission to read anything and everything by Butler.