Adulthood Rites (The Xenogenesis Trilogy Book 2)

This book was not unreadable because of the quality of the author's writing or the story. The maner in which this edition was printed was unreadable. The ink was blurred and the print on the page was intended for a smaller paperback instead of this oversize paperback. It was almost as if someone copied the pages from an old paperback and printed this edition from the copies. It was unreadable. I was disappointed since reading and enjoying "Dawn", I wanted to discover what the rest of the story was. I find her an interesting and thought provoking author but stay away from this printed edition of the book.

I’ve written reviews on Somerset Maugham “The Painted Veil”> and The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor
I was intimidated in doing so, for those were deep waters to swim in and then describe in somewhat intelligent manner, but the Xenogenesis series by Octavia E. Butler, wow! I think this series probably has more PhD dissertations and master theses written about it than any other SF writer work. That’s because Ms. Butler has great depth in her stories, lets just start off with the name of main character in the first book Lilith Iyapo, Lilith as it is explained in the second book was the name of the first woman, Adam’s wife, who was created at the same time as Adam and was smarter and would not submit to him. Rejected for not being submissive enough Eve was created to replace her. So just from the selection of the name you get an understanding a bit of the nature of the woman who is to become the mother of a half-Oankali son Akin who is more human than any construct before him but I’m getting ahead of myself lets get back to Lilith.

In Book one of the series, "Dawn", Lilith is A black woman who awakes 250 years after a humanicidel war that nearly destroys the human race the survivors have been taken aboard a Oankali ship that is a race of gene traders who find Human diversity fascinating and very seductive. The Oankali find Humans live a contradiction they are highly intelligent and they live in hierarchical systems which to the Oankali is a combination as unstable as fire and gas fumes. So they want to interbreed with the humans as a form of trade they are especially attracted to human talent for cancer which they want to use to reshape themselves giving birth to hybrid children called constructs.

In Dawn Butler writes a SF novel like a modern day slave saga, Lilith wakes up in a strange place she is naked and has to beg for clothing, is denied reading material the Oankali abhorrence of the violence of the human race is matched equally by a fascination and need because the Oankali are such successful genetic engineers they tend to engineer themselves into an evolutionary dead end and need the diversity of interbreeding with new species to gain new strengths and weaknesses. In Book two Adulthood Rites Lilith son Akin must struggle with the two very different heritages human and Oankali, did I mention that there are three sexes human male, female, and Ooloi. And that Akin has five parents three Ooloi and two humans. My brain hurts just writing this. Ok so Akin struggles is the focus of book two Adulthood rites this takes place some years after the first book the Oankali having saved humans but have made them infertile so only by living with the Oankali can “constructs” children half human half Oankali be born. Akin is the first Human-born male construct child. Akin appears to be Human other than his gray tongue, which he uses to analyze various people and objects by “tasting.” Allowing him to learn their genetic makeup. Akin’s journey to discover his identity mirrors that of mixed race children in America because he is part of two communities that are at odds with each other. Humans, known as resistors, refuse to accept the Oankali and live separately in their town, Phoenix. Akin agrees with the Oankali that Humans, if left alone, would revert to their hierarchical tendencies and self-destruction again, but the Human part of him understood the need for freedom and choice. He convinces the Oankali to transform Mars into an inhabitable planet for the resistors. As you can see race, power, sex, survival it’s all here and then some, there is one more book in this series but I think I’ll give awhile for my brain to cool down some before taking it on. Four stars five because it’s super thoughtful and good and minus one penalty because it made me work so hard and pushed me out of my comfort zone especially with trying to pronounce these Oankali names.

I fell in love with Octavia Butler's "Xenogenesis" series -- and writing in general -- when I picked up "Dawn" a few months ago. She not only gave us one of the most unique and memorable alien races I've ever encountered in a sci-fi series, but she raised fascinating questions about the true nature of humanity. However, "Dawn" left its story very open-ended, and I was left with many questions about the setting, characters, and whether Butler would attempt to answer the questions she had raised in the first book. So naturally, I had to move on to the next book in the series, "Adulthood Rites." And I'm happy to say that it's every bit as good as its predecessor, giving us a new but fascinating protagonist and further exploring the implications of a benevolent alien invasion.

"Adulthood Rites" follows Akin, the half-human half-Oankali son of Lilith, the protagonist of the first book. While he looks human enough, he can remember being in the womb, taste DNA and molecular structure, and speak almost from the moment of birth. He learns much from his human and Oankali parents, including the eventual fate of humanity and of the Earth -- both are to be absorbed into the Oankali species, humanity becoming one with their alien benefactors/invaders, and Earth being used as fuel for their organic ships. But when Akin is captured by humans -- rebels who refuse to join with the Oankali and are sentenced to live sterile, wild lives until they eventually die out in a planned extinction -- Akin beings to sympathize with his human heritage, and realizes that while there is cruelty among humans, there is also kindness... and that the Oankali's kindness hides its own brand of cruelty. Can a child of two worlds find a way to aid both, without betraying either side of his heritage?

