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Wild Seed (Patternmaster #1)

4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 · rating details · 4,575 ratings · 397 reviews

Doro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex or design. He fears no one until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu is a shapeshifter who can absorb bullets and heal with a kiss and savage anyone who threatens her. She fears no one until she meets Doro. Together they weave a pattern of destiny unimaginable to mortals.

Paperback, 320 pages

Published April 1st 2001 by Grand Central Publishing (first published 1980)

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Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

121st out of 2,944 books — 12,412 voters

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Non-Caucasian Protagonists in Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Paranormal Romance

6th out of 784 books — 613 voters

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Aug 24, 2012 Regina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-publisher-netgalley, have-in-audio, favorite-authors, science-fiction, audio-also-listened-to, listened-to-audio-only, only-listeneed-to, first-in-series, shifters, african-american, epic, historical-fiction, will-continue-series, gender-bending

I really don't know where to start with this review. Wild Seed is unlike anything I have ever read before but yet it was still very accessible and easy to read. I would say this book is a combination of urban fantasy, horror, historical fiction and fantasy. Butler addresses slavery, gender roles, racial issues, sexuality, and class issues so subtlety you can miss the commentary if you want to and she does this all through the lens of a fantasy world involving supernatural beings that are seeming...more I really don't know where to start with this review. Wild Seed is unlike anything I have ever read before but yet it was still very accessible and easy to read. I would say this book is a combination of urban fantasy, horror, historical fiction and fantasy. Butler addresses slavery, gender roles, racial issues, sexuality, and class issues so subtlety you can miss the commentary if you want to and she does this all through the lens of a fantasy world involving supernatural beings that are seemingly immortal and have various abilities from shape shifting, body snatching, mind reading, and telekinesis. Personally, I don't want to miss the commentary and I enjoy the unique view. I tend to like my urban fantasy and fantasy stories with a slice of heaviness on the side and Octavia Butler seems to be able to deliver that every time.

This is the third book by Octavia Butler that I have read. I have come to expect that in reading her books I will have an escape from reality and a complete immersion into the characters that she writes. She writes characters that seem to breathe and live somewhere off the pages of her books, they are real and three dimensional. But such tangible characters come with a price, there is pain and anguish in her books and as a reader, I felt these emotions. Wild Seed was no exception. The characters witness some painful and sad events. This is not urban fantasy lite.

Wild Seed is a sweeping historical story that begins in Africa with ancient powerful beings. These beings get caught up in the slave trade and arrive in the now United States. These characters seem to have limitless power. One being prefers to use her power morally and compassionately. Another being, no longer sees himself as human and is not governed by any morality. And of course they clash, both romantically and otherwise. The book is surprisingly sexual in parts and raises some really interesting questions. A shapeshifter that can take on any shape -- animal and human -- and gender -- how do you feel about it taking on the opposite gender and engaging in sexual relationships? What about while it is in animal form? The sex scenes are not explicit but they are referenced. Octavia Butler is not shy about putting her toe across the border of most people's comfort zones.

I plan to continue on with the series and am excited that Butler's books are being published in e-book and audio book format.

To read more reviews like this check out www.badassbookreviews.com (less)

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Sep 28, 2012 Ian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: alternate-history, sci-fi, classics

Butler's sci-fi classic has so much to recommend it. She is a very talented writer, and she creates a mythology and cosmology which are, if not unique, then arguably the best-developed of their kind. "Wild Seed" is beautiful and lyrical and powerful, but the rampant misandry and peculiar romanticization of pre-colonial Africa mar it -- infect it like a virus.

There is neither subtlety nor nuance in Butler's representation of the two sexes. No woman is ever a criminal or a monster or a villain --...more Butler's sci-fi classic has so much to recommend it. She is a very talented writer, and she creates a mythology and cosmology which are, if not unique, then arguably the best-developed of their kind. "Wild Seed" is beautiful and lyrical and powerful, but the rampant misandry and peculiar romanticization of pre-colonial Africa mar it -- infect it like a virus.

There is neither subtlety nor nuance in Butler's representation of the two sexes. No woman is ever a criminal or a monster or a villain -- those roles are reserved exclusively for the men. And the only men who show any virtuous traits are remarkable because they are explicitly exceptional -- aberrations who invariably die at the hands of other "true" men.

Butler presents the male as mind, male as monster, male as thief, male as predator, male as manipulator, male as sociopath, male as destroyer, male as wanderer, male as slaver, male as arrogant false-god, male as controller and dominator, male as compulsive, incurable rapist.

Butler presents the female as body, female as healer, female as savior, female as settler, female as nurturer, female as victim, female as mother, female as creatrix, female as liberator, female as rebel, female as builder, female as gardener, female as defiant and noble and inherently virtuous.

The sense is often that the male is the rude, brute beast from which the morally, ethically & spiritually superior female has evolved.

And re: her depictions of pre-colonial Africa...Well, i think this novel would have benefited from consultation of the works of Frank M. Snowden cross-referenced with that of Lloyd A. Thompson. It's moving in a Pan-Africanist sense, but it lacks reality.

