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Mimi's Reviews > Dawn
Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1)
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by
Mimi's review
bookshelves: science-fiction, 2014, favorites, own-voices, my-kindle
Jun 21, 2013
bookshelves: science-fiction, 2014, favorites, own-voices, my-kindle
Recommended to Mimi by:
carol.
Recommended for:
anyone looking for well-written thoughtful sci-fi
Dawn begins with Lilith Iyapo awakening in solitary confinement. She later learns she's on a living space ship, held as a captive by the oankali, an alien race. There had been a war several years ago on Earth that destroyed the planet and almost wiped out the human race. A few survivors were rescued and brought to the ship. All were healed but left sedated for the time being; a select few will be awoken, like Lilith, once it’s time to return to Earth and resettle the planet.
There’s a catch though, several in fact, which are revealed as the story unfolds. The main one being, for humans to return to Earth, they must accept a genetic trade with the oankali. Meaning that, if humans want to repopulate the planet, they will only bear human-oankali children. This will play out more fully in the next book, Adulthood Rites.
Lilith, being the most resilient and trustworthy human, is handed the task of teaching and training the other humans to survive in the wilderness of new Earth. The rest of the story is about the many challenges the humans face as they practice surviving on new Earth and the dilemmas Lilith face alone as she helps this group in their struggles.
Full review of the trilogy here
There’s a catch though, several in fact, which are revealed as the story unfolds. The main one being, for humans to return to Earth, they must accept a genetic trade with the oankali. Meaning that, if humans want to repopulate the planet, they will only bear human-oankali children. This will play out more fully in the next book, Adulthood Rites.
Lilith, being the most resilient and trustworthy human, is handed the task of teaching and training the other humans to survive in the wilderness of new Earth. The rest of the story is about the many challenges the humans face as they practice surviving on new Earth and the dilemmas Lilith face alone as she helps this group in their struggles.
Full review of the trilogy here
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Quotes Mimi Liked
“There was no real comfort in being alone with her thoughts, her memories, but somehow the illusion of freedom lessened her despair.”
― Dawn
― Dawn
“A partner must be biologically interesting, attractive to us, and you are fascinating. You are horror and beauty in rare combination. In a very real way, you've captured us, and we can't escape. But you're more than only the composition and the workings of your bodies. You are your personalities, your cultures.”
― Dawn
― Dawn
“Human beings are more alike than different—damn sure more alike than we like to admit. I wonder if the same thing wouldn’t have happened eventually, no matter which two cultures gained the ability to wipe one another out along with the rest of the world.” Lilith”
― Dawn
― Dawn
Reading Progress
June 21, 2013
– Shelved
June 16, 2014
–
Started Reading
June 24, 2014
–
Finished Reading
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message 1:
by
carol.
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rated it 4 stars
Jun 24, 2014 10:47PM
Cheater! :D
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I'll get to it, I promise (as soon as a certain World Cup is over).
For a second there, I thought you meant the World Cup hah. But yes, by all means, give this book a try. If you've read Butler before, you're already familiar with the themes she liked to revisit. But if you haven't, the writing will be a pleasant surprise.
