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i'm going to review this classic without reading anyone else's review (i'll read them later), because the experience of reading it was so powerful for me, i want to try to convey it here intact. this is my fourth octavia butler, after Parable of the Sower, Fledgling and Wild Seed. butler is pretty consistent in her themes, but not until this time was i able to see precisely what she's doing.
this "precisely" indicates the level of power this book had for me, not the truth of what octavia butler ...more
this "precisely" indicates the level of power this book had for me, not the truth of what octavia butler ...more
Thematically, Dawn has a lot of similarities to Butler's Kindred. Both books are about women who have no choice but to accept submission, but have a strong drive to be free. Where one book takes this theme and drops the protagonist into the worst part of US history, another takes her and puts her into deep space.
I had a hard time getting into Dawn in the beginning, partly because it's not set on Earth. It's a lot easier for me to get into a science fiction or fantasy setting when it starts out s ...more
I had a hard time getting into Dawn in the beginning, partly because it's not set on Earth. It's a lot easier for me to get into a science fiction or fantasy setting when it starts out s ...more
I first read this about thirty years ago. This time I was more struck by the different attitudes of the humans--the ones who are going along with the aliens, the ones that strike out, the ones that secretly conform but are making logical plans for when to rebel, the ones that find themselves in love. Most of the people, especially most of the men, are bad people. It does not have the feel of a rebuild-the-race postapocalyptic story, although in one sense that is what it is; this time I noticed m
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In this novel earth has been destroyed by war. Traveling aliens rescue a few humans from earth. The aliens will not let the humans reproduce, because of the human contradiction: humans are both an intelligent species and a hierarchical one. The two lead to inevitable destruction, according to the aliens (Oankali). The will allow humans to have children with them, mixed alien/human children. They select one human to train the others.
This critique of human behavior, along with the three gendered ...more
This critique of human behavior, along with the three gendered ...more
Exquisite. So excited to read the rest of the trilogy. No shortcuts here. This is scifi at its hardest and most realistic.
Dec 27, 2007
Zack
marked it as to-read
Jun 08, 2009
Sharon
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Sep 15, 2011
Brandie
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Jan 22, 2012
Erin
marked it as to-read
Mar 21, 2012
Rachel
rated it
it was amazing
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women-writers,
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read-2012,
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May 11, 2015
Linda
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Joanie
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upthetrellis
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