Octavia Butler
Dawn (1987)
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Genre: Science Fiction (Philosophical)
Plot Summary:
Lilith is a human who finds herself being held captive by an extraterrestrial species known as the Oankali. The Oankali explain to Lilith that they have rescued her and other humans from the Earth after mankind destroyed itself through nuclear war. She further learns that they intend to send her back to Earth once she has helped prepare some of the other humans to learn to live on a primitive Earth and to accept the Oankali. However, part of this acceptance includes breeding with the Oankali to create a new, strong species that will only be part human. Lilith must struggle with not only this "trade", but with being held captive, finding truth in what she's told, leading those who don't want to believe her, and sorting through her own emotions that include the death of her husband and son before the nuclear war on Earth and her own feelings for the aliens who have both saved her and chosen her destiny. SPOILER: Lilith eventually becomes close to her captors, though still wanting to return to Earth she willingly begins to teach other humans to prepare for their return. She even finds a mate with whom she can trust and confide in, however not all the humans believe she's looking out for them and eventually a sect breaks away. During a confrontation those who choose not to believe Lilith kill her mate and eventually a fight between them and the Oankali ensues. This fight results in a serious injury to one of the aliens Lilith has become close to and while she is tending to its recovery the other humans are sent to Earth and she is left to begin the cycle again.
Geographical Setting: An alien "spaceship" somewhere outside Earth's orbit
Time Period: An unspecified time in the future (likely sometime in the 2200's)
Series: Book one of the Xenogenesis Series
Appeal Characteristics:
Like many stories in this genre, the pacing of Dawn tends to be a bit more measured due to the details involved in describing the aliens and their civilization. However, the story itself remains engrossing and Butler does not dwell on as many details as she could; the book is divided into three sections allowing the author to pass the time a bit more quickly. Central to this story is the characterization, not only is the character of Lilith extremely well drawn, but the civilization and the aliens are so vividly portrayed that readers will be able to easily visualize what Lilith is experiencing. Due to this characterization the story line itself is focused more on the characters, mainly Lilith, and the issues she faces. By addressing issues such as inter-species breeding, the ignorance of humanity, the desperation of those left in the dark, and so much more Butler fills the story with philosophical questions for readers to ponder. The detailed frame within which the story is set is complimented by a dark and somewhat mysterious tone. Readers never really know what to expect up to the end of the story making it difficult to categorize, but continually surprising to read. Much of this interest is due to Butler's unique writing style; heavy on description with less emphasis on dialogue Dawn is told in an almost lyrical fashion by a third person narrator.
Read-alikes: There are many good read-alike suggestions for this title (both within the genre and out) including of course the other two titles in the Xenogenesis series, but one of the first read-alike suggestion for those who liked Dawn should be Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. In this story a woman is forced to reproduce for those who cannot under the repression of rulers who consider themselves to be fulfiling God's duties. Of primary appeal to readers will be the main character: a strong female who is being controlled by others and whose reproductive rights are being extinguished. Also of interest to fans of Dawn will be the similar story lines. Both are set in a vaguely defined future where the world as we know it has changed forever (one by nuclear war and another by religious zealots) and though Atwood sets her story on Earth and Butler's characters are in space, the lead female characters in each must do what they may not agree with in order to survive. Another book that is sure to be enjoyed by those who enjoyed Dawn is The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin. This classic novel is built around a man who must bring those on a "stray" planet back to the current civilization. This novel shares with Butler's story a common theme of a human protagonist who is working to bring humans and aliens together for the greater good . Both novels also share a careful and detailed writing style that allows for readers to accurately 'see' the world of the extraterrestrials through the characterization. Both further characterize the aliens by exploring the idea of these beings having no specific sex (male or female) and how that affects the humans they interact with. Like Atwood and Le Guin, Marge Piercy is a groundbreaking female writer in the Science Fiction genre and her book He, She and It: A Novel makes a wonderful companion to Dawn. In this story Shira Shipman is an information specialist in the year 2059 and she has returned to her home to cope with losing custody of her son only to find that this home is under attack from those seeking information. Shira finds an ally in an cyborg who protects the city and whom she must teach to live in her society. As a poet, Piercy's writing style tends to be very lyrical as does Butler's and the story line and time frame of both books are similar, including the main characters' relationships with non-human beings. However it is perhaps the philosophical (and often bleak) tone of the novels that will most resonate with readers. For those intrigued by the conflict and drama surrounding different civilizations meeting and adjusting to one another The Mote in God's Eye, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle will be an interesting read. When the Empires of Man send a mission to a star called the Mote humans discover that the beings on this star are not revealing everything they could about themselves. This novel's detailed characterization of an alien civilization echoes that of the descriptions we read of the Oankali in Dawn and though the characters and situations may be different, the underlying mystery behind these civilizations lends a suspenseful tone to the books making the reader want to know more as each chapter ends. Finally, suggesting Stanislaw Lem's Solaris to readers who enjoyed Dawn should prove to be a good fit. In Lem's story a scientist is sent to study an ocean on another planet, but becomes handicapped by long forgotten memories. He and his team must then determine why this is happening to them. Like Butler, Lem writes an engrossing story that allows readers to enjoy the pace of his storytelling while exposing a layered story line.
