Thursday, January 12, 2006
book report: Adulthood Rites
Adulthood Rites
by Octavia Butler
This is book 2 of the Xenogenesis series. I wrote about book 1 here.
In book 2, we follow events in the life of Akin, one of Lilith's alien/human hybrid children. Akin is quite human in outward appearance, but has several Oankali "upgrades", like the ability to sense chemical changes, poisons, and so forth with his sensory tentacles (conveniently located in his tongue). When Akin is still quite small, he is kidnapped by renegade humans who have rejected interbreeding with the Oankali. As a result, they cannot bear human children of their own, and are desparate to build their families by any means possible. Akin meets other hybrid children who have been kidnapped by the renegades on his journey... which is a dark and sad one.
Butler seems to make a pretty grim statement about human motivations. While Lilith and some of her human companions have accepted their symbiosis with their Oankali partners, they are not especially happy about the compromise they have made. And the renegades seem downright vicious in their pursuit of "pure" human existence... which I guess is probably quite realistic. Humans often do turn ugly when faced with something unfamiliar.
by Octavia Butler
This is book 2 of the Xenogenesis series. I wrote about book 1 here.
In book 2, we follow events in the life of Akin, one of Lilith's alien/human hybrid children. Akin is quite human in outward appearance, but has several Oankali "upgrades", like the ability to sense chemical changes, poisons, and so forth with his sensory tentacles (conveniently located in his tongue). When Akin is still quite small, he is kidnapped by renegade humans who have rejected interbreeding with the Oankali. As a result, they cannot bear human children of their own, and are desparate to build their families by any means possible. Akin meets other hybrid children who have been kidnapped by the renegades on his journey... which is a dark and sad one.
Butler seems to make a pretty grim statement about human motivations. While Lilith and some of her human companions have accepted their symbiosis with their Oankali partners, they are not especially happy about the compromise they have made. And the renegades seem downright vicious in their pursuit of "pure" human existence... which I guess is probably quite realistic. Humans often do turn ugly when faced with something unfamiliar.
Labels: book reports, Octavia Butler, science fiction