Again, there is so much of worth here, and it deserves its status as a classic, but its flaws are so glaring, so appalling, that they can eclipse everything that is good about it. I was able to see more of its worth with this re-reading, able to filter out the hypocritical misandry and suspend my disbelief for the African history portions, and maybe next time I'll be able to filter out a bit more. For now I regrettably leave it as a 3 star book.(less)

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Jan 10, 2012 Apatt rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is one of the best stumbled upon moments in years. I was reading a book review by Orson Scott Card and he was waxing lyrical about Octavia Butler in general and this book in particular. Wild Seed is science fantasy as opposed to science fiction as a lot of the fantastical elements are scientifically improbable, though biology plays an important part in the story also. The story is about two immortals, a man and a woman; while they are both immortals the nature of their immortality is v...more This book is one of the best stumbled upon moments in years. I was reading a book review by Orson Scott Card and he was waxing lyrical about Octavia Butler in general and this book in particular. Wild Seed is science fantasy as opposed to science fiction as a lot of the fantastical elements are scientifically improbable, though biology plays an important part in the story also. The story is about two immortals, a man and a woman; while they are both immortals the nature of their immortality is very different. The man jumps from body to body, evicting and killing off the body's original owner by the act of possession, the woman has the ability to control and manipulate every molecule of her body and is able to shape shift and heal herself at will. They are essentially mutants with “psi” powers, and much of the story concerns their lifelong project of raising and protecting psi powered other mutants.

There is a lot of subtext in this novel. The theme of slavery and freedom is prevalent in this book, and there are some thoughtful rumination about morality, racism and the human condition. The prose style is similar to the aforementioned Orson Scott Card in clarity; the difference is that Octavia Butler's prose is more lyrical and evocative. Anne McCaffrey would probably be a closer comparison.

Her character development skills verges on the magical. It seems like she can create believable characters in just a few sentences, almost as soon as she names them. The villain of the piece Doro is a terrible monstrous tyrant, yet like real people he has other facets, a caring side, and a tragic back story. Given his back story, his loneliness and callousness is understandable, even if the latter is not justified. The female protagonist with the lovely name of Anyanwu has an almost equally tragic back story but she has a strong moral center and is the foundation of the story.

When I see people write "this is a beautiful book" in reviews I tend to roll my eyes, dismissing such statements as people being overly impressed by some purple prose nonsense. But you know what? This is a beautiful book.(less)

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Nov 16, 2011 Desiree rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-ebook, literary-fiction-by-poc-grp, poc-author-content, finished-and-reviewed, series, read-ebook-format, read-on-nook-touch

I honestly didn't expect to like this book much but surprisingly I did. Once I got over the shape-shifting, gender changes, breeding/constant reproduction, et. al., I discovered it to be a much more complex book that dealt with familiar themes of race, gender, loneliness, healing, nurturing, power, manipulation, immortality...you get the drift. It was also fascinating to follow the journey Anywanwu & Doro had to travel to get to the point they did. This was my first Octavia Butler novel and...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Ezinwanyi~For you, Agron (Mira, Crixus, Gannicus & Spartacus) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: alien-life-immortals, african-american-fiction, ezinwanyi, ezinwanyi-s-bookstore

Normally, I am not a science fiction fan, but the cover seemed really intriguing. I decided to read it and I was not disappointed. This book was so engaging that I just couldn’t put it down.
The story was about two immortal beings, Doro and Anyanwu, and began a journey together. Anyanwu was a healer and a matriarch, whereas Doro was a parasitic patriach obsessed with creating the perfect civilization who would worship him. Doro was fascinated by humans and descendants who exhibited supernatural g...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fantasy, fantasy, reread, science-fiction, time-travel, best-book-i-read-in-2012

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I decided for my first book of the year that I started in 2012, I’d like to read something that I know I’d like, so I chose one of my favorite books to reread.

“She followed him dumbly. He could turn from two murders and speak to her as though nothing had happened. He was clearly annoyed that he had had to kill the young man, but annoyance seemed to be all he felt.” (35) Why does Anyanwu go off with Doro? Yes, he understands her as no one ever has, but he’s so vile; but while she seems good, she...more

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Jun 05, 2007 Zen Cho rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sff, written-by-poc

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 16, 2008 Rona rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fantasy and sci-fi fans, women of color, history buffs

This is one of my favorite books ever, for its superb blending of atmosphere/landscape, characterization, politics, history, race/gender/sexuality, politics, and plot. Ms. Butler (may she rest in peace) created some of the most memorable characters in my mind in Doro and, of course, Anyanwu/Emma. I could read this book over and over. Just doing a text analysis of the opening 7 paragraphs is such an education to an aspiring novelist like me. Didn't like 'Mind of My Mind' as much, but wonder if an...more

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May 01, 2008 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: speculative-fiction, 2008

My first foray into the unique world of Octavia Butler's imagination does not disappoint. Terrify, yes, and fascinate in an almost grotesque way, but it's oh so worth it. It is also a good example of speculative fiction and what you can do with it.

For over three thousand years Doro has wandered the Earth, gathering together those born special, with latent potential or abilities, usually mental, that can endanger themselves or others. Born human, Doro died during his own "transition" as a boy, ye...more My first foray into the unique world of Octavia Butler's imagination does not disappoint. Terrify, yes, and fascinate in an almost grotesque way, but it's oh so worth it. It is also a good example of speculative fiction and what you can do with it.

