Patternmaster - Seed to Harvest #4
Set far into the future, at a time when civilization has moved backwards towards a more agrarian based community, non-telepaths (Mutes) are basically slaves, and those with psychic powers have all been combined into the Pattern which is held by Rayal. But now Rayal is old and dying and a new Patternmaster will be needed. Of course, Rayal's most powerful child, Coransee, has positioned himself to be the one to take Rayal's place. Teray has just been apprenticed to a new house but before he can take his place there, he is taken by Coransee and placed as the lowliest member of his house instead. Teray is powerful but it comes out that Coransee is his half-brother, both of them sons of Rayal, and Coransee wants no challenge to his plan to become the new Patternmaster. So of course, Teray runs away and heads straight for Rayal with the help of a powerful healer who has been staying with Coransee but is not part of his house. On the way, there are many dangers for them to face but the biggest is the Clayarks, the non-humans who run in a pack and are a constant threat to mankind.
This book was the first written in the series and it shows. I enjoyed it but it was definitely the weakest of the series. Similar themes of self-determination and enslavement by the powerful are woven throughout but they are much more stark in this one with the characters and the whole novel written in a much more simplistic style. None of the subtlety and nuance that is present in Wild Seed. The Claryarks that she spent an entire novel building up as a species that is trying to hold onto its humanity are portrayed as simple animals for the most part through this one although with having read Clay's Ark first, you definitely wonder if there is more to them than is being shown here but if you had read this first, they are definitely written as just another obstacle for the protagonist and one that he learns quickly and easily how to mow down in cold blood.
I've enjoyed this series a lot and after reading it, it's hard to know which order is the best to recommend to people (chronological world order or published order). The books written later are definitely stronger and better written but even the early ones are rich with strong themes and intriguing world building. No matter what, I definitely will be reading more of Octavia Butler's books and recommending her writing to others.
Page count: 208p/12,420p ytd/323,115p lifetime
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