Originally named Lilith’s brood, the Xenogenesis trilogy by Octavia Butler starts with an earth ravaged by nuclear war. The Onkali arrive. Tentacled and alien, first they came to study humanity, then to save them by taking them away, where they sleep for 250 years. The find a cure to cancer (through genetics) and heal the ruined planet, but would only return them to earth if they agree to bond with them. The Okali reproduce by adding other DNA to their own. They also need three genders to reproduce. Lilith has the first human-Onkali hybrid. The trilogy looks at what the evolution of humanity, and what it means when our children are alien from us. It also looks at how the human-Onkali relations play out, which is complex and Like many dystopian stories, the Xenogenesis explores what it means to be human, with a particular lens on race and gender. It can be seen as an allegory of slavery, where power differentials limit choices and agency, and how the price of survival undert those conditions may be change, and inhabiting a new identity.
When I was looking for a good image to use here, I found this on wikimedia commons. Great, isn’t it?
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Scattered1 from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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Nice choice for your X post. I’m almost never tempted to reread series – there are just too many yet-to-be-read books in my piles, but I’m sorely tempted to make an exception with this one. What a great image – so perfect and so true!
I reread books that spark something in me. Even with a never ending TBR list, some backs seem to matter more than others. Thanks for dropping by.
I would like to pass on mating with an alien, I think. I mean, I guess to save the world. Though it’s really more of a metaphor, right?
I love letter X posts! Always such variety.
It’s hard to believe the alphabet part of the blogging challenge is over for 2021. Down to the after survey, reflections, and the “road trip” sign-up.
Plus, I’m taking part in the Bout of Books read-a-thon in May. So much excitement!
J Lenni Dorner (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge, OperationAwesome6 Debut Author Interviewer, Reference& Speculative Fiction Author
You guys get more ambitious every year with the Challenge. Kudos to you all. Thanks for visiting. And you are right, x, y and z bring up some interesting things.