"Adulthood Rites" expands on the story and world of "Dawn," giving us more insight into the Oankali culture and biology as well as how said culture and biology has adapted to integrate humankind. Akin, both despite and because of his alien heritage, is a fascinating and relatable character, a boy struggling to reconcile all sides of his identity and find his place in a world where both sides have conflicting viewpoints. And his efforts to find a solution that will help both Oankali and humankind are valiant, if not welcomed with open arms by the characters. Lilith's progression as a character is fascinating as well, even if it's not the focal point of the novel, and I was very pleased to find that while there are despicable humans, there are also very good ones, and that many of them are both sympathetic and complex characters in their own rights. (And thankfully, the author has avoided the first book's trap of making the majority of the male characters villains -- there are good and sympathetic male characters... and some outright despicable female characters.)

This book makes it clear that there are no easy answers to its problems... and it also avoids painting either side in black or white, completely good or completely evil. It would be tempting to assume all the rebellious humans are barbarians and the Oankali invaders/benefactors and their human allies noble and wholly good-intentioned. But the human rebels of this book are made sympathetic, and their stance of not wanting to see humanity die out or be wholly assimilated into another race is not only understandable, but a revealing analogy of other cultures and races in our present-day society. And while the Oankali are a peaceful race, they aren't shown as being entirely in the right either... and while they claim to love humanity, their plans for both humankind and for Earth are shocking, and it's made quite clear that they have no desire to give humanity a choice in the matter.

Just as good as the first book in the trilogy, "Adulthood Rites" is a stunning and thoughtful follow-up to "Dawn," and one of the best sci-fi books I've ever read. I'm very glad I gave Octavia Butler's writing a chance, and am eagerly looking forward to both "Imago," the third book in this series, and eventually starting on her "Patternist" series. Hopefully they're just as worthwhile of reads as "Dawn" and "Adulthood Rites."

I discovered Xenogenesis many years ago after combing my local library's science fiction section. I'd never heard of Octavia E. Butler, nor did I realize until much later that this was a trilogy and also went by the collective title "Lilith's Brood". What I didn't know back then really didn't (and doesn't) matter, all that mattered to me was that Xenogenesis piqued my interest, and then very quickly I fell in love with this book. I tend to think of this trilogy as just 1 book since that was my perception when I discovered them.

Print books cause debilitating headaches and migraines where reading on my Kindle e-readers causes very minimal head pain. Xenogenesis is one of those books that is worth the pain, though it's great that I don't have to endure that pain thanks to my Kindle copy. Also it's one of those books that I just have to own in print form because I love it so much and I'm proud to have on my bookshelf.

I own both print and Kindle copies.
3 or 4 years after finding Xenogenesis I purchased my own print copy on March 19, 2011. I looked for a Kindle copy as well, though at the time I couldn't find one. I did find and purchase a Kindle copy in September 9, 2015, under the collective title "Lilith's Brood".

A richly magnificent, deep, insightful, emotionally intelligent and wisdom creation by an author of whom I had never heard til chancing upon this book at a thrift store. My impression is that "Xenogenesis" may be the most visceral book that I have ever read. Through conflict, humans have virtually destroyed the Earth. A far more technologically advanced extra-terrestrial civilization has set about to rehabilitate the planet, to take what they need, and to round up and acclimate the remaining humans to the new reality. And, of course, to all appearances, the physical appearance of the ET's is frightful to the human eye.

Some humans are able to adapt., some not at all and some not so much. Those who demonstrate that they cannot or will not adapt are prevented from procreating. Sexual relations among those humans who adapt can only occur with a participating ET who is neither male or female. You see, the ET's are male or female; or, are of the type that serve as a go -between or conduit for the male and female of their species for purposes of procreation. These go-between types have remarkable abilities of healing and regeneration. Part of the adaptation process for humans involves the participation of the alien go-between types in the act of human procreation.

You can imagine the psychological impact to the ego of all this on the adapting humans. For me, reading this book evoked fairly intense emotions that were clearly felt in my body. And, it is both a a fascinating and captivating story. Well worth a read if you don't mind the intensity of the reading experience.

Just amazing Octavia Butler...just amazing....thank you!

