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
Showing posts with label Patternmaster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patternmaster. Show all posts
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
45:100 Clay's Ark by Octavia Butler
Patternmaster - Seed to Harvest #3
Earth but set into the future. A father, who remembers a time before, driving with his two daughters, one of whom has incurable cancer, in a world where few people drive outside of their city neighborhoods and now that they've been abducted, he fully understands why. But in this case, their abduction is nothing like he could have imagined in his wildest dreams.
Clay's Ark was a ship that went into space on a mission of discovery and that crashed back home with no survivors, or so everyone thought. There was no way to know that Eli did survive but that he is no longer fully human but instead a hybrid host with a parasite from another world that is intent upon survival and spreading itself far and wide. It is virulent, tenacious, and single-minded of purpose and initiates almost uncontrollable procreation instincts upon those it infects. Eli has tried to maintain some parts of his humanity but really, the best he can do is keep himself and those he infects as isolate as possible to not doom the entire planet. To transmit this to another human only requires fluid transfer and they continue to look human which makes it that much easier to continue to transmit but then the children are born and there is no way anyone could mistake them for human but the urge to keep them safe and make more is such a strong compulsion there is no resisting it.
This was written last in the Patternmaster series and it's inclusion here is strange. I figured out pretty quickly that the Clay the ship is named from is Clay Dana from Mind of My Mind but he's not actually present. There aren't any people from Doro's line which we've been following the last two books. I'm sure it will make sense once I read Patternmaster but right now it seems like it belongs to a totally different universe, an interesting universe mind but just not this one.
Page count: 224p/10,993p ytd/321,688p lifetime
Earth but set into the future. A father, who remembers a time before, driving with his two daughters, one of whom has incurable cancer, in a world where few people drive outside of their city neighborhoods and now that they've been abducted, he fully understands why. But in this case, their abduction is nothing like he could have imagined in his wildest dreams.
Clay's Ark was a ship that went into space on a mission of discovery and that crashed back home with no survivors, or so everyone thought. There was no way to know that Eli did survive but that he is no longer fully human but instead a hybrid host with a parasite from another world that is intent upon survival and spreading itself far and wide. It is virulent, tenacious, and single-minded of purpose and initiates almost uncontrollable procreation instincts upon those it infects. Eli has tried to maintain some parts of his humanity but really, the best he can do is keep himself and those he infects as isolate as possible to not doom the entire planet. To transmit this to another human only requires fluid transfer and they continue to look human which makes it that much easier to continue to transmit but then the children are born and there is no way anyone could mistake them for human but the urge to keep them safe and make more is such a strong compulsion there is no resisting it.
This was written last in the Patternmaster series and it's inclusion here is strange. I figured out pretty quickly that the Clay the ship is named from is Clay Dana from Mind of My Mind but he's not actually present. There aren't any people from Doro's line which we've been following the last two books. I'm sure it will make sense once I read Patternmaster but right now it seems like it belongs to a totally different universe, an interesting universe mind but just not this one.
Page count: 224p/10,993p ytd/321,688p lifetime
Friday, May 31, 2019
38:100 Mind of My Mind by Octavia Butler
Patternmaster - Seed to Harvest #2
Doro has been trying to create a master race for thousands of years and with this newest child, Mary, he sees a great deal of potential in her but also a lot of anger and emotions that could cause him to have to destroy her. The most dangerous part will be her transition when her powers awaken but before she has any control. Emma (Anyanwu from Wild Seed) could help but Mary will not accept it which means she is alone with the one who has been chosen for her to mate with and while he is powerful, he can't stop her when her transition causes her to take over his mind and forge a link with him that neither of them can understand, control, or break. And he is not the only one. Her power reached out and forged links with a handful of other people at the same time, no one near her, no one she knew, but they are now on their way to where she is under a compulsion they can't deny.
Doro isn't sure if he is thrilled by this or if it's a threat to his plans but his curiosity is aroused as it has not been in ages. Mary has a power he has never seen or even imagined so he allows her to live and to see how these forged links work under his supervision. But Doro is not part of the pattern and there are things that he cannot know about it.
This book was written second in the series, after Patternmaster, and is second in world chronological order and that is interesting to note since I'm reading in world chronological order which places this after Wild Seed which is Doro and Anyanwu's story (seriously wish Anyanwu had kep that name and played a more prominent part of this story since I really enjoyed her in Wild Seed). Doro does not come across nearly as evil and understanding of human nature as he did in Wild Seed which makes him a less interesting antagonist this time around. I'm not sure if he would have seemed stronger if I had not read Wild Seed first where he was so powerfully attuned to everything. I found the concept of the pattern intriguing and the characters well developed but the writing definitely wasn't as rich as Wild Seed and was sort of jarring in that respect although still good.