Red Flags: Some profanity and scenes describing acts of a sexual nature with aliens, also the result of a violent physical act is discovered.
Kindred (1979)
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Genre and (subgenre): Science Fiction (Storyteller)
Plot Summary:
The date is June 9, 1976, and on her 26th birthday, Edana (Dana for short), has just moved with her husband into their first house. Dana is African American and Kevin, her husband, is white are both characters are writers and they live in Los Angeles. While unpacking, Dana becomes dizzy and feels nauseous; suddenly the rooms begins to darken and swirl and she somehow finds herself on a riverbank, watching a child drown. She immediately swims out to rescue the child, resuscitates him and saves his life. Incredibly, after saving the boy, Dana finds herself looking down the barrel of a man's gun. The boy's father, who has arrived on the scene, instead of thanking her for her help, is threating to shoot her. She again feels dizzy and is transported back to her house in Los Angeles. Dana time travels again and again whenever the boy she saved from drowing needs her help. The second time she saves the boy, by putting out a fire in his room, she learns the year is 1815, she is on a plantation in Maryland and the boy, Rufus, who is white, is her ancestor, "my several times great grandfather." He must father a child named Hagar, who will eventually become Dana's "several times great grandmother," or Dana will not exist. Thus, his safety and well-being is incredibly important to Dana. Every time she is transported back to the plantation she spends longer and longer amounts of time away from the present day. Time moves more quickly in the past because Dana may be away from the plantation for a few days but a few years have passed in the 1800s. Dana is forced to be a slave on the plantation and she is treated cruelly by Rufus and his father, Tom. Dana is whipped for teaching black children how to read and when she tries to escape the plantation she is whipped by Tom. SPOILER: Hagar is eventually born because Rufus raped Alice, a slave and Hagar's mother. Rufus takes Hagar and her other children that he fathered away from Alice and she fears he will sell them. Alice hangs herself and Rufus decides to rape Dana because she looks very similar to Alice. Dana kills Rufus when he tries to rape her and by doing this, she end her ability to time travel. She loses left arm because Rufus is still touching her arm when she travels back to Los Angeles and her arms is somehow completely ensconced in a wall in her home. Rufus's touch has physically connected Dana to the past and present.
Geographical Setting: Los Angeles and a plantation in ante-bellum Maryland
Time Period: 1970s, 1815-1840's
Appeal Characteristics:
The tone of Kindred is thoughtful and somber, but never overwhemingly heavy. In the prologue when Dana directly addresses readers, she says, (and the first lines of the book are), "I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm." Clearly this story won't be light and airy. How could it be because Kindred deals with race, family, love, hate, murder; not to mention time travel. Butler's writing style and her choice to include a prologue is how the tone of Kindred is so quickly communicated to readers. Also, she allows readers to form a close relationship with Dana because they experience everything with her. The first person narrative Butler wrote in gives readers access to Dana's inner dialogue and they see how she struggles with being subservient when all she wants to do is scream and they escape with her when she tries to flee from the Weylin's farm. Bulter also makes Dana's time travel seem somehow realistic. Dana packs a toothbrush (which she sorely missed) and asprin with her in anticipation traveling back to the 1800s. Dana thinks how many of us would think if we were suddenly transported back to the 1800s and we had knowledge others didn't; she tries to remember bits of history from books she's read, she applies antiseptic ointment to her wounds after she was whipped (something the other slaves weren't able to do) and she mourns for the slaves she knows because emancipation is still so far away for them. The pace of the novel is varied, at times it is slow because all the characters have fallen into their routines and an uneasy peace settles over the farm as the slaves work and their masters keep them down. The pace also slows down when Dana is back in Los Angeles, but this never lasts very long because Rufus frequently needs her help and the second she is transported back to the 1800's, she has to save his life. This cycle of time traveling between the 1970s and the 1800s keeps readers interested because they almost never know when Dana will go forwards or backwards in time, until right before it happens. Most of the people in Kindred are never flat, two dimensional characters who are either good or bad. Dana often expresses her confusion about feeling attached to Rufus even though his treatment of her becomes more and more harsh. Rufus wants Dana in his life though he will kill her if she tries to leave the plantation. When Dana tries to escape the plantation and Rufus and his father catch her, he somberly announces that she will have to be whipped. Also, Butler masterfully examines the compromises Butler and other slaves must make in order to stay alive. When a field slaves tells Dana other slaves dislike her because she receives special treatment from Rufus and his father because she's ingratiated herself to them to save her own skin, Dana tells the man that even the field slaves make compromises because they listen to the overseer when he directs them in the fields. Many characters are forced into situations that can only result in tragedies.Kindred at times can feel clastrophibic because Dana only travels between her home in Los Angeles and the plantation in Maryland because, as a slave, she has no right to leave the property. The restrictions on Dana's movements illustrates to readers how confined she and the other slaves were. Only in the epilogue can Dana, when she is done with her time traveling and is back in the 1970's, visit the area around the plantation.
