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Lilith's Brood: The Complete Xenogenesis Trilogy (The Xenogenesis Trilogy) by [Octavia E. Butler]

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Octavia E. Butler

Lilith's Brood: The Complete Xenogenesis Trilogy (The Xenogenesis Trilogy) Kindle Edition

by Octavia E. Butler (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The complete series about an alien species that could save humanity after nuclear apocalypse—or destroy it—from “one of science fiction’s finest writers” (The New York Times).

The newest stage in human evolution begins in outer space. Survivors of a cataclysmic nuclear war awake to find themselves being studied by the Oankali, tentacle-covered galactic travelers whose benevolent appearance hides their surprising plan for the future of mankind. The Oankali arrive not just to save humanity, but to bond with it—crossbreeding to form a hybrid species that can survive in the place of its human forebears, who were so intent on self-destruction. Some people resist, forming pocket communities of purebred rebellion, but many realize they have no choice. The human species inevitably expands into something stranger, stronger, and undeniably alien. From Hugo and Nebula award–winning author Octavia Butler, Lilith’s Brood is both a thrilling, epic adventure of man’s struggle to survive after Earth’s destruction, and a provocative meditation on what it means to be human.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Octavia E. Butler including rare images from the author’s estate.

Print length

754 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Publication date

July 24, 2012
File size

6610 KB
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From the Publisher

From the Illustrated Biography


Octavia E. Butler at age thirteen Butler began writing the year before when a science fiction film—the cult favorite Devil Girl from Mars—inspired her to create something of her own.	Parable of the Sower book tour Butler on a book tour for Parable of the Sower in New York City in 1993.	Octavia E. Butler's legacy When Butler passed away in 2006, the New York Times eulogized her as a world-renowned author whose science fiction explored 'far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human.'

Review

“Butler’s spare, vivid prose style invites comparison with the likes of Kate Wilhelm and Ursula Le Guin.” —Kirkus Reviews

“One of those rare authors who pay serious attention to the way human beings actually work together and against each other, and she does so with extraordinary plausibility.” —Locus

“Butler sets the imagination free, blending the real and the possible.” —United Press International

About the Author

Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) was a bestselling and award-winning author, considered one of the best science fiction writers of her generation. She received both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and in 1995 became the first author of science fiction to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. She was also awarded the prestigious PEN Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. Her first novel, Patternmaster (1976), was praised both for its imaginative vision and for Butler’s powerful prose, and spawned four prequels, beginning with Mind of My Mind (1977) and finishing with Clay’s Ark (1984).

Although the Patternist series established Butler among the science fiction elite, it was Kindred (1979), a story of a black woman who travels back in time to the antebellum South, that brought her mainstream success. In 1985, Butler won Nebula and Hugo awards for the novella “Bloodchild,” and in 1987 she published Dawn, the first novel of the Xenogenesis trilogy, about a race of aliens who visit earth to save humanity from itself. Fledgling (2005) was Butler’s final novel. She died at her home in 2006.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008HALOMI
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy (July 24, 2012)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 24, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 6610 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 754 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #27,785 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #285 in Genetic Engineering Science Fiction (Books)
- #337 in Genetic Engineering Science Fiction eBooks
- #442 in Dystopian Science Fiction (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
1,711 ratings

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Octavia E. Butler

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OCTAVIA E. BUTLER (1947–2006) was the renowned author of numerous ground-breaking novels, including Kindred, Wild Seed, and Parable of the Sower. Recipient of the Locus, Hugo and Nebula awards, and a PEN Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work, in 1995 she became the first science- fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Fellowship ‘Genius Grant’. A pioneer of her genre, Octavia’s dystopian novels explore myriad themes of Black injustice, women’s rights, global warming and political disparity, and her work is taught in over two hundred colleges and universities nationwide.