Page count: 224p/9,893p ytd/320,778p lifetime
Doro has been trying to create a master race for thousands of years and with this newest child, Mary, he sees a great deal of potential in her but also a lot of anger and emotions that could cause him to have to destroy her. The most dangerous part will be her transition when her powers awaken but before she has any control. Emma (Anyanwu from Wild Seed) could help but Mary will not accept it which means she is alone with the one who has been chosen for her to mate with and while he is powerful, he can't stop her when her transition causes her to take over his mind and forge a link with him that neither of them can understand, control, or break. And he is not the only one. Her power reached out and forged links with a handful of other people at the same time, no one near her, no one she knew, but they are now on their way to where she is under a compulsion they can't deny.
Doro isn't sure if he is thrilled by this or if it's a threat to his plans but his curiosity is aroused as it has not been in ages. Mary has a power he has never seen or even imagined so he allows her to live and to see how these forged links work under his supervision. But Doro is not part of the pattern and there are things that he cannot know about it.
This book was written second in the series, after Patternmaster, and is second in world chronological order and that is interesting to note since I'm reading in world chronological order which places this after Wild Seed which is Doro and Anyanwu's story (seriously wish Anyanwu had kep that name and played a more prominent part of this story since I really enjoyed her in Wild Seed). Doro does not come across nearly as evil and understanding of human nature as he did in Wild Seed which makes him a less interesting antagonist this time around. I'm not sure if he would have seemed stronger if I had not read Wild Seed first where he was so powerfully attuned to everything. I found the concept of the pattern intriguing and the characters well developed but the writing definitely wasn't as rich as Wild Seed and was sort of jarring in that respect although still good.
Page count: 224p/9,893p ytd/320,778p lifetime
Sunday, May 26, 2019
34:100 Wild Seed by Octavia Butler
Patternmaster - Seed to Harvest #1
Doro has been wandering the Earth for over a thousand years and knows of no others like him so he has taken to setting up breeding towns from those who show a touch of power like his to try and create a master race. He can be patient since he has mastered the technique of moving his consciousness to a new host body at any time making him effectively immortal. But then he meets Anyanwu who is like but not like him. She has also lived far longer than a normal human but she is able to do so because she can completely control her body at a molecular level which means so long as she has the time, she can heal from anything. She is powerful in ways Doro isn't and can't be and he craves her subjugation and the mingling of their powers to bring more stability to his line. And while she believes his lies at first and is intrigued to be mated to one who has powers at least similar to hers and as long a life, she soon learns that Doro is not who she first thought him to be and she is stronger than he thought.
Such an incredibly powerful book. The theme of eugenics was not one I was comfortable with nor enjoyed but the relationship between Anyanwu and Doro, watching the shift and play of their power struggle, and the eventual conclusion was fabulous and so richly done.
I choose this book for my book club read this month because I learned that it will be adapted for TV and Octavia Butler has been on my list of authors to check out for a bit now. It's interesting to note that this book was the fourth book written in the series although the first in world chronological order (and one of the books has since been disowned by the author).
Page count: 320p/8,572p ytd/319,457p lifetime
Doro has been wandering the Earth for over a thousand years and knows of no others like him so he has taken to setting up breeding towns from those who show a touch of power like his to try and create a master race. He can be patient since he has mastered the technique of moving his consciousness to a new host body at any time making him effectively immortal. But then he meets Anyanwu who is like but not like him. She has also lived far longer than a normal human but she is able to do so because she can completely control her body at a molecular level which means so long as she has the time, she can heal from anything. She is powerful in ways Doro isn't and can't be and he craves her subjugation and the mingling of their powers to bring more stability to his line. And while she believes his lies at first and is intrigued to be mated to one who has powers at least similar to hers and as long a life, she soon learns that Doro is not who she first thought him to be and she is stronger than he thought.
Such an incredibly powerful book. The theme of eugenics was not one I was comfortable with nor enjoyed but the relationship between Anyanwu and Doro, watching the shift and play of their power struggle, and the eventual conclusion was fabulous and so richly done.
I choose this book for my book club read this month because I learned that it will be adapted for TV and Octavia Butler has been on my list of authors to check out for a bit now. It's interesting to note that this book was the fourth book written in the series although the first in world chronological order (and one of the books has since been disowned by the author).
Page count: 320p/8,572p ytd/319,457p lifetime
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