This is book two of the Xenogenesis trilogy. A few humans have been rescued from a nuclear holocaust, and now have an opportunity to thrive—if they are willing to merge their DNA with their rescuers. The main character is Akin, a 'human' boy, who is much more than he appears. Kidnapped in infancy, he is taken by 'pure' human resisters who refuse to believe their rescuers. Rendered sterile by the Oankali, they are barely surviving and can have no children of their own.

The Oankali choose to leave Akin with the humans, even though they have the power to return him to his parents. They have decided to leave the choice of whether to return fertility to the resisters, or let them die out. If they regain their fertility, they will destroy themselves again.

How Akin deals with the burden of the decision forms the bulk of this story.

Some years have passed since the first book "Dawn" ended. Lillith has had multiple children that are a mixture of human and Oankali while living in a mixed village on Earth. Other humans have rejected the Oankali, calling themselves Resisters. The Oankali sterilized any humans that rejected them, due to the fact that human genetic makeup guaranteed that humans would destroy themselves. The Oankali are the ultimate genetic engineers, so they know why humans ruined Earth and will do it again if allowed to breed.

Akin is a mixed human and Oankali child whose human mother is Lillith. He also has a human father, as well as an Oankali mother and father, and an ooloi to genetically mix and create the child for Lillith's womb. Akin is the first male born of a human female, as the Oankali were worried about the damage these males could do, based on male human genetics and biology. When Akin is seventeen months old, he is kidnapped by Resisters, who want to trade him to other Resisters who can't have children for a woman and gold.

Akin looks like a human baby, but does not act like one. His intelligence is adult, his memory eiditic and his speech is fully developed. After danger, manhandling and terror, Akin is finally traded to Gabe and Tate, a Resister couple who dearly want a child. What the Resisters don't know is that Akin has been left with them to determine their future. Will Akin's human side understand why they resist, even though they deprive themselves of an easy, pain free life with mixed children? Will he provide them a place to have children, and potentially destroy humanity again? Or will he will he decide that humans will keep killing each other until they are extinct?

Butler has a fascinating way of getting her themes across in unusual characters, story arcs and ideas. No one in this middle book isn't deeply biased, flawed, or broken, with the exception of a single Oankali Akjai ancient, who looks at all sides of the issue. Even Akin is biased, based on damage that results from his captivity. No one is a hero. There is no species bias. It is more a realistic portrayal of how these interactions would work.

Somehow, Butler allows us to understand, to what extent we can, an alien race and their environment. Sometimes it is beautiful, at others times so foreign that it's almost frightening, but it always has a point. Her writing is superb.

If haven't read Butler before, Dawn is a fantastic place to start. This is cultural science fiction as opposed to Space Opera, or any other types. It is classic, relevant and meaningful.

Highly Recommended!

In this worthy sequel to Dawn, the opening book in Octavia Butler’s much-admired Xenogenesis Trilogy, the focus shifts from Lilith Ayapo to her son Akin (“AH-keen”). The infant is a “construct,” the product of a Human mother and father, and the three other Ooankali individuals (male, female, and a third gender) who are necessary to bring Akin into the world. As a construct, Akin possesses many of the extraordinary powers of the alien species even though he looks very much like a Human: he begins speaking in complete sentences as an infant, he remembers everything he’s ever seen or done (including his experiences in Lilith’s womb), and he is capable of killing Humans with the sting of his tongue.

Science fiction? Maybe. But there’s little science in this engrossing trio of novels. Most would call this science fantasy.

However it might be characterized, this is, indeed, a very strange tale. The conceit on which it is based is that humanity has virtually destroyed itself and devastated Planet Earth in the process, leaving tiny pockets of survivors scattered across the globe. The Ooankali have descended on Earth in what they consider a mission of mercy, intent on allowing the human race to go extinct because of the self-destructive Contradiction in our genes between Intelligence and Hierarchy. The newcomers have been using their extraordinary powers at sensing and manipulating DNA to maneuver a handful of Humans into producing constructs like Akin who will join them on their quest to scour the universe for new opportunities to absorb other sentient species.

Adulthood Rites dwells on the increasingly violent conflict between the Oankali towns, which include some humans like Lilith, and the “resisters” who are scattered about the countryside and essentially warring among themselves. Akin seeks out — and eventually finds — a way to persuade most of the resisters to cease their attacks.

Octavia Butler writes with skill and a fine-tuned if dark appreciation for the self-destructive behavior of the human race.

Adulthood Rites is book 2 of the Xenogenesis Trilogy (also known as Lilith's Brood). Book 1, Dawn, follows the story of Lilith, a human, who has been kept in some form of suspended animation for many years, then awakened by an alien race. Earth has been ravaged by years of war, and humanity is all but gone, save for the few that the alien race has rescued. It is their intention to restore humanity back to Earth as trading partners...the materials traded being of a genetic nature.

