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Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:The complete Patternist seriesâ??the acclaimed science fiction epic of a world transformed by a secret race of telepaths and their devastating rise to power. In the late seventeenth century, two immortals meet in an African forest. Anyanwu is a healer, a three-hundred-year-old woman who uses her wisdom to help those around her. The other is Doro, a malevolent despot who has mastered the power of stealing the bodies of others when his wears out. Together they will change the world. Over the next three centuries, Doro mounts a colossal selective breeding project, attempting to create a master race of telepaths. He succeeds beyond his wildest dreams, splitting the human race down the middle and establishing a new world order dominated by the most manipulative minds on Earth. In these four novels, award-winning author Octavia E. Butler tells the classic story that began her legendary career: a mythic tale of the transformation of civilization. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Octavia E. Butler including rare images from the author's esta… (more)
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Seed to Harvest includes four related novels in the
WILD SEED is the tale of Anyanwu, an African woman who can heal herself of any injury and is seemingly immortal. She is discovered by Doro, a being who has lived for millennia but at the expense of countless lives. He intends to create a master race of humans through careful breeding. He finds those gifted with psychic abilities and brings them together, and he wants Anyanwu as part of that plan. The two of them are at odds, but also drawn to each other- living embodiments of life and death. Butler’s characters are fully developed and come alive off the pages.
MIND OF MY MIND introduces Mary, who may be the key to creating Doro’s master race. Mary is the first powerful telepath born who is not driven insane by her gift. She uses it to create The Pattern, which binds her people together. Only, Doro may have gotten more than he bargained for when he realizes he’s not part of that master race. I think this is the best book of the four – I read it straight through because it was so creative and the characters so interesting.
CLAY’S ARK is where things get a little…weird. Wild Seed and Mind of my Mind were tightly connected stories, tied together by Anyanwu and Doro. Clay’s Ark introduces brand new characters and a new story-telling structure which swaps between present day and the past. The book appears completely unrelated to the two books that come before it, but is a critical bridge to Patternmaster. A father and his two older teen daughters are accosted on the highway and taken prisoner. Eli calmly informs that that he is carrying a disease that they now have, and will come to accept. Naturally, they don’t want to accept it and try to escape, with global consequences. In the prior two books, Doro hinted that his master race is going to be needed for a purpose. One that is finally revealed in the final book.
PATTERNMASTER opens with a surprise attack on the Rayal, the Patternmaster, by Clayarks. These two species have been at war for decades, and the Clayarks realize killing Rayal is the key to winning. The story then moves to Teray, one of many sons of the Patternmaster His mental abilities are very strong, perhaps even strong enough to allow him hold The Pattern one day. This is something Coransee cannot allow, for he wants the Pattern for himself.
Overall, I didn’t find Seed to Harvest to be quite as good as Lilith’s Brood, mainly because of the conclusion. Lilith’s Brood has more closure while Seed to Harvest is left more or less in a stalemate. It’s almost as if Butler intended there to be another book (and perhaps the long out of print “Survivor” is that book). Still, I thought this was a brilliant, rich saga that pulls a reader in and keeps them long after the final page. Highly recommended.
The first novel, Wild Seed, was by far my favorite. It is the
The second novel, Mind of My Mind, picks up a few hundred years after the first leaves off. Doro's creations have gotten stronger--strong enough to begin challenging him. This book was still quite good but somehow not quite as good as the first one. I was left at the end wanting to know what could possibly happen next, but that will be left to the imagination.
The third novel, Survivor, is not included in this omnibus and I have not read it.
The fourth novel, Clay's Ark, is completely different from the first two. One of the minor characters from the second novel is briefly mentioned in the third novel, but otherwise it is completely unconnected (perhaps explained by the missing third novel). This could easily have been a stand alone novel and I quite liked it. This is set in the dystopian near future. The first starship (named Clay's Ark) ever to carry humans to another planet has just returned to Earth, but it is bringing with it a highly infectious microorganism that changes the very essence of those it infects. Infected people are compelled to spread the disease to as many as possible and to reproduce as quickly as they can. The first infected people try desperately to retain their humanity--they live in the middle of a desolate desert and kidnap and infect only enough people to quiet their compulsions in an attempt to protect the rest of the world from their disease. This works for several years until one of the people they capture and infect escapes and heads straight for LA. A very chilling story and my second favorite in this omnibus.
The last novel, Patternmaster, was definitely my least favorite. This is set even father in the future when most of the people on the planet are either powerful descendants of Doro or are infected with the Clayark disease from the previous novel. These two factions are at constant odds and each would like nothing better than to wipe the other out. The descendants of Doro, with all of their amazing mental powers, have lost almost all of their mechanical ability. The future has developed into what is almost a typical fantasy world. Everything is low tech and "magic" is common. Outside city walls are evil creatures, the Clayarks, that want to kill everybody. The story involves the interaction of some very powerful brothers vying for leadership positions in this setting. Somehow I just didn't find it to be very interesting. It's ok and this is a very short novel so if you've read the first three novels I definitely recommend finishing this one too, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend picking up a copy of Patternmaster on its own.
Over all I definitely enjoyed this omnibus. I loved the first story and really enjoyed the fourth. The second was good and the fifth was ok. I really wonder, though, what happened to the third story?
I thought Butler's characterization had something distant about it, since a lot revolved about an almost rational struggle. This by no means stopped me from being engaged in the story. In this way, it reminds of John Wyndham's writing. The stories were most intriguing and raised a lot of issues surrounding slavery and free will that are relevant to this day.
Patternmaster was the last work in this grouping, but the first actually published (and the first successful work by the author, as well). It's one of the strongest, as is Wild Seed, which is placed as the first work in the anthology (but was written after Survivor). Clay's Ark is the third work in the anthology, and was the last novel written in the series. Mind of My Mind is the second work in the anthology, and was written very soon after Patternmaster. It may be that Wild Seed was written to flesh out the details, or perhaps the author felt the need to revisit the characters in greater detail.. Patternmaster and Wild Seed are by far the strongest works, as is Survivor.
I understand, after reading all five, why she eliminated Survivor from this collection. It's a very different work, and effort, and doesn't need the other works as preface, or explanation.
Superb.
I thought Butler's characterization had something distant about it, since a lot revolved about an almost rational struggle. This by no means stopped me from being engaged in the story. In this way, it reminds of John Wyndham's writing. The stories were most intriguing and raised a lot of issues surrounding slavery and free will that are relevant to this day.