Octavia Butler is a good author whose work has the unfortunate tendency to
be constantly out of print (although Questar, that most inconsistent of
publishers, seems to be reprinting much of it). Most of her work involves
two series. The Patternist series has a society where the Patternists
[linked telepaths controlled by the strongest] is fighting for survival
against the Clayarks [humans infected and mutated by an alien organism].
The first 2 novels goes into the origins of the Patternists, the 3rd
examines the origins of the Clayarks. The Xenogenesis series explores the
consequences when an alien race comes upon the wreckage of Earth several
years after a wholesale nuclear war. What they decide to do to the human
survivors, and the consequences of this act (plus the interesting nature of
the aliens themselves) forms the basis of the series. The Patternist
novels can be read more or less independently (as you can see, the internal
chronology has li ttle to do with the order that they were written). The
Xenogenesis novels should be read in order.
/John
arpa:
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Butler, Octavia E[stelle] [U.S.A., 6/22/1947- ]
[Hugo 1984, 1985 & Nebula 1984]
The Patternist Series:
Wild Seed [1980]
Mind of My Mind [1977]
Clay's Ark [1984]
Patternmaster [1976]
Survivor [1978]
Xenogenesis Series:
Dawn [1987]
Adulthood Rites [1988]
Imago [1989]
Kindred [1979]
