220 pages
English language
Published 1997
Child of two species, but part of neither, a new being must find his way. Human and Oankali have been mating since the aliens first came to Earth to rescue the few survivors of an annihilating nuclear war. The Oankali began a massive breeding project, guided by the ooloi, a sexless subspecies capable of manipulating DNA, in the hope of eventually creating a perfect starfaring race. Jodahs is supposed to be just another hybrid of human and Oankali, but as he begins his transformation to adulthood he finds himself becoming ooloi--the first ever born to a human mother. As his body changes, Jodahs develops the ability to shapeshift, manipulate matter, and cure or create disease at will. If this frightened young man is able to master his new identity, Jodahs could prove the savior of what's left of mankind. Or, if he is not careful, he could become a plague …
Child of two species, but part of neither, a new being must find his way. Human and Oankali have been mating since the aliens first came to Earth to rescue the few survivors of an annihilating nuclear war. The Oankali began a massive breeding project, guided by the ooloi, a sexless subspecies capable of manipulating DNA, in the hope of eventually creating a perfect starfaring race. Jodahs is supposed to be just another hybrid of human and Oankali, but as he begins his transformation to adulthood he finds himself becoming ooloi--the first ever born to a human mother. As his body changes, Jodahs develops the ability to shapeshift, manipulate matter, and cure or create disease at will. If this frightened young man is able to master his new identity, Jodahs could prove the savior of what's left of mankind. Or, if he is not careful, he could become a plague that will destroy this new race once and for all.
Tak trosku "povinny" dokonceni trilogie. Zacatek drhl a moc me neba, pak uz to slo slusne. Samostatne asi nejslabsi kousek. Skoncilo to vsechno stastne az slza ukapla. V kazdym pripade horkej podtext zustava a k zamysleni je tam vic veci nejen ohledne lidstvi jako takovyho.
it is really interesting how I ended up being sympathetic with jodahs, my perspective towards the ooloi has changed a lot over the course of the story. some very interesting thoughts on biopolitics and human nature (the "human conflict" especially) and an entertaining read. as it has already been pointed out by other readers the gender essentialism is hard to endure sometimes. i think ooloi is a pretty cool gender though ^^
like, it's meant to be a trilogy, but the three stories just seem to live by itself, without really needing each other much, and that's why the conclusion doesn't really bring closure in my opinion?
still, it's definitely worth reading it.
of course, if amongst your hobbies there is "destroy gender", this book will kind of hurt you not a little bit, but, for example, i was happy to inflict myself that pain just to read butler.
so, you know, check where you stand and decide.
This was an interesting conclusion to the series. It did seem, in the end, like there was room for additional follow-on. Sadly, Octavia Butler is no longer with us and able to continue the tale.
The series is a magnificent discussion of human self-image; mankind's willingness to understand change, take risk and behave charitably.
I've reviewed the two other books in this series - Dawn and Adulthood Rites. Those books made me really, really hate humans.To sum up - humanity has been rescued and the Earth restored by an alien race after an environmental disaster in exchange for humans agreeing to cross breed with them. Humans act like fools from then on out.This book looks at the situation from the point of view of a cross bred child who is turning out to be the third gender seen in the alien race. He is the first to develop in this way. This gender is able to bond family units consisting of a human female, a human male, an alien female, and an alien male with itself. It mixes genetic material from all the partners to make offspring.Honestly, I enjoyed this book the most of the series but without the outrage at the humans …
I've reviewed the two other books in this series - Dawn and Adulthood Rites. Those books made me really, really hate humans.To sum up - humanity has been rescued and the Earth restored by an alien race after an environmental disaster in exchange for humans agreeing to cross breed with them. Humans act like fools from then on out.This book looks at the situation from the point of view of a cross bred child who is turning out to be the third gender seen in the alien race. He is the first to develop in this way. This gender is able to bond family units consisting of a human female, a human male, an alien female, and an alien male with itself. It mixes genetic material from all the partners to make offspring.Honestly, I enjoyed this book the most of the series but without the outrage at the humans that I had in the other books I don't have that much to talk about. It is a good series ender and is an interesting look at nonbinary gender relationships.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
This one was a bit slower and lacked a little bit of the sharpness of the previous two volumes. Still got plenty of food for though.