Customer reviews

5 star		77%
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3 star		4%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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tqwert1

I found the worldview of this series despicable and the whole thing just gross really

Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2019

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Judging from these books, Octavia Butler hates all of humanity and men in particular. I don't know how else to explain a series of books that clearly views as the good guys a race of aliens who imprison the remnants of mankind, sterilize them, rape them repeatedly and systematically, and perform horrifying genetic mutations and experiments on them aimed at creating a race of monstrous hybrid children. The few humans who try to resist this are depicted as ridiculous evil caricatures, mostly a bunch of men who just seem to engage in killing and violence for no reason against each other, and the 'hero' is a willing, happy collaborator with the alien overlords in the genocide because she accepts their view that humanity is irredemable and must be destroyed. The whole worldview is just awful. It's like torture porn for misanthropes. And the story and writing isn't particularly good either. There are long, repetitive sections in all three books where basically nothing happens aside from characters wandering around aimlessly and/or pointlessly. The first book in particular could easily have been condensed to a tenth of its size without missing anything important just by cutting out Lilith wandering around the ship and asking over and over again the alien overlords what's going on, and the alien overlords refusing to answer. The second similarly has way, way too much Akin on the run in the woods. The third's mate hunt just goes on and on and on.

75 people found this helpful

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Koren55

Wow

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2017

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That's all I can say for the title of my review. Other words I'll say here:
Amazing
Thought provoking
Unique
Wonderful
Imaginative

I was amazed at these novels. This trilogy that Ms. Butler has created. It's post-apocalyptic with a different twist. An Alien species saves the survivors of a modern apocalyptic war that destroys most of Earth. These aliens repair Earth and they take the survivors, those willing to become part of their species. Humanity will get to the Stars once the Aliens trade DNA with them. The first novel tells the tale on one survivor and her indoctrination into the Aliens society. The second book tells the story of her son, a human-alien construct. The third book tells the story of the first human-construct of the Alien's third sex. Yes, they have male, female, and a third type, one that can manipulate DNA at the molecular level.

These books make you think about what it is to be human. That was one of Octavia Butler's strengths, this type of story. Buy it, I guarantee that you will enjoy it, be fascinated with this trilogy. Well worth the money.

Oh, what would I do? Join with them of course.

91 people found this helpful

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D. Clark

disappointing

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2019

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I'd known about Octavia Butler for a very long time before I read this series. And suddenly it was on sale and I figured it was a safe bet since they're classics. Wasn't I surprised to find that I did not enjoy any of these books even a little bit. Ms Butler has successfully crafted a 3 part tale of 2 species who are totally unlikable. Humans come off as violent rapists, and the alien species comes off as gentle rapists. And I mean both of those literally. Mankind, left to their own devices, destroy the planet and then, given a second chance, proceed to literally beat, kill and rape each other. The other species makes humans addicts with chemicals they exude and uses them for sex. Maybe this is all a metaphor that is going way over my head, but my thinking is that BOTH species should die.

52 people found this helpful

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DaveF

Thought-provoking.

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2017

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This is a trilogy by Octavia Butler collectively named "Lilith's Brood". (The books are "Dawn", "Adulthood Rites", and Imago"). The books are widely praised and won numerous honors. I can see why, they tackle some interesting and provocative subjects (See book jacket synopses). They are well written and popular. I have been wanting to read Octavia Butler, so when a deal on the trilogy came along for Kindle, I grabbed it. I'm glad I did.
For various reasons (slow pacing, too much introspection, and a bit repetitive), the books are just not quite my cup of tea. They will, however, appeal to lots of readers, not just sci-fi fans. The writing is thoughtful and philosophical. But don't look for action or a lively pace in them.

47 people found this helpful

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Margie P

A book I will never forget

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2016

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I bought this in June of 2016, devoured it, immediately re-read it, and have read it a couple more times since then. When I read it, I have the experience of living in its universe. Each time I get something new out of it, or make another connection between this book and our world. Parts of this story mirror the slave experience, and part of it mirrors the experience of Native Americans. It always feels profound, because Octavia Butler never draws these connections herself; she leaves it to the reader to find meaning. Her writing is clean and precise, and she never, ever lectures.

