Adulthood Rites

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Octavia E. Butler: Adulthood Rites (Paperback, 2021, Grand Central Publishing)

Paperback, 336 pages

Published Aug. 24, 2021 by Grand Central Publishing.

ISBN:
978-1-5387-5372-9
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4 stars (1 review)

3 editions

To boldly explore freaky new modes of reproduction, sex and death

4 stars

In typical Butler style, the second book in this series moves on to the next generation. Lilith, the human collaborator with the alien saviour-colonisers, fades into the background, making way for her half alien son Akin. He's not portrayed as a mythical Christ-figure, his motivations are too deeply biological and personal for that. But he is a potential saviour for the human holdouts who would rather die out than interbreed with the hegemonising Oankali.

There's a perfect balance here. The Oankali have rescued the tiny remnant of humanity which survived the nuclear holocaust, and they treat their new friends with love that goes all the way into the sexual realm and way beyond what we thought was possible with our limited capacity for fleshy pleasures. On the other hand they dictate that humanity can only survive as an interbred hybrid with themselves. Fuck with us and have half-alien babies, or …