Dawn captivated me because of the anguish that Lilith underwent, as she struggled with the plans that the aliens have for the human race and their decision to make her the "leader" of the other humans being awakened. Her emotional turmoil was what stood out for me. But Adulthood Rites picks up the story with the birth of Lilith's son, Akin, and he is now the main character. Akin is half human, half alien. The early portion of the story follows his early life, the details of which I found dull. Just as with Dawn, though, the story is original and incredibly well written. Thankfully, Adulthood Rites, picks up as Akin and makes his decision as to what his life's work will be. Once he does this, I was immediately intrigued and already looking forward to book 3, Imago.

As always, Butler's writing is amazing. The story continued to be unique and emotional and thought-provoking. I am anxious to start Imago.

This book takes place several years after the first one (Dawn (Xenogenesis, Bk. 1)) and the protagonist is Lilith’s son Akin, a human/Oankali hybrid.

The Oankali release humans to live on a newly-habitable Earth, but with a HUGE condition. Humans can breed only if they agree to be part of a five-creature mating group and have human/Oankali hybrids. Otherwise, the Oankali ensure that the “Resisters” are sterile. (You can imagine how that goes over.) Akin is caught between species and cultures, the first human(ish) male the Oankali (reluctantly) allow to be born because of the flaw they say is inherent in humans, especially males, of being deeply hierarchical. A good read, but just not as compelling as the first one.

With Human/Oankali settlements established on Earth, one construct child--born of a mix of both species--obtains a clear view of the resisters, humans who refuse to be a part of the cross-species assimilation. Adulthood Rites feels like the least successful of the Xenogenesis series, which hardly means it's bad. Much is an issue of pacing: the first half is slow and meandering, the second half crowded with action. But it's also that the initial novelty of the premise has passed, and I've grown critical of the book's rules. Humans are defined by their hierarchical tendencies and their ability to develop cancer, and they're all heteronormative and gender essentialist, and the sum effect feels both simplistic and insufficient--if for no other reason than the fact that this could as easily and more accurately describe non-human animals: it fails to capture what makes humans unique, or explain the Oankali obsession with them.

Yet Adulthood Rites serves a valuable function. Lilith's story was about a human taking the alien's side, with caveats; Akin's story is about an alien taking the human's side, with caveats. It's an extended devil's advocate, yet capable of surprising sympathy. Butler excels at this--at interactions which are as rational and justified as they are insidious and harmful, which are all the more unsettling because they wield such conviction. This series is impressive--so even if Adulthood Rites is the weakest installment, it's still worth reading.

Very rarely, you find a scifi writer who can combine unbelievably fascinating concepts with a great narrative. I have read 1000s of OK scifi novels, fun passtimes that are easily forgotten. But this series (like just about everything that Butler writes) is far superior to potboilers, it is truly a product of superior talent.

The story is about human first contact with an alien species. In the aftermath of a terrible war and environmental devastation, a vast ship, of incomprehensible biologically based technology, has appeared and taken a number of human survivors on board. The aliens, masters of genetic science, are so different - even to the point that they recognize humans as condemned to hierarchical relationships - that their motives and behavior remain tantalizingly opaque, but understandable (or better, interpretable) as the trilogy unfolds.

The first book is about the initial contact, with details of the alien culture; the characters are compelling and very human. The second covers the conversion on Earth, of still largely inscrutable purpose, and the actions of a boy - a hybrid of alien and human - who sees a problem and attempts to rectify them, with unfathomable consequences. The final volume is about the emergence of the third sex, an Ooloi. The most amazing thing is that it is all completely believable, yet unimaginable.

Recommended as one of the best scifi series I have ever read, perhaps only surpassed by Butler's other series, Patternist. No one will ever surpass this as an accomplishment of the human imagination.

NOTE: This review contains some spoilers.

Adulthood Rites is the second novel in the “Lilith’s Brood” or “Xenogenesis” trilogy. As the title indicates, this is a coming-of-age story told from the perspective of Akin, a human-Oankali construct (hybrid) and son of Lilith Iyapo, the protagonist from the Dawn, the first book in the series. This story takes place thirty years after the events in Dawn.

Akin has five parents representing three genders and two species (yikes… that would make for a really complicated family tree…). Because Akin is a human-Oankali “construct,” he feels torn between belonging to neither group, and yet to both. He is highly intelligent – even learning to speak while still a baby. He is born in one of Earth’s “trade villages”, which is a community of humans and Oankali living together and interbreeding – building mixed families where everyone has generally accepted the situation in order to continue procreating and passing along genetic material, even if the result isn’t fully human.

