Rating: 
Summary: Complex & Engrossing
Review: This is the first of three loosely linked books - Mind of My Mind and then Patternmaster, although they can be read in any order (and were not written chronologically). Butler's writing, as usual, draws you into the world and personalities she crafts immediately and doesn't let go until the book is over.It succeeds on several different levels, aside from being a good read, she uses the story to explore the ramifications of a relationship where one person holds more power than the other, and how the less powerful people cope with this. Its a book that can be a little disturbing at times, but certainly one that makes you think.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece by one of science fiction's greatest voices
Review: "Wild Seed" is one of a series of superb science fiction novels by Octavia E. Butler. This story begins in 1690, and spans Africa and America. At the heart of "Wild Seed" is the enigmatic relationship between two powerful, and seemingly immortal characters: Doro, a sort of energy being who transfers from one host body to another, killing his hosts in the process; and Anyanwu, a shapeshifter who can assume forms of any species, and of either gender. "Wild Seed" is both a psychologically perspective character study and a profound meditation on power and desire. Butler's philosophical canvas takes in such controversial issues as slavery, race, reproduction, and gender. In addition to being a superb example of the science fiction novel, "Wild Seed" is a stunning historical novel which expands the boundaries of African-American literature. As such, it would make a compelling companion text to such "canonical" novels as Toni Morrison's "Beloved." Also recommended: any of Butler's other outstanding novels, and her collection "Bloodchild and Other Stories."
Rating: 
Summary: Another study for fans of Joseph Campbell
Review: Like many readers, this book was a recommendation from Uncle Orson Scott Card. Good move! This is not sci-fi, but fantasy, with some science thrown in. I enjoyed the outroness of the book: female author, female lead, Afro-centric, several centuries ago. It is nice to have my mind stretched in other directions, not just Beowulf or Arthurian legends. I found this book odd in this sense: the story did not accost me, but I was so interested in the story that I couldn't put it down. I finished it the day I bough it. This is quite a compliment to the authoress! It is an interesting premise, and I had shades of Joseph Campbell in my mind. The male image is a ghost who passes from body to body, while the female is quite fixed to her mutable body. They change bodies, but one is like a hermit crab, the other is like Clayface from Batman comics. She makes an interesting choice of images: the female with the changeable body who focuses on her children and family. The man is more ghost than Patrick Swayze, who is a destroyer-killer who possesses people, and is prolific in progeny. These are Butler's archetypes of male and female. It is an interesting position to take on explaining the genders! There were only three hang-ups. First, Butler got quite ingenious and exquisite with the variations on sex. The second hangup I had was Anyanwu's moral code or philosophy. she seemed to be quite free and loose with everything, except Doro's killings, and eating milk. Doro's killings, however, are of a slightly different nature than your textbook homicide. He can't help himself. He can intentionally "posses" other people, but the possession happens even if he doesn't want it to happen. It is beyond his control, so he is therefore inculpable. In fact, he is virtuous in that he sometimes tries to sublimate or direct this power of his. Second, milk. Anyanwu only gets adamant about eating milk products. Although this adds to the outroness of the book, it is a rather odd thing to get so adamant about. She fornicates, is an enabler to Doro, changes into a dolphin and has calfs in this form, etc. But milk is the only hang up. Why? The last hangup is the prognostication. Anyanwu seems to know everything about current science. She cuts her Fallopian tubes, understands germ theory, understands DNA and cloning, and she even makes penicillin. One or two of these would be fine, but Butler over did it.
