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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
Octavia Butler traces a battle of wills over the centuries between two immortal beings, moving from west Africa to North America. Anyanwu, the “wild seed”, is a shape-shifter and healer who is taken from her African home to colonial America in the 17th century by Doro, a spirit-like being from north Africa who survives by jumping from body to body, killing his hosts. He uses violence and fear to breed more superhumans like himself while Anyanwu objects to his heartless and careless regard for other people. Their rivalry, in which a need for each other is mixed with hatred, brings casualties and heartache, with Anyanwu under constant threat from Doro’s immoral cruelty. Imaginative in its concepts, the book sometimes lacks a strong narrative drive but features plenty of gripping and vivid scenes. Chronologically, this is the first in Octavia Butler’s Patternist/Patternmaster series, although the fourth to be published.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
inspiring
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Reading as part of the Octavia Butler Mixtape course with Dr. Bri on Substack..
I am amazed at just how much story Butler is able to fit into such a short book.
I'm loving it, can't wait to continue the journey.
I am amazed at just how much story Butler is able to fit into such a short book.
I'm loving it, can't wait to continue the journey.
medium-paced
honestly one of the best books I've read. wildseed is a unique tale of love, abuse and power set through the dawn of civilization to the beginning of slavery. although in terms of publication it is the fourth wildseed is the narrative origin of the patternist series. its a vivid charaterisation of two powerful immortals with waring ideologies that are joined in a parasitic relaionship that is meant to propegate the inhumane Doro's plan for a master race.
. Anyanwu is a healer and a shape shifter and seems to remain at about 20 years of age though she can take the shape (and apparently the DNA makeup) of other people and even animals. Doro, on the other hand, turns out to be much older and is a kind of spiritual vampire, taking the bodies of his victims and “wearing” them for a while.
The central conflict of the story is the dynamic opposition between Anyanwu and Doro in regard to Doro’s millennia project of breeding a super race. Doro, who is more spirit than man, has been gathering people with unusual talents and getting them together so that their talents may be made more usable and more apparent in the offspring. Anyanwu vehemently opposes his methods and his dehumanization of the subjects.
As interesting as this story is, and it is quintessential Butler, the magnetic tension between Doro and Anyanwu is the gripping central focus of the book. Butler’s Doro is a fascinatingly complex and intriguing antagonist who displays both god-like power and transcendent ennui. Anyanwu’s humanism, and her female relational practicality and leadership offer a vital juxtaposition to Doro’s attentive but disassociated deity.
. Anyanwu is a healer and a shape shifter and seems to remain at about 20 years of age though she can take the shape (and apparently the DNA makeup) of other people and even animals. Doro, on the other hand, turns out to be much older and is a kind of spiritual vampire, taking the bodies of his victims and “wearing” them for a while.
The central conflict of the story is the dynamic opposition between Anyanwu and Doro in regard to Doro’s millennia project of breeding a super race. Doro, who is more spirit than man, has been gathering people with unusual talents and getting them together so that their talents may be made more usable and more apparent in the offspring. Anyanwu vehemently opposes his methods and his dehumanization of the subjects.
As interesting as this story is, and it is quintessential Butler, the magnetic tension between Doro and Anyanwu is the gripping central focus of the book. Butler’s Doro is a fascinatingly complex and intriguing antagonist who displays both god-like power and transcendent ennui. Anyanwu’s humanism, and her female relational practicality and leadership offer a vital juxtaposition to Doro’s attentive but disassociated deity.
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well-written, but a bit slow and too much on the fantasy end of the sci-fi spectrum for me. However, Octavia Butler gets the benefit of the doubt and I believe I will enjoy the later books in the series more.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Yes