However, the situation on earth is still not ideal. In addition to the “trade villages”, there are communities of resisters – people who have refused to join with the Oankali, but are allowed to live in their own communities. The Oankali have sterilized them, so in their frustration and anguish they resort to abducting construct children who look as close to “normal” as possible (ideally without the Oankali sensory tentacles). Through his childhood, Akin spends a great deal of time with the resisters (initially forced, and then of his own volition) - he looks very human, and many of then accept him. Balanced between the human and Oankali worlds, Akin is in a unique position to advocate for the resisters to have their fertility restored and to be sent to a terra-formed Mars to form their own civilization. The Oankali have reserved part of their population to continue independently (Akjai Oankali) without engaging in genetic trade with the humans, thus, why shouldn’t humans be given the same right?

As with Dawn, I felt like Butler portrayed both species with some ambivalence. Humans and Oankali both love, and yet equally use Akin for their own purposes – ignoring the traumatic effects these actions have on him and his childhood. Although Butler provides some balance, I still feel like she’s generally more pessimistic about the future of humanity without the Oankali presence to balance them. This is most notable in the human’s “inherent biological contradiction” of having both genetically developed intelligence and the need for cultural hierarchy. The contradiction rears its ugly head in the struggles the resister communities have with being attacked by violent raiders and the general reemergence of weapons (the fact that there is a need for them in the first place is telling). In the 30-50 years since coming back to earth, people are already stealing, raping, and killing each other. Although the Oankali are convinced that humans are ultimately self-destructive and will lead to their own demise (again), they listen to Akin and decide to give humans a second chance.

When Akin is finally put in charge of starting the terra-forming and human colonization of Mars, he undergoes his metamorphosis into adulthood that masks all his physical human characteristics, so the humans’ biggest advocate now appears utterly alien. Yet, as Akin learned to tolerate and eventually admire human difference by living among the humans, so the humans (some of them) accept him in his new form and see that he is trying to help them develop an independent society. Regardless of his form, he believes in them - he thinks that humanity can breed out the violent tendencies (the biological contradiction).

Even though the Oankali believe they can predict the future of humanity based on the genetic/biological contradiction, it is Akin’s experience living in a culturally human setting that convinces him humans can change, and ultimately makes him an advocate for their rights. When Akin is removed from settings dominated by Oankali culture and thought (the human resister settlement) he quickly sees that, while human danger is real, so is Oankali manipulation and domination.

Although much of the focus of the story seems to be on biological differences (and how we define the “other” through appearance), I believe the story is actually focused on the characters’ capacity to learn and change with – and often in resistance to – their biology. They compromise. Some of the resisters learn to accept difference and an unlikely alliance with Akin; the constructs come to a better understanding of their dual nature as both human and Oankali; and the Oankali admit they may have been wrong to deny humans their own future – although they still fervently believe it will not end well. Akin acts as a mediator between cultures that he has learned are both hopelessly flawed and yet worthy of survival.

In short, Adulthood Rites grabbed me and kept me engaged in ways that Dawn didn’t. Not to say that I wasn’t engaged while reading Dawn (I also loved Dawn!); rather, I felt a greater sense of urgency to continue turning page after page of Adulthood Rites until I was finished. I’ve already gotten myself a copy of Imago, the final book in the trilogy. If the first two are any indication, I’m certain I won’t be disappointed. Butler’s capacity for dealing with complex social issues in ways that are subtle and non-preachy is impressive. Her world-building and character development is phenomenal and she writes in a completely believable and authentic style. She’s teaching us things about ourselves – as a species and culture – that we should not ignore. Is humanity destined for self-destruction?

Although I'd never read else like it, "Dawn" (the first book in the series known alternately as Xenogenesis or Lilith's Brood) reminded me at times of "Lord of the Flies" or "Day of the Triffids." But, at heart, it's a horror novel--an alien abduction story where (depending on your point of view) the "hero" Lilith becomes a collaborator or suffers from Stockholm syndrome or helps save the human race. The second installment, "Adulthood Rites," mostly forgoes the horror aspect and reads almost like an adventure novel, combining the survivalist thrills of Jack London with the colonial darkness of Joseph Conrad.

It's thirty years later, and we are introduced to Akin, Lilith's half-human son, who wanders into the jungle, where he is brutally captured and held hostage by human resisters. And here the situation is reversed: where the first novel shows how Lilith is at first mortified by her Oankali subjugators and then accommodates and even learns to even love them, so too does Akin initially find the fully-human population--savages, really--both repellent and primordial. As in all her novels, Butler's genius lies in her ability to subvert entirely our ideas of what's "alien" and what's "normal."

