#book.adulthood rites

[cocksuki2]

i just finished reading the xenogenesis trilogy by octavia e butler last night and holy shit... it was fucking fantastic. 

i found myself enthralled at every turn. every new piece of information, every twist and turn, seemed to do exactly what i wanted it to do without doing what i expected it to do. 

it’s difficult to explain what the series is about, as butler’s world-building is deeply immersive and highly detailed. however, the series synopsis boils down to: humanity, on the verge of itS planetary and species extinction due to a nuclear war, is discovered by an alien race called the oankali who wish to interbreed with them in order to create a perfect mix between the species, taking all of the good from both and leaving behind the bad. 

(spoilers beyond this point) 

the first book, dawn, follows lilith iyapo as she is awoken from suspended animation, made to become used to the grotesque oankali, and “asked” to awaken other humans with the intention of sending them back down to repopulate a restored earth with human and oankali hybrids. it deals beautifully with the concept of freedom versus choice, as well as survival versus morality. the book describes in painstaking detail, what it means for lilith to be human, as well as what it means to not just survive this alien invasion, but to thrive in it. 

the oankali do not kill unless on accident, but that does not mean that lilith has freedom. she’s given the choice of coopoerating with the aliens or returning indefinitely to suspended animation, where her genetic material would be used as a backup reserve. it’s not a choice at all, but it offers the illusion of choice to her and to her oankali captors, who cannot understand why humanity would be so resistant to combining genes. 

it’s difficult to express just how detailed and complex these books are. each one takes you deeper and deeper into butler’s science fiction world, drawing you into the story and iyapo family in a way you never would have expected. 

xenogenesis conjures up imagery of american slavery and global colonialism, of patriarchal society, of the politics of reproductive freedom. it forces us to reconcile the difference between person and property in this genetic context, as well as forces us to view just how profoundly power-dynamics can and do affect the way we interact with others.

each novel expresses a different aspect of this invasion, from the early stages of lilith’s orientation, all the way through to her large, hybrid family. butler’s books introduce us not only to the human side of the story, but to the alien one. through her books become attached to lilith, as well as to her oankali mates, ahajas, dichaan, and nikanj (her ooloi). despite the pain they put her through, we are still encouraged to sympathize with all of them throughout the story. 

dawn, the first book in the series, is told exclusively through a female point of view. the second book, adulthood rites, is told exclusively from a male point of view, following the first human born oankali-human hybrid (also called constructs). the third book, imago, is told through the eyes of the first (and accidental) construct ooloi, the third gender in the oankali reproductive unit. 

as the books cover each perspective, they become less and less human. each point of view loses a little more humanity than the last, until the third book thrusts us entirely into the alien world of sexual attraction through genetics rather than through physical appearance. we’re made to sympathize with all three aspects of gender presented in the xenogenesis trilogy, as well as sympathize not only with humanity, but with the oankali. they’re introduced to us in the later half of the series not as alien, but as half of the protagonists we’re rooting for. oankali blood becomes as much a part of the reader’s heritage as it is lilith’s children. 

overall, xenogenesis (also called lilith’s brood) is an incredible read that focuses on colonialism, american slavery, reproductive rights and autonomy, patriarchy, and what it means to be human through an increasingly unhuman lens. however, that’s not to say butler’s work ever loses it’s humanity. much like humanity in the novel, it changes.