Read-alikes: Crucifix Lane by Kate Mosse a woman in London time travels eleven years in the future, to a London she doesn't recognize. Readers who want to stay with the time travel element and read a science fiction novel with a female main character, but who might enjoy a different setting for the time travel, such as a large city, could like this book. Marge Piercy’s He, She, and It is a novel that, like Kindred, blends science fiction elements with strong female characters, storying telling and connection to family and culture. In the novel a young woman tells stories to a futuristic golem to help him learn how to be human and her grandmother also tells stories that mirrors the action in the novel. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale has many elements in it that are also found in Butler’s novel. Both writers focus on women who have been wrenched out of their normal lives by forces they can’t control and they are made into slaves simply because of who they are, namely, women, which is the case in The Handmaid’s Tale and black women, in Kindred. Both authors weave completely engrossing stories. The Handmaid’s Tale is set in the near future after great religious and political changes have transformed many women into handmaids. These women are subservient and silent and their only role in life is to procreate. Toni Morrison’s Beloved is about a Sethe, a former slave living in post Civil War Ohio, and she is literally haunted by her daughter, whom she killed, so she wouldn’t have to be a slave. Families are ripped apart by slavery in both Beloved and Kindred and mothers seem to suffer the most when they lose their children. Readers wanting to explore the elements of family and slavery but with unusual elements included, like the time travel in Kindred, should try Beloved. Stigmata by Alesia Phyllis Perry is about a young African American woman who, after receiving a quilt and other possessions from her great-great grandmother, bears the physical signs of abuse that her ancestor suffered while they were slaves and her body eventually becomes inhabited by her ancestors. Like Kindred, this book is about a young woman who connects with her past in a very literal sense. Also like Kindred, which isn’t similar to any other slave narrative, Perry’s novel isn’t simply about a woman getting in touch with her past. Only when she experiences what her ancestors experienced can she grasp how they suffered as slaves.
Red Flags: There is violence (some characters are whipped and beaten) but the descriptions of it are not graphic
Parable of the Sower (1993)
Author: Octavia Butler
Genre: Science Fiction
Plot Summary:
Lauren Olamina, a black teenager, suffers from hyperempathy, a genetic condition that causes her to feel others' pain as if it were happening to her. This would be a problem at any time, but Lauren lives in a near-future America that's rapidly descending into chaos. She and her family live in one of the walled communities of southern California, where the few people who still have money and jobs hide out from the violence, poverty and corruption that has swept the rest of the nation. When the walls of their community are breached and violence penetrates into Lauren's world, she and the few others who survive set out towards the north amid rumors that things are better there. As they travel, they pick up more survivors, and Lauren begins to develop a new religion that she calls Earthseed, whose key tenet is that "God is change" and people must bind together to create their own destiny. Her ultimate goal is to found a new society based on Earthseed, and slowly Lauren and her philosophy begins to draw in refugees from the violence and chaos that surrounds them.
Geographical Setting: California; Northwestern United States
Time Period:Near future: 2024
Series: Not a series, but there is a sequel, Parable of the Talents
Appeal Characteristics:
In many ways this is a coming-of-age story, with the novel entirely driven by a likeable but sometimes infuriating teenage character that many young adults will likely enjoy and identify with. Lauren's dystopian world is also well-drawn, with all of the violence and chaos that it entails. Readers may also enjoy the philosophical aspects of the story, as Lauren's invented "religion" is described in great detail and heavily influences her actions as well as those of secondary characters.
Read-alikes: Readers who enjoy Parable of the Sower will want to read the continuation of Lauren's adventures in the sequel, Parable of the Talents. Readers who like Butler's depiction of a strong woman confronting a dystopian world may also enjoy The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Like Butler, Atwood pictures an America under the control of a fundamentalist government - in Atwood's novel, a rigid patriarchy is established in which men are served by "handmaids" whose only goal is to conceive a child for their man. Those who liked the setting of near-future California might like Kim Stanley Robinson's Three Californias trilogy, in which he posits three possible futures for California - a postnuclear disaster society (in The Wild Shore), a nightmarish tecnological future of suburban sprawl (in The Gold Coast), and an idyllic ecological utopia (in Pacific Edge). Like Butler, Robinson creates all-too-realistic portrayals of America's future. Fans of Butler's world creation may also enjoy works by Ursula K. Leguin, another woman writing rich, character-based science fiction. I would suggest they start with The Dispossessed, the story of Shevek, a physicist from a planet settled by anarchists, who becomes the first person to visit his colony's capitalist mother planet since the first days of settlement. Leguin uses the premise of two contrasting societies, one seemingly utopian and one dystopian, to explore the nature of civilization and humanity. And finally, another recommendation for those who enjoyed Butler's dense, lyrical writing and memorable characters is China Mountain Zhang, by Maureen McHugh. Set in a future dominated by Communist China, McHugh's novel is loosely-plotted but the world she depicts is meticulously constructed.
Red Flags:Violence and drug use is described in fairly explicit detail - Butler's futuristic world is bleak and brutal. Lauren's family is brutally murdered, and other characters meet with a similarly violent fate. Butler also portrays the development of a fundamentalist Christian theocracy, which some readers may find offensive.
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