Butler still portrays members of both species--and their hybrid offspring--with deliberate ambivalence. The Oankali are condescending and often impenetrable; the humans are afraid or suspicious of anything "different," and they parade irrelevant ideals ("Some of us choose to die free!") even though the very type of freedom they tout may result in the end of the human species on Earth. As their new benevolent overlords never tire of pointing out, humans have two opposing genetic traits, intelligence and hierarchy, that caused them to destroy themselves once before and will, the Oankali believe, merely lead to the same result. Mindful of this biological flaw, the extraterrestrials have sterilized the human population, yet what the natives want more than anything is the ability to have children. Slowly, as the captive Akin learns more about the resisters, he realizes that the genetic destiny may not be as simple as the "superior" race had been led to believe.

Although Akin's story is satisfactorily wrapped up by the end of this second novel, the dichotomies between "alien" and "normal," between biology and volition, between existence and freedom, and between individualism and collectivism are left unresolved. There's more to come in the final installment.

...and that's saying something. This was my introduction to Octavia Butler and what an introduction. This edition was the collection of three novella's previously released by Butler (Dawn, Adulthood Rites and Imago) and I believe this chronological collection is exactly how those books should be read--as one continuing novel. The collection tells the story of the salvation of mankind after it nearly destroys itself in a nuclear war. But that salvation comes at a price that may mean the extinction of the human race as we know it to make way for something new. I think Dawn, the first section, is the strongest of the three but that's like saying which of these three masterpieces is more beautiful? I pick this book up again and again over the years and never grow tired of it. It has been re-released under the title "Lilith's Brood" but the cover art for Xenogenesis is by far the more telling. This book is how science fiction should be done. In this Butler schools them all.

Now I know why the three volume Xenogenesis series was collected in a single volume titled Lilith's Brood. Adulthood Rites is the second entry of three in Xenogenesis and the focus has shifted from Lilith Iyapo to her part human / part Oankali son, Akin. In Dawn we were introduced to an Earth that had all but been destroyed by humanity before the remnants of humanity were rescued by the alien race Oankali. The Oankali survive and adapt by finding new species and civilizations to "Trade" with. In the rescue of humanity, the Oankali will Trade with humans and help humanity repopulate the newly restored Earth. But at a cost. Humanity will no longer be what it once was because a Trade involves both parties giving up something and receiving something in return. Humanity will get another step on the evolutionary scale but will be far more and less than what they once were. Lilith Iyapo was chosen by the Oankali to seed the first colony and awake the remnant from their slumber and teach them to accept the Oankali. In many ways she failed with that first group she was given, but by the end of Dawn Lilith was to found her first community while those who would not accept what had occurred were isolated and left sterile. Breeding could only happen with the permission of the Oankali. At the very end Dawn we learn that Lilith was pregnant.

When Adulthood Rites opens, the story is focused on Akin, one of Lilith's hybrid children and her first son. Because he is part Oankali, Akin is aware in the womb and if he were fully human one would consider him unnaturally precocious. As it stands he is not fully human, though as an infant he looks human enough (except for his tongue). The focus of Adulthood Rites remains squarely on Akin with brief flashes of events surrounding Lilith, but only to a point. I would suggest that 95% of the story follows Akin as he grows and as he is kidnapped by raiders who seek to have children the only way they can, which is by theft. This theft, or kidnapping, of Akin is the event that drives how the rest of the story will play as it shapes Akin into something different than he might otherwise have been had he been left to bond with his siblings.

A major theme of Butler's work here seems to be of the nature of identity. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be different? What does it mean to have an identity in a particular culture and embrace that of another? Or be embraced by another? Butler's fiction, in particular the Xenogenesis trilogy, addresses these issues in such a way that it fits a science fiction story with aliens and tentacles, but it is really a story that addresses what can go on in our society as well. There is a depth here once one looks beyond the surface of an interesting story. Make no mistake, Adulthood Rites is an interesting story.

With all of that said about what the novel is about and what it is talking about, I do need to confess that like Dawn, I found Adulthood Rites to be less engaging and gripping than some of Butler's other fiction. In particular Kindred and the two Parable novels seem to me to be stronger works of fiction than Xenogenesis. What does that mean for the casual reader? Not much. Adulthood Rites would only be considered a "lesser" work of fiction when it is being compared to Butler's own work. Otherwise, I would suggest that Adulthood Rites (and Dawn before it) is a creative look at science fiction and how actually meeting an alien race could and would change humanity irrevocably. To be blunt, Butler tells a damn good story and keeps taking that damn good story in directions that were not necessarily apparent when the story began. She keeps it interesting and she keeps it authentic (as authentic as aliens changing the genetics of humans could be, but it feels real, and that's important).

