This is the worst book that I managed to complete.

Horrible plot, pedophilia.

If Butler wanted to challenge the reader with layers of metafiction, she needed something better on the surface layer. It could be an interesting commentary on race and slavery, power and sexuality, or choice and coercion - and maybe it would have developed into a well-rounded argument with companion novels - but this is the book we have. This is the whole of the story and it's disjointed and clumsy and frequently icky.