Rating:
Summary: An Important Work of Fantasy by a Major American Writer
Review: Octavia Butler's novel "Wild Seed", the prequel to her "Patternist" saga of 1970's novels, is one of the finest fictional meditations I have read regarding American race relations and the war between the sexes. Here she introduces two of her most intriguing characters, the woman Anyanwu, a West African woman with her own unique gift of immortality, and the male Doro, who lives through killing, seemingly changing bodies at will; a nearly 4,000 year old spirit hailing originally from the ancient African kingdom of Kush. Across the span of several centuries in West Africa and North America, we see how their lives frequently intertwine with profound consequences for both. Octavia Butler's keen insights on racial and sexual relations and splendid prose should qualify her for consideration as one of the finest living American writers; a distinction she shares with fellow science fiction writers Samuel Delany, William Gibson, and Ursula K. Le Guin. Anyone who has not encountered Ms. Butler's work before and reads it, will find it quite profound and still rewarding as high quality literary entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Wild Seed
Review: One of the most wonderful literary works of art I've ever read! My first true exposure to science fiction opened modes of thoughts I never believed possible. Octavia is truly a gifted writer, if only more people in the world could be exposed to her deep insight and ability to present the true basis of man and woman. I'm left in awe, hungry for more...
Rating:
Summary: This book should be a movie
Review: Anyanwu, the woman could take on any form she wanted, woman, man, white, black, loin, dolphin, by just tasting a peice of it's meat. She was a healer of the utmost extremes. As I sat reading the book I couldn't help but wish I too could become this free forming shift changer healer woman. Fantasy, fiction, or imagination, I could care less, I wished that when my times got too hard that I could turn into a horse, a bird, or a fish. when the bills or everyday life seemed to much that I just wanted to scream I could just shift into a rich older woman and not worry about the bills or what ever. I loved this book becasue after all my wishing and hoping I was delighted that at the end of the book Anyanwu had adopted my name as her own. (you have to read the book to find out what my name is)As for the other person Doro I would not want to be him for a anything. His life was to unhuman. Anyanwu still retained all of her human quality even when she had to kill. thank you Ms. Butler for allowing my imagination to soar. Peace
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!
Review: I like science fiction. But I have to say that I love Octavia Butler's books. The issues that she covers leaves the reader thinking: "What would I do in this situation?" It's not just entertainment, which she provides so well, it thought-provoking as well. I have read every one of her novels (in print and out-of-print) and her theme of change and flexibility remains constant and reassuring.
Rating: 
Summary: Butler imaginative as always
Review: Octavia E. Butler is a wonderful writer. This book was very good, and yet I think it too be one of her lesser works. It is one of a number of books involving the character Doro, who has supernatural abilities. This particular book will disappoint readers that only like happy endings. Butler has a great command of our language and combined with a very creative imagination, all of her books are worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: First Butler book I Read
Review: I want to say, I am a white female who appreciates any female writing science fiction, and I love that this book is written by a black female writer who is thus far, better writer than most typically white male science fiction writers. I had never read any of her books before, and glanced through it, seeing it would interest me, and took it. I was pleasantly surprised that the fantasy of it, and the characters would become so real in my mind as I was reading it. I liked that it involved both whites and blacks with no obvious intentions of making the book about black/white prejudices and that the time Anyanwu came into contact with Thomas, she showed him civility and kindness and he realized how wonderful she was, and forgot about color. I liked that although she could change into men, or animals, she primarily stayed a black female, and was content. I liked Doro for the unspoken feelings that alluded to him being hurt in his childhood and being a misunderstood person. I liked that Anyanwu was such a strong character and put her children first before her wants, always trying to protect them.It was a fair book, and the control and submission excited me and yet, as a woman, I was quite delighted with the ending of the book as well.
Rating:
Summary: virtuoso performance
Review: This is spell-binding sci fi, amongst the best I have ever read. It has it all: characters, concept, and the sweep of time that create that sense of wonder you find in the best literature. I have re-read this novel three times, and each time I find it better than the last: with hauntingly crisp images, compelling and very human issues, a kind of universality that is almost inevitably missing in genre fiction. The most amazing thing is that the reader can suspend his disbelief and abosrb all this weirdness as if it were occuring. And the characters are almost all black, from specially-bred mutant strains in Africa to fugitives from an evil immortal in America. Butler is continuing to grow as a writer, and perhaps is one of the best contemporary novelists in American today. I eagerly await her writing, which is slow in coming, no doubt due to the extreme care she takes to get every single word right.
|
