Octavia Butler
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Octavia Butler or Octavia E. Butler (born June 22, 1947) is an American science fiction writer, and one of the handful of African-American women in the field. She is a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation "genius grant".
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Bibliography
Patternist Series
- Patternmaster (1976) - Far in the future, regular humans are dominated by a society of networked telepathic humans who, in turn, are ruled by the most powerful telepath: the Patternmaster. Also hostile to the remaining regular humans are Clayarks, mutant humans created long ago by disease unwittingly brought back to Earth from outer space by astronauts. The story evolves around the aging of the current Patternmaster, spawning a battle among telepaths to see who will become the next Patternmaster.
- Mind of My Mind (1977) - Sequel to Wild Seed. An immortal's breeding program has created a society of networked telepaths that he struggles to control.
- Survivor (1978) - With Earth being ravaged by the disease that was brougth back from outer space, and telepaths now asserting control over what remains of humanity, regular humans are caught in the middle, and one group of them has decided to escape it all to a new planet, where they now, as aliens, must struggle to co-exist with the race that already lives there. (Octavia Butler, herself, has come to dislike this novel.)
- Wild Seed (1980) - Two immortals, one who changes bodies and another who has perfect control of her own, struggle to live together over generations, as one concentrates on creating a new race through his own breeding program. - James Tiptree, Jr. Award winner
- Clay's Ark (1984) - A colony of people mutated by a disease that astronauts have unwittingly brought back to Earth from outer space struggle to keep themselves isolated enough that the disease does not spread throughout all humanity.
Xenogenesis/Lilith's Brood series
- Dawn (1987) - After the near-extinction of humanity, a woman is resurrected by the alien Oankali as part of a plan to colonize the earth with alien-human hybrids.
- Adulthood Rites (1988) - An alien-human hybrid child is abducted by sterile human resisters.
- Imago (1989) - An androgynous being comes of age and integrates human and alien societies.
The three volumes of this series are also collected into two omnibus editions, Xenogenesis (out of print) and Lilith's Brood.
Parable series
- Parable of the Sower (1993) - a girl develops a benign philosophical and religious system during her childhood in a walled suburb in a dystopian anarchic future Los Angeles. When the suburb's security is compromised, her home is destroyed, and her family murdered, she travels north with some survivors to try to start a community where her religion can grow.
- Parable of the Talents (1998) - as the U.S. continues to fall apart, the protagonist's community is attacked and taken over by a bloc of religious fanatics who inflict brutal atrocities like rape and murder. The novel is essentially a harsh indictment of fundamentalism and in that respect is similar to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
Other
- Kindred (1979) - often shelved in Literature or African-American Literature, rather than with science fiction. Story of a modern African-American woman who keeps falling back through time to rescue her white, slave-owning ancestor.
- Bloodchild and Other Stories (1995) - title story, "Bloodchild" (1984), won Hugo and Nebula Awards.
External Links
- "The Book of Martha" (http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/originals/originals_archive/butler2/) at Scifi.com (http://www.Scifi.com)
- "Amnesty" (http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/originals/originals_archive/butler/) at Scifi.com (http://www.Scifi.com)de:Octavia Butler