For over three thousand years Doro has wandered the Earth, gathering together those born special, with latent potential or abilities, usually mental, that can endanger themselves or others. Born human, Doro died during his own "transition" as a boy, yet cannot be killed. He is a kind of spirit, a demon it seems to me, inhabiting one body after another. He kills effortlessly and usually without a care. Because he is not the body he inhabits, he is impossible to kill. And he is lonely. Part of his aim in collecting these people is to create someone who will stay with him, or a community of them. He breeds them, and they worship him like a god. (Imagine the poor misfits of Obernewtyn brought together for such purposes... isn't it horrible?)

In 1690 he is in Africa, collecting slaves with special abilities, when he senses the presence of a Wild Seed: a person with great ability who has known too much freedom. He tracks down Anyanwu, a beautiful woman who is immortal and over three hundred years old: she never ages unless she wills it, for she has complete control over her body. She can heal herself of almost anything, and can change her body completely into any animal or bird. Doro sees great potential in her, and by threatening her descendents and promising her long-lived children, gets her to willingly accompany him back to one of his settlements in New York.

It does not take her long to understand Doro's nature, and resist where she can. His one demand is obedience, and Anyanwu is not ready to die. His breeding program is almost as scary as Doro himself. Do you remember the character Vincent from Collateral? Cold, calm, ruthless, determined, single-minded, manipulative, implacable, threatening. That's Doro, except he's worse. He's been "alive" so long his humanity is almost entirely gone. He reminds me of what commonly terrifies us most: the idea of "never". The universe never ends. This computer I am using will never biodegrade, but will always be here, in one way or another (this is my big fear, scarier than the certainty of death to me). Humans will never stop fighting, will never agree. Doro can never be killed, can never be stopped, can never be diverted from his purpose. And because of this, he "uses" people, thinking of them only in terms of the children they can produce if mated together, even incestuously, and when they have outlived their "usefulness", he takes their body, maybe even gets more children from them while inhabiting it. Sometimes the special abilities drive a person mad, but all Doro cares about, really, is what potentially great children he can get from them. Still, "his people" are well cared for, the slaves are free, and he protects them all - mostly because he is so possessive and considers them his property far more absolutely than the slave owners, for example.

You can look at Doro and Anyanwu another way: he is manufacturing, unnatural, forceful, going against nature, while Anyanwu is highly attuned to the natural world, creating medicine and food from natural products (plants etc.), and living as a bird, as a dolphin. She can change her body so completely that she can become an old white man, and father children. Perhaps this seems unnatural, but if you think about it, she possesses all of what nature is capable of, whereas Doro can really only bring an end to life, even as he seeks to create the ultimate companion. Creation and Destruction - it's a bit black-and-white, a bit obvious, but the comparison is there to be made.

Considering how long this book has been out, it has way too many typos and other errors. At times words are doubled-up, or whole sentences and paragraphs repeated, which gets confusing. The prose, though, is deft and mostly descriptive, allowing the story to tell itself. However, especially in regards to the main characters, I often felt distant, like I was not given a decent chance to understand them. I'm not sure how well you could understand them, but I guess I was surprised at how little Anyanwu changed over the centuries, while Doro's 2nd transition, if it could be called that, happens a little too suddenly. And I never really, truly understood why Doro was doing all this. Mostly I felt thrown off track by a thought Doro has that implies he is building a kind of army of genetically-manipulated super-people, who will be no match for the weaker, ordinary humans. But this was never followed through, so maybe I read too much into it.(less)

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Apr 21, 2012 Marvin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autographed, science-fiction

Octavia E. Butler's women are incredibly strong characters. One of her themes is that people are either masters or slaves but occasionally there is a person who refuses to be either and that person becomes persecuted for their refusal to be labeled. The main protagonist of Wild Seed is one of those persons. She is a mutant who has lived 300 years, both feared and respected in her African tribe yet always living on the outside for her protection. She meets another non-human that is much older and...more

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Nov 20, 2007 Sean rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: lovers of feminist science fiction; non-boring people

Even after her death in 2006, Octavia Butler remains one of the foremost voices in science fiction. Wild Seed is wonderful embodiment of her work: in it, she tackles such disparate themes as dominance and submission; race and culture; the morality of genetics; feminism, femininity and femalehood; mortality and immortality; family, loyalty, love, friendship and hatred; and endurance at all costs. On top of this, the book is tensely plotted and full of strong, vibrant characters. Do not let the he...more

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May 12, 2013 Yune rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Re-read. This was the first book by Octavia Butler I encountered and it remains my favorite; and while often such decisions are made mostly on an emotional basis, Butler is, after all, a MacArthur-certified genius, and I think this book exemplifies some of the reasons why. And she makes for damned compelling reading while doing it, too.

Doro is effectively immortal; when his body dies, he simply moves into the next nearest possible host body. Unlike most fantasy books where immortality is sort of...more Re-read. This was the first book by Octavia Butler I encountered and it remains my favorite; and while often such decisions are made mostly on an emotional basis, Butler is, after all, a MacArthur-certified genius, and I think this book exemplifies some of the reasons why. And she makes for damned compelling reading while doing it, too.

Doro is effectively immortal; when his body dies, he simply moves into the next nearest possible host body. Unlike most fantasy books where immortality is sort of a checkbox that can exist alongside incredibly immature attitudes (centuries-old vampires going to high school, anyone?), this story depicts Doro as the cold-hearted, ruthless, calculating person you'd expect if someone survived through such means. Through trial and error, he's discovered that some bodies are more pleasurable to possess than others, and they turn out to be those with psionic abilities. So he seeks out such people and breeds them, just the way you might try to come up with a more desirable breed of plant or livestock.

This is not a story for people with delicate sensibilities. Doro is happy to buy African slaves if that's the easiest way to get the sort of people he wants, and he sets them up in various settlements where his word is law. People marry whomever he wants them to mate with, in the hopes of strengthening certain traits in their children, and he does this for generations. Incest and extramarital couplings are not out of the question. (The inbreeding can lead to people with particularly powerful abilities, but unstable minds.) But these things aren't dwelt upon as particular cruelties, because Doro is operating with a different set of morals that he imposes on others; it's left to people like the reader to be appalled.

Re-reading the above two paragraphs, it's hard to believe anyone would read this book voluntarily. But then there's Anyanwu -- a woman who has her own brand of immortality, thanks to her particular healing ability. She can manipulate her own genetic material to the point of curing poisons, healing knife wounds, or even shifting into animal shapes. When Doro comes across her, he immediately knows he must introduce her abilities into his people's bloodlines.

At first Anyanwu goes with him willingly. She's outlived her great-grandchildren and had to allay her people's suspicions that she's a witch by pretending to age; the thought of being with a man who can also live forever is appealing. But she's led a generally peaceful existence, trying to lie low so as not to spark any trouble, and seeing how brazenly Doro uses his powers to upturn others' lives to suit his not-so-benevolent interests shocks her.

The conflict between the two is fascinating and surprisingly complex. I read one review that espoused total hatred of Doro, which is understandable; but I thought the character of Doro was understandable too, and refreshing in the genre. I can see how Anyanwu finds him compelling despite what he does, and of course I can see why she fights him, as best as she can struggle against a man who cannot die.

A note: I've heard recommendations to read this series in the publication order (where this would be #3), rather than the internal chronological order of events (where this is #1). I could make an argument either way, but if you'd rather not backtrack where the writer's skill is concerned, then wait on this one till you've read Patternmaster and Mind of My Mind first. But do come back to this one, if marvelously original and thought-provoking science fiction is your thing.(less)

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Apr 25, 2013 Mollie rated it 5 of 5 stars

As always, it is a Butler novel. Intimate, powerfully-written female characters. Straight forward, almost simple sentences. Not stupid or writing down to anyone, but natural. I like this book and most of her other books for the same reasons I like books like Gary Paulsen's Hatchet and Robert A Heinlein's Have Spacesuit Will Travel; all of their lists and straight-forwardness and hard science. Ocatvia Butler then mixes it with genuine humanity. Only, as ever with Butler she gives it to you on su...more As always, it is a Butler novel. Intimate, powerfully-written female characters. Straight forward, almost simple sentences. Not stupid or writing down to anyone, but natural. I like this book and most of her other books for the same reasons I like books like Gary Paulsen's Hatchet and Robert A Heinlein's Have Spacesuit Will Travel; all of their lists and straight-forwardness and hard science. Ocatvia Butler then mixes it with genuine humanity. Only, as ever with Butler she gives it to you on such an extreme that you feel more than a little uncomfortable peeking in.

A feeling of general unease permeates through this entire series. It shares themes with her older (excellent) Xenogenesis series, but where Lilith explored human breeding, submission, resistance, desire, evolution, and what it means to be really human with the Oankali in a way that was somehow, impossibly, optimistic for all of its misery, Anyanwu and Doro's long, intertwining story fills the reader with dread, both for Anyanwu and for humanity itself.

I think that despite the horrors of a post-apocolyptic earth and the possible end to humanity as we know it, in Xenogenesis there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Humanity had options, and, ultimately, when you stopped being able to relate so much to the human protagonists the Oankali's and Constructs' own "humanity" was brought to light.

Not so with Wild Seed and the Patternist series. Humanity is merely food or fodder for the characters in this series. And even for the main characters, gifted or cursed with mutations, bred or the breeders themselves, there was no escape.

On the other hand, what we do get with this book, ultimately this whole series, is a wildly imaginative look at some of the darkest elements of our very human past, a very X-Men-like present (if Magneto controlled all the mutants in the world with an Iron Fist and could dictate every aspect of their lives for his own gain), a post-apocalyptic alien invasion, and the end game result of what Doro was trying to achieve in Wild Seed.

Be warned, the first book makes a great stand-alone and things change wildly from book to book. If that doesn't interest you, just stick with Wild Seed.
(less)

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Apr 24, 2013 Tracy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Although this book is a sci-fi classic that effectively explores genetics, race, and gender roles, I didn't quite connect with it on the level that I think I was meant to. The core of the story is the dynamic between two near-immortals who are constantly shifting from lovers to adversaries. But Doro, the antagonist, clearly has all the power in the relationship, and forces Anyanwu to obey his commands and tolerate his own heartless behavior so he can achieve his dream of breeding the perfect col...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Dorothea rated it 5 of 5 stars

Anyanwu and Doro and their difficult relationship are what I remembered best from my first reading of the Patternmaster series. I'd forgotten that Wild Seed, while the chronological first of the series, was actually published after Mind of My Mind (second chronologically) and Patternmaster (fourth chronologically); perhaps it's meant to be only a prequel to the stories of Anyanwu and Doro's descendents.

In any case, there's so much in Wild Seed.

The speculation is worth grappling with; I'd describ...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Outis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

This is closer to paranormal romance than most of Butler's work. I can see why a lot of people would like it but it's not my thing and for what that's worth, I don't think it's well-done.
It's still a typical Butler, with much of the same attraction and issues as most of her books. I just don't think it's one of her best. Xenogenesis covers some of the same ground with more subtelty for instance.

Wild Seed doesn't work well as a prequel for Mind of My Mind, mainly because it focuses so much on two...more This is closer to paranormal romance than most of Butler's work. I can see why a lot of people would like it but it's not my thing and for what that's worth, I don't think it's well-done.
It's still a typical Butler, with much of the same attraction and issues as most of her books. I just don't think it's one of her best. Xenogenesis covers some of the same ground with more subtelty for instance.

Wild Seed doesn't work well as a prequel for Mind of My Mind, mainly because it focuses so much on two characters who are so different from the future Patternists.
Aside from that, I've got two main issues with this book.

First, it's too melodramatic.
It crosses the line into emotional abuse porn. Butler does this sort of thing in other books as well but it doesn't feel as gratuitous because the focus is on the context and it makes sense within that context.
And I can hardly explain the transformation of one of the two main characters at the end of the book other than as a device to squeeze even more melodrama into the story.

Worse, I don't understand these characters.
As you might expect, Doro is the most inscrutable. That was OK in Mind of My Mind because he wasn't such a central character but his seemingly incoherent behavior really frustrated me this time.
I didn't understand his uncanny magnetism either. And it comes into play over and over during the story. The Oankali ooloi are more believable for instance.
The sexual issues of the main characters are important enough in the plot that they needed to make sense. Whereas I ignored Doro's inexplicable reluctance to bed his worshippers before they turn 18 in Mind of My Mind for instance, I can't do that in Wild Seed because it's actually relevant to the plot. At least Anyanwu grows a bit and drops some of her prejudices in the course of the story.
But her self-centered behavior was inexplicable. It's a common issue with Butler characters but the kind of life she was leading in the last part of the book made it less believable than usual.(less)

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Sep 27, 2012 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it 2 of 5 stars

The book begins when the protagonist, Anyanwu, is already 350 years old. She serves as healer to her people and some see her as a God or a witch. Anyanwu can shift into any animal or person she wants. She even has the ability to shift her gender and become a man in every sense of the word. What motivates her the most, are her children and her descendants. This is what Doro, the antagonist, uses to force her to leave Africa for the new world. Like Anyanwu, Doro has great power but he is far older...more The book begins when the protagonist, Anyanwu, is already 350 years old. She serves as healer to her people and some see her as a God or a witch. Anyanwu can shift into any animal or person she wants. She even has the ability to shift her gender and become a man in every sense of the word. What motivates her the most, are her children and her descendants. This is what Doro, the antagonist, uses to force her to leave Africa for the new world. Like Anyanwu, Doro has great power but he is far older. He has sustained himself for the last 3,500 years by feeding on people, through stealing their bodies whenever he feels hunger, or to exert control over their person. When angered he has great difficulty controlling his ability to kill. Doro at times kills indiscriminately because he places no value on those who are mortal. He will also kill anyone he perceives as one day having the ability to challenge or control him. He rules his followers through fear, and yet we are told repeatedly how much they love and respect him.

Doro collects people who are different and then breeds them in order to increase the power of their descendants. He wants Anyanwu for her special abilities and she leaves her home believing that she is protecting her children and will become his wife. When Anyanwu arrives in America, she learns that he never had any intention of making her his wife, and instead marries her off to his favorite son Issac. Throughout the entirety of their marriage, Doro forces her to not only have sex with him but other men and bare the children of these unions. Issac, Anyanwu's husband is also taken from their home, to occasionally father children with other women. Doro constantly threatens Anyanwu and yet he has the nerve to be angry that she does not love him. From start to finish, their interactions are filled with deceit, sexual violence, emotional abuse and an extreme imbalance in power. What is disturbing is that there is no discussion of the role of gender in their interactions and instead it seems to be about their differing magical abilities.

When Anyanwu finally makes a bid for freedom after Issac dies, she manages to live for 100 years as a dolphin but when she sets up her own community, Doro quickly finds her and forces himself back into her life, though he begins to feel conflicted about what he is doing to her. Once again, in order to protect her children, she concedes to his will. Essentially, the question is can Anyanwu ever find a way to escape from Doro?

I was not a fan of this book and though it was a scant two hundred and nineteen pages long, I think it would have worked better as a novella than a book. Butler seemed to just drag the story along and add characters which she didn't bother to give real attention to before killing them off. She was able to do this because instead of actually telling a story, Butler simple revealed the life of her protagonist.

From the beginning of the book, Doro was the antagonist, but we didn't get a real sense of what his real motivations behind breeding people was. In the end, I surmised that Butler wanted the reader to believe that Doro didn't want to be alone and could not accept that everyone who entered his life eventually died, but his behaviour was just so cold and callous, it made me seriously doubt that the true motivation could really have been to find a companion. When you have an antagonist without any real motivation it leaves the story without a real goal.

