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Octavia Butler's Dawn is a character study of a woman faced with the inevitable loss of her humanity. It features deep, complex, sometimes contradictory characters, and aliens with truly alien motivations and social behaviors.
The character of Lilith is a truly complex character, filled with contradictions and biases about the events that she takes part in. She clings to her humanity desperately, as a totem against what she knows is inevitable. Her struggle, although doomed from the start, is fas ...more
The character of Lilith is a truly complex character, filled with contradictions and biases about the events that she takes part in. She clings to her humanity desperately, as a totem against what she knows is inevitable. Her struggle, although doomed from the start, is fas ...more
it's about the seventh time i've read this trilogy, which should say a lot all by itself. but you cannot escape my blathering, bwahahhaha.
what if an alien species came to earth not to murder us all, but to make babies with us?
can't you just see octavia butler chortling with delight when she came up with that premise?
there's so much to love about this book. the sheer number of tropes it turns on their worn gray heads. the deep and heartfelt examination of what can be shorn (gently!) from us befo ...more
what if an alien species came to earth not to murder us all, but to make babies with us?
can't you just see octavia butler chortling with delight when she came up with that premise?
there's so much to love about this book. the sheer number of tropes it turns on their worn gray heads. the deep and heartfelt examination of what can be shorn (gently!) from us befo ...more
I read the Xenogenesis trilogy when they first came out in the 80's and was lucky enough to meet Octavia Butler several times over the years when she came to the SF Bay Area to do book signings and readings. In the early years, there weren't many people so I got to talk with her longer than would otherwise have been possible. One thing that really surprised me was that her publisher in those days wouldn't pay for her to go around the country on promo tours - she had to pay out of pocket. Enough
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Well, this is the 30th anniversary of publication. Reread today, holds up extremely well. Butler's ongoing themes of mankind framed in hierarchical social structures, our ingrained ability to self-destruct, tendency to violence. In Dawn, her ability to define 'Alien' resonates. Awesome this series is still in print.
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This wasn't my favorite of what I know Octavia to be capable of but I am holding out for the rest of the series. The main character Lilith reminds me of the stuck in the middle character. Not too much of this or that and thus she is selected to be "awakened" and lead other humans in her situation. But often I found myself wanting more from Lilith. And I'm still not sure what it is I wanted 'more' of. Nikanj was one of my favorite characters. The little one who gets away with things but grows up
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first read somewhere in 1991 or 2 or 3, 5 stars then, and still amazingly powerful now.
when i first read this at 14 or 15 or so, it was more than a little transgressive. it was sort of about sex, in a way that felt very frank and intimate (voyeuristic?). it's still sort of about sex, but maybe more about permission and choice and alienation (both literal and figurative). 'Dawn' is an uncomfortable book. at its heart, it's about choices that are no choice at all - if you want to live, you must ch ...more
when i first read this at 14 or 15 or so, it was more than a little transgressive. it was sort of about sex, in a way that felt very frank and intimate (voyeuristic?). it's still sort of about sex, but maybe more about permission and choice and alienation (both literal and figurative). 'Dawn' is an uncomfortable book. at its heart, it's about choices that are no choice at all - if you want to live, you must ch ...more
Jan 25, 2009
Suz
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
science-fiction,
audiobook,
re-read,
non-men-sff-authors,
favorites,
amazeballs,
trilogy-sigh
**review to come. i hope. need to think about it for a bit. i liked the first half a lot but the second half was pretty disturbing. **
An excellent and compelling start. I really enjoyed the characterization and cadence.
Sep 03, 2008
Carolyn
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
science-fiction_first-contact
Jan 11, 2012
Regina
marked it as to-read
May 12, 2014
Eric
marked it as to-read
Dec 18, 2015
Ubik
marked it as to-read
