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A review by beaconatnight
Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler
3.0
Patternmaster is Octavia Butler's first published novel. She's best known for her Kindred, a time-travel story in which a Black woman suddenly finds herself in the early nineteenth century where she experiences the horrors of slavery first-hand. Superficially, the last entry to the Patternist series – the last if we count the internal chronology of events – is quite different.
The story is set in the far future and the defining premise is that many people are gifted with telepathic abilities that grant them control and influence over others. They are all connected within the mental universe they refer to as the Pattern (that's why they are called the Patternists). The center of all nodes is the Patternmaster, the most powerful individual whose role it is to defend his realm and its people from mutated attackers, the so-called Clayarks.
Rayal the Patternmaster is severely weakened, though. He himself contracted the deadly disease that made the Clayarks what they are. The Rule of Succession states that his many children would have to fight over control of the Pattern. From this thread the main plot unfolds. But I think Patternmaster is again a work of speculative fiction that is at least as much about its ideas and reflections as it is about its characters. For this reason let me first explain why the novel is more similar to Kindred than it might seem at first.
A blood relationship with Rayal is not the only ground from which members of the future aristocracy derive their status. Their psychological constitution – aspects like temperament, character, emotional disposition, or moral stance – determines where they stand in the mental network and the relations in the physical and social realm are arranged along the same lines. The society is ruled by the Houses and the Patternists closest to Rayal are the Masters of these Houses. Similar to households in ancient times, the Housemasters' influence and comfort comes from control over slaves. Here we have to distinguish between two groups.
For one thing there are the outsiders, individuals who have no blood ties to the Master in whose house they serve. But they are still Patternists themselves and are treated with some degree of respect. Many earn the privilege of becoming apprentices that might later be given the chance to found their own House. There is one important twist, though. To demonstrate their unconditional loyalty the Masters commonly demand total psychological submission. The outsiders would not only be slaves in the physical sense; to ensure that they would never act against him, their Master would know their every thought and would potentially be able to do to more.
The other group of slaves are the mutes. They are essentially what is left of our branch in human evolution. Their name comes from the fact that they have no telepathic abilities and are unable to connect to others on any non-physical level. We learn that they had once dominated other species through science and technology – this shouldn't be too difficult to imagine – but in the future they are torpid servants without any impetus of their own. However, the fact that they cannot speak and control mentally doesn't mean that they are deaf to the control of the Patternists. In fact, they are programmed for economic efficiency. Otherwise their lives are joyless and short. They break easily, and the Patternists have no regard for their survival.
After reading all this you might expect that this must be the perfect backdrop for fascinating political intrigue. For me it was very similar to how I felt about Asimov's Foundation. The premise strong, the world meticulously set up, and now the cast is put into place – yet the plot is never fully captivating.
The main protagonist, Teray, quickly finds out that he's Rayal's son. In fact, he's among the very few that were born to him and his lead wife and sister. This makes him the same as Coransee, a very powerful Housemaster and the one widely expected to follow in Rayal's footsteps. It's tradition that the contestants would rid themselves of their potential rivals, so him and Teray become mortal enemies.
Unfortunately, the plot was lacking momentum due to the fact that Teray has no ambition whatsoever to inherit the Pattern. He pursues no higher purpose; his sole motivation is survival. For that reason, things basically just happen to him. Butler mostly focuses on the coming-of-age aspect of Teray's arc.
The boy is fresh out of school and only just now learns about the dangers and dynamics of his world (as we as the readers do). He assumed responsibility for his sister, whom he promised to marry. He tries to find someone to guide him in life. He struggles to see through the power play of the more experienced players around him. All this is not without appeal. But I felt that, unlike Kindred, there is not enough substance to the characters and their relationships to care for them on any deeper level.
There are moments set up for tension, especially when Teray and a powerful healer called Amber leave Coransee's House in hope for sanctuary at Rayal's House. Between the Patternist territories there is the constant danger of Clayark attacks. But the real danger is of course the villain of the story, Coransee. Actually, the basic structure is very familiar from martial-arts movies where the hero first loses his fight without the opponent breaking any sweat, but with the guarantee to challenge him again in the end. We know all along that there will be a showdown with Coransee sooner or later.
The problem is that the events aren't depicted in any great detail. To be honest, I had no idea how I should imagine the environment to look like. And the clothing and creatures aren't described in any colorful terms, either. I suspect that this was a deliberate decision to put focus on the mental realm. But still, it wasn't very engaging to read. And many science-fiction novels of the golden age taught me that telepathy is not a skill that excites me very much.
There is also some lazy writing. For instance, the healer knows this incredibly effective way to kill Clayarks, but no one else ever came across the power to eradicate their enemy? Wouldn't it have been best for all of them had the healers shared this important knowledge with the Patternmaster? Actually, aren't we told that Rayal has free access to everyone's thought? I also felt that the intriguing idea of two characters linked in psychological unity wasn't developed to its full potential.
