You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
blauglas 's review for:
Die Genhändler. Die Xenogenesis-Trilogie
by Octavia E. Butler
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was not an easy book to read. I had already started it once, six years ago, and could not go on reading because of the disturbing start. The horror Lilith feels during those first chapters, the isolation, the transgression of boundaries, and the descriptions of the Oankali were a bit much for me back then.
I came back to this book after having read Butler's Parable duology. Now I felt much more equipped for this series, and I was. I was still often disturbed, as is intended, and had a lot of problems with the constant ignorance of the Oankali when it came to consent. This was horrific in the first book, reading it from Lilith's perspective, and I was shocked by how normalised it felt by the first book, when we see the world through the eyes of a Human-Oankali construct.
There's a lot of heavy topics in this book. Colonialism, racism, Human nature, rape, coercion and chemical drugging... Many difficult topics, and I don't feel equipped to discuss them well.
I have to say that I liked the first two books a lot, but felt let down by the third one. Although it was interesting to follow an ooloi character, I did not feel like it added enough for me. I was expecting the Oankali to leave Earth again by the third book. After Akin's quite political perspective, this was more internal, describing the ooloi's Hunger for humans, and the steps it would take to take them for itself. This was at times horrifying, and did not further the political undertones that were so strong in the first and second book.
I understand that this is a choice by Butler to show the nature and thoughts of the Oankali. They are a society that decide things by consent of the majority, and they view humans as functioning the same: If their body parts "want" something but the brain says "no", and a person voices this "no", it has no weight for the Oankali. For them, anything that is "wrong" inside a body should be "fixed", leading to them healing anything from maligne cancer to disabilities. Therefore there is no discussion of disability and self-worth, or decisions that a human makes, as for the Oankali, all of that just has to be healed. They have a very limited understanding of human nature, even though they studied them, and do not respect them. This was often hard to read and made me mad.
Still, I enjoyed reading this series and am glad to have come back to it. It has stirred a lot of thoughts in me.
I came back to this book after having read Butler's Parable duology. Now I felt much more equipped for this series, and I was. I was still often disturbed, as is intended, and had a lot of problems with the constant ignorance of the Oankali when it came to consent. This was horrific in the first book, reading it from Lilith's perspective, and I was shocked by how normalised it felt by the first book, when we see the world through the eyes of a Human-Oankali construct.
There's a lot of heavy topics in this book. Colonialism, racism, Human nature, rape, coercion and chemical drugging... Many difficult topics, and I don't feel equipped to discuss them well.
I have to say that I liked the first two books a lot, but felt let down by the third one. Although it was interesting to follow an ooloi character, I did not feel like it added enough for me. I was expecting the Oankali to leave Earth again by the third book. After Akin's quite political perspective, this was more internal, describing the ooloi's Hunger for humans, and the steps it would take to take them for itself. This was at times horrifying, and did not further the political undertones that were so strong in the first and second book.
I understand that this is a choice by Butler to show the nature and thoughts of the Oankali. They are a society that decide things by consent of the majority, and they view humans as functioning the same: If their body parts "want" something but the brain says "no", and a person voices this "no", it has no weight for the Oankali. For them, anything that is "wrong" inside a body should be "fixed", leading to them healing anything from maligne cancer to disabilities. Therefore there is no discussion of disability and self-worth, or decisions that a human makes, as for the Oankali, all of that just has to be healed. They have a very limited understanding of human nature, even though they studied them, and do not respect them. This was often hard to read and made me mad.
Still, I enjoyed reading this series and am glad to have come back to it. It has stirred a lot of thoughts in me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia
Minor: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt