Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.

5 used & new from CDN$ 60.95
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Wild Seed
  
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Wild Seed (Hardcover)

by Octavia E. Butler (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


1 new from CDN$ 256.46 4 used from CDN$ 60.95

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro
4.2 out of 5 stars (25)  CDN$ 15.33
› Explore similar items

Product Details

Product Description

Product Description

Doro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex -- or design. He fears no one -- until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu is a shapeshifter who can absorb bullets and heal with a kiss...and savage anyone who threatens those she loves. She fears no one -- until she meets Doro. From African jungles to the colonies of America, Doro and Anyanwu weave together a pattern of destiny that not even immortals can imagine. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.


Ingram

Doro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex--or design. He fears no one--until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu has also died many times. She can absorb bullets and make medicine with a kiss, give birth to tribes, nurture and heal, and savage anyone who threatens those she loves. She fears no one--until she meets Doro. From African jungles to the colonies of America, Doro and Anyanwu weave together a pattern of destiny that not even immortals can imagine. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

Wild Seed
42% buy the item featured on this page:
Wild Seed 4.7 out of 5 stars (61)
Lilith's Brood
27% buy
Lilith's Brood 4.6 out of 5 stars (18)
CDN$ 15.74
Fledgling
21% buy
Fledgling 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
CDN$ 11.32
Kindred: 25th Anniversary Edition
10% buy
Kindred: 25th Anniversary Edition 4.7 out of 5 stars (111)
CDN$ 14.56
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

61 Reviews
5 star:
 (48)
4 star:
 (9)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (61 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews

 
1.0 out of 5 stars Downright Laughable, May 11 2004
This review is from: Wild Seed (Mass Market Paperback)
One can not deny that Octavia Butler has a gift for writing. But she also seems to have a voyeuristic and rather prudish attitude towards sex, which turned a good premise to a downright laughable novel.

As such, the novel does have a great deal of appeal for fellow voyeurs/prudes. I'm not at all surprised that it's a favourite with teenagers, who's idea of a good time is likely to go, "Oooh. He had sex with her. Then he made her have sex with his son. And then he had sex with her daughter (ad infinitum). This is so gross! And cool!" but are glad to be able to call the book thought-provoking, since they are prudes, who don't want to acknowledge their tendencies to voyeurism.

And the book *does* have elements of thought-provocation, in between the random pairings and pregnancies. But those are what the book's about. The final resolution is all about both, as usual, and doesn't come from anywhere but the author's decision that it's about time to end this, so we'll just say, but not *show* how the protagonists have come to peace with each other

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5.0 out of 5 stars What a great introduction to an amazing author..., April 12 2004
By whizkid2000 "whizkid2000" (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wild Seed (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a thoroughly enjoyable stand-alone novel with well-developed characters and a frightening premise: two immortals with roots in Africa go to America to build communities of people with superhuman powers. The more manipulative of the immortals is named Doro, and his immortality is based on death and destruction (he must possess and kill the bodies of others in order to sustain his deathless life). The other immortal, Anyanwu, is diametrically opposed to this kind of behavior, as her powers are based on an innate understanding of life (she is able to understand and manipulate each of her tissues and bacteria living within her body, and so she is able to halt aging and even shape change). Anyanwu is thus also able to sustain the lives of others since she is so in-tune with biological organisms that she can create cures for those without her special abilities. Thus, she bases her life in raising tribes of moral people around her, who she can help and protect, while Doro raises people as if they are livestock, to feed his hunger for the souls of others. Yet, Doro and Anyanwu do have one irresistible bond: they both know that their loved ones will inevitably die, but they will be doomed to live forever. Wild Seed is therefore essentially a character study of the relationship between these two very strange, yet strangely familiar, characters who hate and love each other at the same time for very good reasons.

This was the first Octavia Butler book I ever read. Now that I have read several of her other novels, I can easily say that this one is my favorite so far, but some of her others come close. If you enjoy this book, read her Lilith's Brood series; it is similarly based on genetics and biology as a background to incredible happenings.

Butler certainly rivals the likes of Orson Scott Card and others in creating believable, sympathetic, flawed characters; highly recommended.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4.0 out of 5 stars Different ways to be a mutant, April 2 2004
This review is from: Wild Seed (Mass Market Paperback)
Good book; several layers of reference, including gender dynamics, the Old Testament, and even a touch of the conflict between vampires and werewolves.

This particular edition has an irritating frequency of editorial errors (duplicated lines, wrong words, wrong letters), which I found distracting.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Now a O. Butler fan
Wild Seed was the first of her books read. After reading WS I was HOOKED. I ran out and bought the Xenogenesis series. Read more
Published on Feb 15 2004 by vg1132

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it, Loved it, Loved it!!!
This is probably one of my favorite books of all time! I've re-read it at least 3 times now and everytime that I do, I just get lost in the world that Octavia Butler created. Read more
Published on Jan 30 2004 by smayo

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Greatest SF Novels Ever Written
Wild Seed is nothing short of outstanding. I've read it several times over the past decade, and find it more compelling each time. Read more
Published on Nov 18 2003 by Michael T. Burr

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy at its best...
It is always a delight, when reading science fiction, to come across a writer who can actually WRITE. Read more
Published on Nov 17 2003 by JR Pinto

5.0 out of 5 stars ...wow.
This is something I don't say often...but I loved this book. Unabashedly loved it. There's nothing I didn't like about it. The writing was amazing. Read more
Published on Aug 20 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars Well written, but still something lacking
This is a book that I really wanted to like. The premise is interesting and the characters have real depth. Read more
Published on Aug 3 2003 by Gary Riley

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!
This is the first Octavia Butler book I read and I loved it. Its a very different sort of sci-fi/fantasy and incredibly original. Read more
Published on Jul 12 2003 by Eric P. Medlock

5.0 out of 5 stars OB at her best!!!
This is a great introduction to the world of Octavia Butler. It you are a sci-fi fan, you don't want to miss this one.
Published on Jul 8 2003 by P. W. WILLIAMS

4.0 out of 5 stars Elegant, insightful
A character-driven power struggle between a shapechanging woman and an immortal man who transfers from body to body. Read more
Published on Jun 3 2003 by Peter Tupper

5.0 out of 5 stars Butler's Storytelling is Second to None
Very few African Americans write science fiction. Fewer still are African American women. Octavia Butler knows how to write great science fiction, but more importantly, she... Read more
Published on May 2 2003 by A. Wolverton

Only search this product's reviews


Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject










i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.