Today’s audio book and crochet selection is #dawnnovel by #octaviabutler
This is the first novel in a trilogy that is labeled and sold both as Lilith’s Brood and Xenogensis in addition to the stand alone novels: Dawn, Adulthood Rites and Imago.
This title is available to purchase as an ebook from #kindle or #googlebooks for $8.51 or all 3 books in the trilogy sold as #xenogenesisseries or #lilithsbrood for $9.99
This title is also available as an audio book from #audible for $13.96 and is not available from #googlebooks
This title is available to borrow from #hoopla as an ebook
This is the first title I ever read by Octavia Butler. I found it in a bookstore when I was a young mother, my daughter was 6 months old. That was so long ago that the cover art didn’t even reflect that the main character was a black woman. I consumed this novel pretty much in a single sitting.
Butler has been my favorite author ever since. I was deeply effected when she died and totally blame the publishing world for not treating her with more honor and respect and less racism and sexism. Reading her journal entries about her struggles to be paid for her award winning work infuriated me. If I could meet any author living or dead it would be her.
This novel is solidy sci fi and is a first contact story plus some. This was published in 1987 and some of the politics and technology are dated. The basic premise is nuclear war has devstated the planet. Western countries are the worst impacted and have the least survivors.
Lilith Iyapo has returned to university after a recent personal tragedy and is studying in South America when this happens. As a result she survives long enough to be picked up with the other survivors. The novel opens with her waking up in a cell with no idea where she is, who is holding in her captivity or how much time has passed.
The answers are not at all what she is expecting. Earth has been destroyed beyond the capacity to support most life but is being healed by Lilith’s rescuer-captors. The Oankali are gene traders. They wander space in living ships looking for various lifeforms to mate with. They have saved humanity but they haven’t done so from a place of altruism.
The Oankali are alien in every way. From the way they look, covered in tentacles, to the way they mate with 3 instead of 2. They biologically have 3 genders and all are necesary for reproduction. The third gender, the Ooloi well… I’ll let you discover about them yourselves.
I am incredibly excited that this is being developed into a TV show by the incomparable Ava Duvernay. It’s like a dream come true💗
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