Bottom Line: Octavia Butler need to be read by more people. She was a top shelf talent with a powerful creative voice and Adulthood Rites is a good novel that suffers only, only in comparison to her own work. In comparison to others, she stands tall.

-Joe Sherry

The second installation in the Xenogenesis series introduces Akin, Lilith's son and a human-born male construct (Oankali-Human mix). In this book Butler takes readers back to the new Earth and shows the changes made, and provides a glimpse into how the Oankali-Human union fares. There are now three groups on Earth: Oankali (consisting of the aliens and their human mates), Constructs (the Oankali-Human children), and Resisters (sterile humans that have refused the Oankali gene trade). Butler takes the time to reveal more information about the Human-Oankali bond and the readers are shown what happens to humans that refuse the trade. Gabe and Tate reappear in this novel and we get a peek into the lives of resister humans.

Through the eyes of Akin, Butler shares the emotional upheaval experienced by the resisters as a result of their circumstances. Being a sympathetic construct (the reasons for Akin's sympathetic viewpoint cannot be revealed without spoilers), Akin tries to give humans another option besides sterility and Oankali mates even though they are continuing to self-destruct.

Butler still gives a lot of attention to sexuality in this novel and many unanswered questions about Lilith are finally answered. This is an excellent sequel, but the few issues I had were:

1. Many of the resisters were too simple-minded. Humans are complex creatures, but many characters, such as Neci and her crew, Akin's abductors, etc., were so simple that they often ignored the obvious. This is particularly evident in Neci's dealins with the two Oankali girls.
2. Typos and editing issues.
3. I felt that this book left a lot of questions about Akin unanswered. Did he find mates? Who went with him to help with the solution he found for mankind? How does it work out? What happened when everyone returned to Lo?
4. The Oankali are thorough but not infallible, it seems like they could/should have missed sterilizing a couple of humans somewhere.

These and many other questions were not answered, but overall it is a good book. Akin is a wonderful character and I hope to learn more about him within this series.

Akin (Ah-keen) is a human-born construct...a mixture of both Human and Oankali genetic material. He, and others like him, are the first steps toward what the Oankali have promised, toward what the Oankali have exacted after they saved the remains of Humanity from the utter obliteration of nuclear holocaust: the melding of both sentient species.

Akin has a long road ahead of him. He must not only come to grips with who he is, he must also, somehow, determine how to coexist with the multiple factions of both Humanity as well as Oankali.

Adulthood Rites is another well written tale by Butler. However, where the previous novel, Dawn, gripped you and did not let go, this novel merely loosely hangs on. I kept wanting more about Lilith (who was the primary character in Dawn) and her connection to Akin, who is, after all, her son and the future of what both Humanity and Oankali will be. However, the tale does provide a well-drawn narrative of Akin's exploits, and how he relates and interrelates with not only his Human brethren, but his Oankali people as well.

Overall, while Adulthood Rites does not quite stand up to its predecessor in sheer magnitude of story, it is ultimately a well-written novel and I look forward to closing out the Human/Oankali saga sometime soon.

As with the first book in this series, Butler creates a world that is both alien and familiar. Akin, the hero of the story, has a human mother and an Oankali father which makes him able to sympathize with both cultures. Unfortunately, he is too human to live among the aliens, but too alien to feel comfortable with the humans.

This book is compelling, but difficult to understand if you have not read the first book in the series. The names alone are a challenge. However, it is worth the effort. Butler has many terrific insights into human nature. She also creates a lot of sympathy for the human/alien hybrid, Akin.

If you have never read a Butler book before, I would recommend beginning with the first book in the series; however, even if you are not a huge fan of science fiction, you might enjoy this book since it is more about culture than about technology.

This science fiction work follows up on Ms. Butler's earlier work, Dawn. The book stands alone fairly well, but the story will seem tremendously better placed into context if the reader has read the earlier book, Dawn. Ms. Butler creates yet another of her dystopian earths, but its final crisis is ameliorated by the intervention of an alien species, the oankali. The book tells a crackling good story, but also addresses a key theme--what does it mean to be human? I recommend this book, as it has the old-fashioned virtues of a golden age work, but is told in the fine, well-written style that characterizes Octavia Butler's work. Reading a Butler, one gets the impression that one is watching a grandmaster writing in her prime--and yet, the nice thing about reading her is the sense that the best is yet to come. If you have not read Butler, but you are afraid that sci fi has lost its zing, then read Dawn and this one.