As many other reviewers have said, this book asks some difficult questions and leaves it to the reader to provide the answers. How is consent affected by a being who really CAN read a human's physical signals like they're reading a book? Why is appearance so important to humans that we will react with terror to something that is "other," or be willing to mutilate healthy children to make appearance more conventional? At what point do we cease being human at all?

The science fiction (at the time the book was written) largely involves genetic manipulation. When the first baby with three biological parents was born this year, my first thought was "Wow! Just like the Oankali (without the awesome ooloi sex). Octavia Butler, as always, seems so prescient.

This book gets my highest recommendation.

61 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

R. Whitehead

Great first book, then it petered out

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2019

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I bought this after thoroughly enjoying the collection of short stories that includes Bloodchild..
The first book in this Lillith's Brood trilogy was extremely good, with the one caveat that it didn't have much of an ending, obviously intended to carry on to the sequel. That she managed to write with such foresight about genetic engineering, at a time when that technology was in its infancy, is amazing. As with the short story Bloodchild, there is a unique dichotomy - mankind is enslaved, oppressed, but also cherished.
Unfortunately, the second and third books didn't really have any new ideas, and by the third book she was repeating similar situations, and there was some sloppy editing. All of this was very disappointing, after the true brilliance of Bloodchild.

S. D. S.

Still wonderful, after all this time

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2011

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I have not read these since I was a teenager, back when they were released ("Lilith's Brood, formerly-known as the Xenogenesis trilogy, refers to a collection of three novels"). I cannot say how wonderful these were to me then, and I am surprised that now that I have re-read them in middle age (all 3 novels in 4 days! yes, they are still un-put-downable) how much these stories had become a part of me, a part of my imagination and how I parsed the world and fiction.

There are a few things that I noticed now as an adult that I had not noticed when young (no longer being a "subadult" myself, I get things more as a fully fledged grown up would, things that didn't overly interest me when young -- which is good. The novels are deep and textured). And there are a couple of historical tidbits in the first novel that momentarily make you realise what century this was written in (i.e., a Russia vs USA, cold war reference) but they are not integral to the storylines and they slip by very quickly. These novels are as easily read now, as a reflection on the human condition, as they were back then. They have not aged in that way and don't read like 'historical and good for you literature' but like great contemporary, engaging literature that you can't put down until you finish and when you finish you want more.

I am so happy I read them when I was young. I am thrilled that I read them again now. And I cannot wait until my own children are old enough to read them.

10 people found this helpful

LittleBird

A must-read for fans of biopunk

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2011

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I stumbled upon this book while looking for new biopunk novels to read after finishing "The Windup Girl" (another great read) and was intrigued by the consistent 5-star rating. The synopsis gives the idea of the story, but there is so much more to it than "all of humanity must share the world with uncanny, unimaginable alien creatures after war destroys Earth" - at the same time, to say more would do a disservice to the complexity of the characters and their development. Each novel in the trilogy is told from the point of view of a different character, but this is done smoothly and with connections to the other characters the reader is already familiar with. Many issues are covered ranging from genetics to human nature to the importance and definition of family. I couldn't put this book down and wish there was more of it to read!

3 people found this helpful

Karmela Jones

A good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2020

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One of my favourite books! Octavia Butler was a truly great mind and all her works are engaging and engrossing. Lilith's Brood takes us through a deeply human experience in the framework of an alien world, helping to question and define what is really human at all.

One person found this helpful

L A

Science fiction at its best

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 2, 2014

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This was recommended to me by someone I met on holiday and I am so grateful.
I loved this book (or books) for its exploration of the human mind and the effects of controlled breeding on evolution. The concept was brilliant and the book very well written with convincing characters and as a result totally gripping. I could not put it down and want to read everything she has written.
I put it up there with Enders Game as the best scifi I have read.

One person found this helpful