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Jul 27, 2012 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: poc-authors, fantasy, sci-fi

Wild Seed is one of my favourite books. I'm writing this review almost a year after I read the book, but it left me with such a lasting and intense impression that my amazement hasn't disappeared since then.

As with other works by Octavia Butler, Wild Seed is about the dynamics of power and what it can do to people (whether human or not).

From the beginning, we are introduced to a being, Doro, who is devoid of typical human empathy and seeks power over humans for unknown reasons, viewing them as...more Wild Seed is one of my favourite books. I'm writing this review almost a year after I read the book, but it left me with such a lasting and intense impression that my amazement hasn't disappeared since then.

As with other works by Octavia Butler, Wild Seed is about the dynamics of power and what it can do to people (whether human or not).

From the beginning, we are introduced to a being, Doro, who is devoid of typical human empathy and seeks power over humans for unknown reasons, viewing them as useful but disposable pawns which he manipulates to achieve his long-term goals. As readers we identify with Doro's opposite, Anyanwu, who possesses both immense physical and supernatural powers of a positive nature, but still suffers enslavement and oppression by a more powerful and evil being, Doro. Essentially, Doro must commit evil and destroy others to survive and achieve his goals, while Anyanwu is gifted with powers that help her and others, and are not necessarily used for evil. Despite the positive power she possesses, Anyanwu is still unable to defeat Doro. This set-up creates the central tension that leads Anyanwu's actions, and forces the reader to struggle with the concepts of power and submission, manipulation and difficult choices. I was captivated by how deep into human behaviour Butler was willing to delve, and I was confronted with intense compromises of morality that Anyanwu struggled to make. How does one choose between becoming an accomplice to slavery and committing outright murder? Butler pulls no punches.
Other reviewers said they "hated Doro," but I loved him. His desire to exist is undeniably human, but the cost of his existence is true evil. This contradiction was fascinating, like the rest of the book. Another weird/cool thing about this book is the perspective, since the two "main" characters are (view spoiler) and all the other characters are human pawns in their power play. As a human reader, it was strange to feel both insignificant, but also universal, since Doro and Anyanwu face the same questions of morality and difficulties with power that influence ordinary human existence.
Octavia Butler tends to use simple dialogue and language, which really shows off the complexity of her overall concepts and the uncanny realness of social dynamics in her stories. (less)

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Dec 17, 2011 Lisa M. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

My friend gave me this book as a gift. Please keep in mind while you read this that I am not a large fan of sci-fi. It is the only genre I have never liked, I never even had a sci-fi phase.

The only word that comes to mind to describe this book is "insane." Butler's novel is unlike other sci-fi I have experienced. It does not take place in the future, but begins in Africa during slavery times. Insane! The novel also tackles African slavery, which I don't think is addressed in most sci-fi. So, the...more

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Dec 01, 2011 Wendy B rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, favourites, series

What a fascinating book. I read Mind of My Mind first, where I met the main characters here, but as that was not their story, they did not have much depth. Reading Wild Seed, it made me somewhat disappointed that they did not have as much to do in the sequel, but as the book progressed, I came to appreciate their diminished roles in Mind of My Mind since their story was told so completely here.

The first striking thing about this book is that it takes place during the time of slave ships where tr...more

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Nov 15, 2011 Lila added it

Wow. What a book. Butler's story about two inhuman humans is told in incredibly vivid, stark prose. Beginning in 1690 and spanning to the early 20th century, it follows the characters of Doro and Anyanwu, humans who cannot die, and whose bodies can change in particular ways. She writes from the third person point of view from either Doro or Anyanwu's perspective, switching back and forth through the ages as they struggle against the influences of the other. By switching point of view back and fo...more

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Oct 30, 2011 Nelly rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fantasy fans

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 10, 2011 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookcrossed-or-otherwise-set-free, 2006

For thirty-seven centuries, Doro roved the world, searching for people who were strangely different--outcasts with special abilities. But of all men, women and children he collected, of all the people he carefully cross-bred, of all the generations of loyal, obedient hybrids he protected, he has never encountered anyone like Anyanwu.

A proud African priestess--and immortal like Doro himself--Anyanwu is a shape-changer, possessed of inhuman strength and the ability to heal herself and others. Doro...more

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Nov 18, 2010 Natanya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: school

I had only read one story by Octavia Butler prior to this one, but just from that story, I knew I would love her writing. Wild Seed is less science fiction-like than I expected (though when I mentioned that to a scifi fan, she strongly disagreed and called it "biological scifi"), but, given that I don't have any particular interest in hardcore scifi, that was fine for me. I enjoyed the progression of the novel, spanning over hundreds of years, and I enjoyed getting to see the changes faced by An...more

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May 09, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american, fantasy, history, african-american, african-american-author, african-american-major-character, race, racism, slavery, torture, female-author, feminist-themes, forced-marriage, prostitution, incest, child-abuse, child-sexual-abuse, domestic-abuse, rape, lesbian, lesbian-major-character, bisexual, bisexual-major-character, homophobia, loss, psychic, sexual-assault, werewolf, witch, vampire, transgender, transphobia, transgender-major-character, religious, setting-17th-century, setting-18th-century, setting-19th-century, misogyny, mixed-race, sexism, suicide, mental-illness, alcoholism, self-harm, adoption, adultery, arranged-marriage, bigamy, gay, gay-major-character, ghost, horror, native-american, native-american-major-character

