Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1) in Our Shared Shelf

Apr 23, 2025 Dana Berglund rated it liked it

Shelves: books-for-grown-ups

I'm very conflicted about this. I believe Octavia Butler to be a brilliant, important writer, but I also had issues with this novel that are fully to do with my own personal perspective and hangups.

Spoilers below….

Lilith is Awakened aboard a spaceship, where she has been saved from extinction by a very alien race. They have saved humans (it's unclear how many, really…and how many would we need to maintain enough genetic diversity? I digress….) because their alien species has a biological imperat I'm very conflicted about this. I believe Octavia Butler to be a brilliant, important writer, but I also had issues with this novel that are fully to do with my own personal perspective and hangups.

Spoilers below….

Lilith is Awakened aboard a spaceship, where she has been saved from extinction by a very alien race. They have saved humans (it's unclear how many, really…and how many would we need to maintain enough genetic diversity? I digress….) because their alien species has a biological imperative to “trade” genetics with other alien species. The Oankali are very invested in a successful trade, which means many different things to them. So Lilith is, eventually, trusted enough by the Oankali to serve as a facilitator/teacher/squadron leader of what should become the first group of humans to be taught how to return to Earth. She has to decide which humans (from a small pool) to Awaken, and how to convince them of their situation, and how to survive what is to come. Spoiler: things don’t go very smoothly.
Butler has many things to say about the problems with human culture as a whole, and human problems. (She does not really delve into the diversity of human cultures across the globe, even in the trait of “hierarchy”, which is a major discussion between Lilith and the Oankali. But maybe that’s because Lilith is confined to English speakers, even though she states that she is multilingual.) Butler shines a light on human psychology, paranoia and individualism.
My discomfort with the book was how flippantly the concept of CONSENT was treated. There are several sexual assault attempts that are dealt with, but I thought could have used more cross species reflection. There are multiple times when the main Oankali character sums up their decisions being reflective of “Your words said one thing, but your body said another.” I have a big problem with that being left as the ultimate decider: a person can say something all they want with their words, but if the body gives a different signal, that's the one that matters. I believe strongly that with sentient humans who have language, verbal and thoughtful consent is imperative. It was (dare I say it?) triggering to me to feel that the message given was that consent isn't necessary if the wiser (more perceptive, powerful, etc) being can just decide they know best. They can overrule someone's decision about their own body. It didn’t seem to me that Butler was critiquing this as an idea, but she was letting it ride. Maybe I'm not reading her intent correctly. This was the 1980s though, not the 1950s. And ultimately, the next two books wouldn’t exist without that central tenet being followed: consent is optional if I think I know what you really want or will be okay with. And I am not okay with that. ...more

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Oct 10, 2017 Lianne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, science-fiction, 2017

Dawn is equally disturbing and compelling. I kept going back to it to find out what would happen next, despite cringing through some of the scenes and feeling the fear, isolation, and claustrophobia Lilith must have felt. There is so much contained in this book, and so many heavy, interrelated themes to think about: consent and autonomy, race, gender roles, power dynamics and power structures...I plan to finish the trilogy, but may need a breather before I keep reading.

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