The series has so far kept me engaged and interested. The series as been strange and unlike anything else I have ever read. Sure there have been many books and movies about interactions between humans and aliens, but not like this and not with what is described as such grotesque beings. I think the series could end any number of ways and I am excited to finish it. I think it is definitely a good read and would recommend it, especially if you have kindle unlimited.

I do take one star off though because sometimes I wonder if it is a scifi book or some strange romance novel.

Very intriguing series of novels by an extraordinary writer. Not for the type of reader that wants a quick and easy sort of story.
She tackles thought provoking issues like what does it mean to be human.Are we human if we modify ourselves? Are we still human if modified by aliens ? What if we're better off? Is that really so bad? What if it's the only way to survive after we've completely destroyed our planet?

All three novels within this book are grate, but, it took me almost three months to finish this book because of the "Biological Machines". The artist that did the cover art should have read the book before making a Black woman look blond & pale skinned.

Butler continues the story she began with Dawn, and this time it's even better. The earth is being repopulated with modified humans while infertile resisters (humans who refused to give up their human genetics) try desperately to deal with their lack of children. The main character is a construct (a new type of human) who learns to understand both the resisters and his own kind. As in dawn Butler seems to be overly pesimistic about human nature, but her human character now have more depth and are easier to relate to.

Next after Dawn in the Xenogenesis series, we switch to a different character's perspective and find out what this "invasion" looks like through different eyes. It's amazing how Ms. Butler manages to make alien people so understandable. She gets that perfect mix between creepy and human that we can all understand.

In a world devastated by nuclear war with humanity on the edge of extinction, aliens finally make contact. They rescue those humans they can, keeping most survivors in suspended animation while the aliens begin the slow process of rehabilitating the planet. When Lilith Iyapo is "awakened, " she finds that she has been chosen to revive her fellow humans in small groups by first preparing them to meet the utterly terrifying aliens, then training them to survive on the wilderness that the planet has become. But the aliens cannot help humanity without altering it forever. Bonded to the aliens in ways no human has ever known, Lilith tries to fight them even as her own species comes to fear and loathe her. A stunning story of invasion and alien contact by one of science fiction's finest writers. Ingram Known for her African-American feminist perspective, the author presents the first installment of a trilogy exploring the death of the earth as we know it and the advent of interbreeding between humans and extraterrestrials. ----In this sequel to Dawn, Lilith Iyapo has given birth to what looks like a normal human boy named Akin. But Akin actually has five parents: a male and female human, a male and female Oankali, and a sexless Ooloi. The Oankali and Ooloi are part of an alien race that rescued humanity from a devastating nuclear war, but the price they exact is a high one--the aliens are compelled to genetically merge their species with other races, drastically altering both in the process. On a rehabilitated Earth, this "new" race is emerging through human/Oankali/Ooloi mating, but there are also "pure" humans who choose to resist the aliens and the salvation they offer.

Before I selected an omnibus called Xenogenesis from the Sci Fi Book club (containing: Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago), I had never heard of Octavia Butler.
Am I glad I selected this accidentally when I joined the club (Mainly because it said it had three books in it). While most of the free books I received were average to no good, The Xenogenesis Series was exceptionally great!

Better than Dawn (Xenogenesis), the first of the series, and slightly better than the finale, Imago (Book Three of the Xenogenesis Series). All 3 are OUTSTANDING. Save money by buying Lilith's Brood, which contains all 3. See "Lilith's Brood" for more about each book.

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In her Xenogensis series, Butler is exploring how human beings will respond to changes brought by aliens as the humans struggle to survive. This particular book, continues the human race's struggle to adapt and change while maintaining some basic humanity. The characters are numerous and sometimes and the situations are complex but perhaps this complexity is what Butler wants us to feel?

Butler uses her skills as a Science fiction writer to make all of us think about what defines our humanity. It's a test that has no correct answers except to survive. Only a leap of faith and fear aids Butlers characters through their Adulthood Rites.

This book makes you smarter. The characters are wonderfully written. Octavia Butler's imagination is unparalleled. Simply a brilliant novel. I have read this book at least four times and find something new and noteworthy with each reading.

This book was thought-provoking and fascinating. I could barely put it down, even at risk of my wife's anger. Ms. Butler paints a beautiful and yet unsettling picture of possible contact with very different aliens. Akin, in this second book, is easy to identify with despite being only half human. This was a wonderful read.

Hybrid helper?

Part of the problem with these books I think is the what would seem to be extremely unlikely acceptance so quickly of what the aliens are up to. Overwhelming technological advantage, sure, but given general human atittudes the suspension of disbelief required for this book was basically shattered pretty early.

After that, it is really dull. There is some resistance to the complete changing of the race, and the main character has a kid that may actually help reconcile the rebels.