Okay, so you're wondering why I picked up another Octavia E. Butler when I had so much to say about her paedo porn vampire novel. The answer is that after the memory of how fucking uncomfortable that last novel made me started to fade, I started thinking, "Man, it had a lot of interesting ideas, maybe I'll just read one of her other books that's NOT about paedo sex". WRONG. Turns out it's hard to avoid paedo sex in Octavia E. Butler. This time a teenage girl has sex with the man who is both her...more

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Jul 19, 2010 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes you find something amazing in the most random ways. I first discovered Octavia Butler while waiting in a mall. I haven't really been a mall person since I was about 17, but it was Christmastime, and I suppose malls are unavoidable. While listening to a band play holiday tunes in the center of the mall, I noticed a small bookstore I had never noticed before. Well, the band was pretty good, but they had nothing on a store full of books. Walking in, right on the first shelf I saw, was the...more Sometimes you find something amazing in the most random ways. I first discovered Octavia Butler while waiting in a mall. I haven't really been a mall person since I was about 17, but it was Christmastime, and I suppose malls are unavoidable. While listening to a band play holiday tunes in the center of the mall, I noticed a small bookstore I had never noticed before. Well, the band was pretty good, but they had nothing on a store full of books. Walking in, right on the first shelf I saw, was the book Fledgling, which promised me a vampire story. Having barely recovered from my Twilight daze, I eagerly picked it up. Little did I know how different this writer and this story wold be from anything I had ever read before. When I finished Fledgling, I knew that I needed to read more of Octavia Butler's brilliant prose!

Wild Seed is the first book in Butler's Patternist series. Well, the first book chronologically in the arc of the story, though not the first to be published. Wild Seed tells the story of Doro and Anyanwu, two immortal beings. Doro is amoral, surviving by casting off and taking new bodies at will. He has traveled the world for thousands of years, finding others with special talents and breeding them to try and create someone like himself. Anyanwu is a shape-changing, self-healing mother who has lived over 300 years as the story begins. Her people revere her as a healer-and fear her as a witch. When Doro senses her while traveling through Africa, he is drawn to her as to no other before her. While Doro wants to use her for his own purposes, and seeks to control her, Anyanwu wants nothing more than to protect her people, her grandchildren and great-grandchilren. From Africa to the American colonies, the story of Doro and Anyanwu is one of lust, power, and destiny.

Despite the amoral nature of Doro, one can't help but feel sympathy for a being that has lived for thousands of years, watching everyone he has ever cared about die. One of his sons warns Anyanwu that without a companion Doro will lose everything that makes him human. What is it to a being like Doro to take one life or a hundred, since he has seen thousands come and go like so much smoke in the wind? The irony is that while he feels desperately lonely, he is not really comforted by the people he finds and manipulates. They fear him too much to be true companions for him. Anyanwu, on the other hand, needs to be surrounded by her family, those descendants of her descendants that give her a reason to continue living. As much as she comes to resent Doro, her irony is that he gives her the reason to keep herself young and healthy. When you are the only two immortal people in the world, who else do you have but each other?

The issue of race is also present in the book, as it always is in Butler's work. The fact that Anyanwu is a black African brought to America on a ship in the late 1600s is not coincidence, and regardless of her actual legal status as free, she feels the figurative shackles of slavery in the way that Doro is able to manipulate her. Throughout the book, Butler points out the issue of race in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Doro will only take white bodies when traveling through the American south. Anyanwu herself becomes a white male landowner to protect her people, white and black, from suspicion. The fact that Doro uses his talented people as breeding stock much as white slave owners bred their slaves for certain traits is not an accident, I'm sure. This novel is thought-provoking, well-paced, and so intriguing that I plan to read the next book in the series immediately.(less)

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Dec 10, 2012 Trish rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Octavia E. Butler is one of my favorite authors. She writes science fiction, post-apocalyptic lit, and stuff like Wild Seed, which I'm having a hard time categorizing, Wild Seed begins in Africa of hundreds of years ago with Anyanwu, an African woman born into a body that never ages, which she can control into doing anything internally or externally that she wishes, with knowledge and careful experimentation. Anyanwu has lived three hundred years, had many husbands, many children, and numerous d...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Abra rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: re-read, 2013, science-fiction

This is one my favorite Butler novels, though I am rereading the whole Patterns quartet right now... so far it sticks out as the best. I sort of positively dislike Clay's Ark/i> (though I don't think I realized Clay Dana was a character in Mind of My Mind, if he is -- I've never read all four books at the same time, before).

