2023 #23: Wild Seed (Butler) - The Patternist Series, Book I

 

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was difficult not to give this five stars because as with so much of Butler's oeuvre, there are parts of it that are simply extraordinary. Butler's capacity to create worlds within worlds that seem simultaneously urgently relevant but also extraterrestrial is spellbinding. The protagonist, Anyanwu, is an immortal who can alter herself at the cellular level to heal herself, change identities, and in some cases, species. Much like Lauren Olamina in Parable of the Sower, Anyanwu is a multi-faceted, sometimes ambiguous, incredibly strong protagonist. Her antagonist, Doro, is a megalomaniacal spirit who has lived for thousands of years, who prolongs his life through cruel and terrible means. Fixated on forming his own society, his humanity is so deeply buried as to be thought lost.

Themes of community and kinship made this an important contribution of Afrofuturism when it was published, and it remains so today. It takes a multi-pronged approach to engaging with colonialism and in turn, postcolonialism. While much of this is transparent, Butler does not every lose sight of the storytelling and her characterization. This is where it is necessary to give Robin Miles, the reader of the audiobook, absolute accolades. Nuances in accents and intonation abound and each character, major or minor, shines through her portrayals.

Where I struggled with the book was near the ending. I found some of the plot directions difficult to reconcile, and while I generally like that Butler does not feel it necessary to explain all contexts for all events, there are several significant events that happen toward the end of the novel that were uncomfortably dissonant with the characterization. While Butler is making a case, perhaps, for transformation, the changes seemed rush and disproportionate to the major narratives that take up the book.

Aside from that, however, it is a book that, while it shares similarities with works here and there, manages to blend social commentary, speculative fiction, and fantasy in a seamless and organic way.



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