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A review by izzalice
Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler
challenging
dark
slow-paced
4.0
Adulthood Rites is another absorbing and unsettling instalment in the Xenogenesis trilogy. In this sequel, Octavia E. Butler goes into more depth about the alien's belief in humanity having a 'genetic Contradiction' which is the idea that humans are incredibly intelligent yet detrimentally hierarchical so will always end up destroying itself.
Having Akin- the first human-born male hybrid- as the protagonist voice in this book brought a fresh and interesting addition to the narrative. As the novel develops his inner conflict between human and Oankali ideals is intriguing to read and this is a main character the reader can root for, particularly in his determination to convince the aliens to let humans have a place of their own.
I wish that Adulthood Rites explored more of the sinister. At the end of Dawn, the reader really gets the disturbing sense that this alien species is a lot more hostile than their demeanor makes them seem. A darker underlying motive is hinted at a few times in this book but I found myself wanting more.
There was a point where Akin had decided he wanted to help the humans build up a new life away from the alien species on Earth and I wish there was more on page about how he came to that decision. We know he learned the resister perspective when he was held hostage in a resister town but a fair amount was time skipped and it felt lacking.
Overall, despite a couple of gripes, Adulthood Rites is a strong sequel and I'll definitely be picking up the final book in the trilogy.
Having Akin- the first human-born male hybrid- as the protagonist voice in this book brought a fresh and interesting addition to the narrative. As the novel develops his inner conflict between human and Oankali ideals is intriguing to read and this is a main character the reader can root for, particularly in his determination to convince the aliens to let humans have a place of their own.
I wish that Adulthood Rites explored more of the sinister. At the end of Dawn, the reader really gets the disturbing sense that this alien species is a lot more hostile than their demeanor makes them seem. A darker underlying motive is hinted at a few times in this book but I found myself wanting more.
There was a point where Akin had decided he wanted to help the humans build up a new life away from the alien species on Earth and I wish there was more on page about how he came to that decision. We know he learned the resister perspective when he was held hostage in a resister town but a fair amount was time skipped and it felt lacking.
Overall, despite a couple of gripes, Adulthood Rites is a strong sequel and I'll definitely be picking up the final book in the trilogy.