Dawn [Hardcover]

On the part of the alien Oankali, a similar conceit is evidenced in their certainty that their assessment of genetic qualities is all that is needed to fully understand other species, a blindness to their own fatal contradictions include; perfectionism, being control freaks, and their inability to imagine themselves in the place of those others;

It challenges the commonly held ideas of 'progress' that modern/western society has about sophistication or civilisation being synonymous with 'advanced' material technology, yet the otherwise 'primitive' Oankali surf deep space, assimilate other species and strip entire planets using only a detailed genetic understanding and adaptability, as well as their own version of 'Free Trade'.

Socially, the book & Xenogenesis series also reveals from the increasingly desperate reactions of the 'human resisters' just how fundamentally important children/offspring are in giving our lives purpose (a fact that is often glossed over in today's technological society, but still appreciated in many indigenous ones) There is much else here - about the nature of gender, domination, compassion, power and community - that is insightfully woven into the characters and storyline as commented on by other reviewers. But perhaps it is Butler's treatment of human and alien sexuality that is most unusual and haunting and lingers well after you finish the book/series.

Butler is an accomplished and original writer who grounds aspects of her most memorable characters and storylines on mythic African themes - the importance and interconnections between spirituality, human relationships/lineages and science - bringing to mind the scholar, Charles Finch's concept of, 'The Reunification of Myth & Science' as a basis for the future.

My only gripe with her work is that the books are too short, and the endings often unresolved/unsatisfying, but this may perhaps be linked to her sparse prose style and her wish to explore the storylines further elsewhere. I thoroughly enjoy her writing nonetheless...

Also recommended: Adulthood rites, Imago, the patternist series - in fact ALL her books.

Butler is a fine writer, but she sometimes struggles with character development, and her characters in this novel -- that is, the human characters -- are relatively flat and featherweight. She relies on the rather uninspired technique of introducing Lilith's "children" through the reports she reads, and as a result, they never breathe with life. Like a newborn GURPS character, they're all a hollow collection of quirks, neuroses, and skills.

Furthermore, the plot of the book stumbles badly with their introduction. The process by which Lilith awakens the humans and starts preparing takes far too long and is rather dry and uninvolving. Butler is clearly interested in the dynamics and conflict in building a community -- she seems to explore this theme in practically every book, always in a similar way -- but there isn't really room for it in "Dawn," a novel whose great strength is the interaction of loneliness and sexuality for a stranger in a strange land.

For the aliens -- and Lilith's ever-deepening relationships with them -- are wonderful. Watching her adjust from fear and uneasiness in their presence to erotic (if very conflicted) joy with Nikanj is simply the best thing about the book, and alone makes it worth the read. It is rare for sci-fi writers to challenge sexual norms, particularly in such an odd way, without making a joke out of it. Although she seems barely interested in what is typically considered [different] sexuality, Butler shows an intense ability to depict couplings most people would have great difficulty even imagining.