Anwanyu is an interesting character, a female psi 'sport' who probably emerged independently of a 2,500 year old male spirit, Doro, who survives by taking the life spirits...more

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Oct 28, 2009 veronica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having previously read two of the three Lillith's Brood novels, I must admit I am slightly disappointed in Wild Seed for its conscious effort to maintain a safe distance from the truly strange. This may sound a bit ludicrous, considering the novel's plot: Doro, an immortal spirit originating in Nubian antiquity, is obsessed with genetic engineering of humans, and strives for millenia to "breed" an X-Men type of human society in the hopes of eventually creating other immortals like himself. Just...more Having previously read two of the three Lillith's Brood novels, I must admit I am slightly disappointed in Wild Seed for its conscious effort to maintain a safe distance from the truly strange. This may sound a bit ludicrous, considering the novel's plot: Doro, an immortal spirit originating in Nubian antiquity, is obsessed with genetic engineering of humans, and strives for millenia to "breed" an X-Men type of human society in the hopes of eventually creating other immortals like himself. Just before the end of the 17th century, he meets, befriends, then alienates Anyanwu, an Igbo woman who is herself seemingly immortal. Both Doro and Anyanwu have special relationships with human bodies, or rather, bodies in general. Doro is more spirit than man, and depends on others' bodies to encase his being. Meanwhile, Anyanwu can physically become another human or animal body temporarily, but her true human form remains constant through the centuries. Butler uses brief, telling flashbacks to describe - though not explain - both Doro's and Anyanwu's beginnings.

My disappointment came from Butler's refusal to push the boundaries even further than she does. To her credit, she challenges the reader's perceptions about gender -- Anyanwu, born as a female woman, at times changes herself into a male form, even fathering children. Her own realization that she can do this disgusts her at first; it is centuries before she accepts her own ability and the moral implications, if any, in altering her gender and experiencing sex firstly with a woman, and secondly as a male. Even stranger than gender altering is Anyanwu's ability to change into a specimen of an entirely different species -- from leopard, to eagle, to dolphin. However, Butler's exploration of Anyanwu's experiences stops at mere hints. It would have been interesting to witness Anyanwu's sensory experiences as a man, as an animal, her coming to terms with her own strangeness. The only episode in this novel in which Butler's text comes close to sensory exploration of a different body other than Anyanwu's human form is when she becomes a dolphin for the first time and we find out subtle differences and surprising similarities between the human and dolphin species.

Having read two of the Lillith's Brood novels, I know Butler does not always shy away from describing strange sensory experiences. In Dawn, we find the minutest details of the taste and texture of alien food, what a sexual experience is like between aliens as well as between a human an alien. In Wild Seed, Butler shies away from really getting the gritty details that make these novels so refreshingly strange.

Another disappointment comes out of Butler's approach to slavery as a fact, rather than a condition. When Doro first brings Anyanwu to the American colonies, slavery has already been established. Anyanwu's own people have been captured and enslaved in the New World. Butler touches upon the dismal conditions of slave ships, the dehumanized condition of being bred to breed and being branded like cattle, the backbreaking labor, and rampant violations of slave women and children by traders or masters. (less)

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Nov 14, 2012 Phenix26 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I have never read anything like Wild Seed and I'm not sure I ever will. It was haunting, twisted, sometimes downright unpalatable. But it was alluring and imaginative. Because it was so weirdly different I could not put it down.

I read that Butler was a science fiction author but my first impression was that this was more paranormal than sci-fi. I prefer the former. When I think of paranormal fiction I see a world that is familiar with unusual elements as opposed to being transferred into a pla...more

I have never read anything like Wild Seed and I'm not sure I ever will. It was haunting, twisted, sometimes downright unpalatable. But it was alluring and imaginative. Because it was so weirdly different I could not put it down.

I read that Butler was a science fiction author but my first impression was that this was more paranormal than sci-fi. I prefer the former. When I think of paranormal fiction I see a world that is familiar with unusual elements as opposed to being transferred into a place that is completely unrecognizable with explanations and descriptions that are a little more technical.

Butler doesn't give any answers into the how's or why's of her character's abilities but that does not detract from the story's success. I think it makes it even more compelling. These Gods so to speak are beyond any definition or history that would satisfy us. And I love the mystery this creates.

As odd as Doro and Anyanwu's relationship was I enjoyed reading it because it was tragic yet I found myself hopeful. First, because of the fact that both were seemingly immortal and would outlive everything and everyone they loved yet they could have each other. Second because they could never have any true children together because Doro had no body of his own but they could create a world together. Third because Doro in order to continue to live had no choice but to kill which Anyanwu could never really understand despite knowing it was the only way she could have him.

I loved this book, the story was told simply but yet it had so many layers. I loved how the theme of slavery was was interwoven with race and sexuality. I loved Anyanwu's relationship with Isaac and Thomas. I liked rooting for Doro despite how evil he was. I loved the conflict within him. I loved the restraint that he showed at the end of the book. I loved how their story could never ever be picture perfect just by their very natures but I love the beauty in that imperfection.

I think I have become an Octavia Butler fan. (less)

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About Octavia E. Butler

Octavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction writer, one of the best-known among the few African-American women in the field. She won both Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant.

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Quotes from Wild Seed

“He could not tell her that he was angry because she did not love him. Even he could not utter such foolishness. Certainly, he did not love her. He did not love anyone except perhaps Isaac and a very few of his other children. Yet he wanted Anyanwu to be like his many other women and treat him like a god in human form, competing for his attention no matter how repugnant his latest body nor even whether he might be looking for a new body. They knew he took women almost as readily as he took men. Especially, he took women who had already given him what he wanted of them--usually several children. They served him and never thought they might be his next victims. Someone else. Not them.” — 5 people liked it

“In my years, I have seen that people must be their own gods and make their own good fortune. The bad will come or not come anyway.” — 3 people liked it

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