5.0 out of 5 stars
The dangers of being saved., Jun 4 2004
Some time ago I've read for the first time a book from Ms Butler. I was captivated by her amazing imagination and quality of her prose and became instantly a fan of the author. This first impression was corroborated as I read more of her writings.
All her books showed a rich mixture of imagination, complex and interesting characters and conflictive situations to test their mettle.
"Lilith's Brood" is not an exception to Ms. Butler production. Humans had self destroyed but miraculously an alien race, the Onkalis, came to the rescue.
The Onkalis traveled eons and genetically mix with other alien species, evolving each time with the exchange. They are a three gender race and their sight produces an overwhelming rejection reaction in human beings. Is it possible to overcome this? Ms. Butler shows all possible reactions through the characters of her novels. Onkalis also have mixed reactions to Humans. They are uncertain on how to handle them. Save them against their will? Enforce their view point? This and other candent questions are addressed. Their resolution is not simple and in this complexity a rich story evolves.
High science fiction stuff!!!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
the biology of compassion, April 8 2003
By A Customer
Lilith's Brood is probably the most theologically and philosophically compelling science fiction I've ever read. Butler's talent for explaining our condition without invoking stereotypes of race and gender makes hers a rare talent indeed. Butler's Oankali/Human hybrids present to us, in their very flesh, the struggle between power and morality that gives her characters their ethical complexity and appeal.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
What was I waiting for?, April 7 2003
I purchased this trilogy, bound quite differently, from the SF/F Book Club many many years ago. The cover was so childish and stupid-looking I actually never read it.
I ran out of things to read lately and noticed it.
My goodness.
The story explains the almost-end of human civilization, and the subsequent "saving" of it by an alien race. But the only way the aliens will "save" humanity is by genetically altering it to be something completely different. The three books mainly deal with humans' reactions to this. Some would rather die than be changed. Some would rather live and be changed. Some would rather kill the ones who want to live, so the change won't happen to anyone.
What's fascinating about the series is the way the focus changes throughout. The first book is written in third person, and is focused entirely on Lilith, a human. The second book is also written in third person, but focuses entirely on Akin, a child born of the union (sort of) between Lilith and an alien. The third book also focuses entirely on a human/alien child (sort of) named Jodahs, but this time in first person. What this change of focus accomplishes is amazing; it draws the reader closer into the aliens' culture and motivations just as the characters are drawn in closer. I didn't actively notice this while I was reading, but after thinking about what I had read, I realized it. I like that very much.
Very detailed, and incredibly realistic. And left rather open-ended, which is a good thing as far as this series is concerned. It's grand enough to be left open and still not leave the reader aching for more.
One thing I don't like, though. "Lilith's Brood" as a title makes no sense. Lilith is a background character after the first book. The original name was "XenoGenesis", and I find it much more appropriate. But that's not the author's fault, I'm sure.
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