Overall, Patternmaster leaves me somewhat disappointed. Many of its ideas must have been fresh and forward-thinking upon release, but today I found it a bit lacking. It makes me wonder what else to expect from the series and whether learning of the world's past could make us reevaluate the events of the future. I'm still willing to find out.
Rating: 3/5
The story is set in the far future and the defining premise is that many people are gifted with telepathic abilities that grant them control and influence over others. They are all connected within the mental universe they refer to as the Pattern (that's why they are called the Patternists). The center of all nodes is the Patternmaster, the most powerful individual whose role it is to defend his realm and its people from mutated attackers, the so-called Clayarks.
Rayal the Patternmaster is severely weakened, though. He himself contracted the deadly disease that made the Clayarks what they are. The Rule of Succession states that his many children would have to fight over control of the Pattern. From this thread the main plot unfolds. But I think Patternmaster is again a work of speculative fiction that is at least as much about its ideas and reflections as it is about its characters. For this reason let me first explain why the novel is more similar to Kindred than it might seem at first.
A blood relationship with Rayal is not the only ground from which members of the future aristocracy derive their status. Their psychological constitution – aspects like temperament, character, emotional disposition, or moral stance – determines where they stand in the mental network and the relations in the physical and social realm are arranged along the same lines. The society is ruled by the Houses and the Patternists closest to Rayal are the Masters of these Houses. Similar to households in ancient times, the Housemasters' influence and comfort comes from control over slaves. Here we have to distinguish between two groups.
For one thing there are the outsiders, individuals who have no blood ties to the Master in whose house they serve. But they are still Patternists themselves and are treated with some degree of respect. Many earn the privilege of becoming apprentices that might later be given the chance to found their own House. There is one important twist, though. To demonstrate their unconditional loyalty the Masters commonly demand total psychological submission. The outsiders would not only be slaves in the physical sense; to ensure that they would never act against him, their Master would know their every thought and would potentially be able to do to more.
The other group of slaves are the mutes. They are essentially what is left of our branch in human evolution. Their name comes from the fact that they have no telepathic abilities and are unable to connect to others on any non-physical level. We learn that they had once dominated other species through science and technology – this shouldn't be too difficult to imagine – but in the future they are torpid servants without any impetus of their own. However, the fact that they cannot speak and control mentally doesn't mean that they are deaf to the control of the Patternists. In fact, they are programmed for economic efficiency. Otherwise their lives are joyless and short. They break easily, and the Patternists have no regard for their survival.
After reading all this you might expect that this must be the perfect backdrop for fascinating political intrigue. For me it was very similar to how I felt about Asimov's Foundation. The premise strong, the world meticulously set up, and now the cast is put into place – yet the plot is never fully captivating.
The main protagonist, Teray, quickly finds out that he's Rayal's son. In fact, he's among the very few that were born to him and his lead wife and sister. This makes him the same as Coransee, a very powerful Housemaster and the one widely expected to follow in Rayal's footsteps. It's tradition that the contestants would rid themselves of their potential rivals, so him and Teray become mortal enemies.
Unfortunately, the plot was lacking momentum due to the fact that Teray has no ambition whatsoever to inherit the Pattern. He pursues no higher purpose; his sole motivation is survival. For that reason, things basically just happen to him. Butler mostly focuses on the coming-of-age aspect of Teray's arc.
The boy is fresh out of school and only just now learns about the dangers and dynamics of his world (as we as the readers do). He assumed responsibility for his sister, whom he promised to marry. He tries to find someone to guide him in life. He struggles to see through the power play of the more experienced players around him. All this is not without appeal. But I felt that, unlike Kindred, there is not enough substance to the characters and their relationships to care for them on any deeper level.
There are moments set up for tension, especially when Teray and a powerful healer called Amber leave Coransee's House in hope for sanctuary at Rayal's House. Between the Patternist territories there is the constant danger of Clayark attacks. But the real danger is of course the villain of the story, Coransee. Actually, the basic structure is very familiar from martial-arts movies where the hero first loses his fight without the opponent breaking any sweat, but with the guarantee to challenge him again in the end. We know all along that there will be a showdown with Coransee sooner or later.
The problem is that the events aren't depicted in any great detail. To be honest, I had no idea how I should imagine the environment to look like. And the clothing and creatures aren't described in any colorful terms, either. I suspect that this was a deliberate decision to put focus on the mental realm. But still, it wasn't very engaging to read. And many science-fiction novels of the golden age taught me that telepathy is not a skill that excites me very much.
There is also some lazy writing. For instance, the healer knows this incredibly effective way to kill Clayarks, but no one else ever came across the power to eradicate their enemy? Wouldn't it have been best for all of them had the healers shared this important knowledge with the Patternmaster? Actually, aren't we told that Rayal has free access to everyone's thought? I also felt that the intriguing idea of two characters linked in psychological unity wasn't developed to its full potential.
Overall, Patternmaster leaves me somewhat disappointed. Many of its ideas must have been fresh and forward-thinking upon release, but today I found it a bit lacking. It makes me wonder what else to expect from the series and whether learning of the world's past could make us reevaluate the events of the future. I'm still willing to find out.
Rating: 3/5