Patternmaster (Doubleday Science Fiction): Amazon.ca: Octavia E. Butler: Books

Product Description

Ingram

A telepathic race is ruled by the strong mind of the Patternmaster, but his ruthless son craves the ultimate power of the position and has murdered everyone who stands in his way except a final victim--his younger brother. Reprint. PW. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

3.3 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read, Jul 18 2002

By	E. Thomas (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Patternmaster (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first book that I've read by Octavia Butler. It was an good read--worthwhile science fiction--but I felt that it was promising more than it eventually doled out--it seemed too short. However, I understand that this book is part of a series set in the same future world, so no doubt she explores the world further in her other novels.

I like her portrayal of the characters, but I could never decide if I *liked* them or not. I liked her description of the world but I couldn't decide who (if anybody) I was supposed to be rooting for...

_Patternmaster_ is promising, but I hope it isn't Butler at her best, because it doesn't quite make it. Yet the story grabbed me enough that I know that I will certainly be looking for more Butler books to read in order to compare them.

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5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful and spare struggle for power, April 17 2001

By	Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Patternmaster (Mass Market Paperback)

Perhaps not her best, but I enjoyed this novel and have re-read it several times. The writing is lean and elegant, so carefully written that it can be perused many times with profit. Her notions of human speciation - and her merging with the themes of the mutated Clayarks - are masterfully covered and expanded, as are her notions of the power of the mind.

The battle at the center of the novel - the passage of power over a new mass mind of mutants - is taut and frightening, even as she must explain the unusual powers that are being wielded. Once again, her characters are full, first-rate creations that live on in the readers' mind afterword.

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3.0 out of 5 stars A must buy to continue the series, Nov 19 2000

By	R. Anthony Mills "R. A. Mills" (Baltimore) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Patternmaster (Mass Market Paperback)

Unlike some other reviewers, I wasn't too disappointed as to teh lack of a centrally dominant female character (Though this does seem to be unlike Butler's trend). Though the book is slow and moves you around as quickly as a TV movie of the week, its worth reading to see how the Patternists style of life transforms the world within which they live.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars For Die Hard Butler Fans Only...
Like some of the other readers, I was disappointed by the virtual absence of strong female characters in this Patternist story. Read more

Published on Jul 18 2000 by NappyGirl

3.0 out of 5 stars skips too much time
Ah, what happens after the pattern is established, huh? Suddenly in a "series" where women played powerful and important roles we have a story where women are almost... Read more

Published on May 17 2000 by TammyJo Eckhart

4.0 out of 5 stars Taut little coming of age novel
The coming of age novel was a golden age mainstay. Butler's work here is reminiscent of the novellae of golden age writers. Read more

Published on April 22 2000 by Robert H. Nunnally Jr.

4.0 out of 5 stars Harsh world of political intrigue
I liked the writing and the harshness of the setting. The plot was totally environment based so fairly original, but there just didn't seem to be enough of it. Read more

Published on Mar 17 2000 by Shane Tiernan