Dawn (Xenogenesis, Bk. 1) Paperback – April 1, 1997

Enthralling, dawning horror. That’s probably the best way to describe my evolving response while reading Octavia Butler’s Dawn—an emotional journey that shares much in common with the experience of Lilith, the book’s protagonist.The story begins when she’s awakened from stasis by Oankali, aliens who rescued her and a handful of other survivors after a nuclear holocaust ravaged the Earth. While these “lucky” few slept, the Oankali spent the intervening centuries restoring the planet and readying it for humanity’s return. Lilith is tapped to lead the first wave.But the Oankali aren’t acting solely out of the goodness of their hearts (or whatever organs function as the metaphorical equivalent in their bizarre, many-tentacled bodies). Salvation comes at a price. And the cost is genetic.Much of this is fascinating. For one thing, the worldbuilding is particularly well done. We only get the broad strokes of the conflict between the United States and Russia that precipitated intergalactic intervention. But that’s all we need—Butler devotes most of her exposition to slowly revealing the Oankali’s biology and culture. We learn about their lifecycle, from puberty to adulthood. We see how they form triads rather than couples, with gender-neutral ooloi forming the link between male and female. And we glimpse the differences between their broad peoples—Dinso, Toaht, and Akjai—in a way that hints at even greater distinctions.The Oankali are also technologically advanced but in organic fashion. They grew their ship. They replicate organisms and objects from “prints” of each entity’s molecular makeup. They store their subjects in Venus flytrap-like plants that sustain them in hibernation. And, as Lilith explains to some of the humans she’s charged with leading, the Oankali “manipulate DNA as naturally as we manipulate pencils and paintbrushes.”This is the entry point for one of Dawn’s many unsettling aspects. Lilith notes more than once that she feels like a lab rat caught up in a captive breeding program. “We used to treat animals that way,” she tells one of her Oankali handlers. “We did things to them—inoculations, surgery, isolation—all for their own good. We wanted them healthy and protected—sometimes so we could eat them later.” But the Oankali (the ooloi especially) aren’t interested in that form of consumption. They see “great potential” in humanity’s various mutations. It’s an uncomfortable turning of the tables. And while Butler never really gets into intra-species racial dynamics, it’s hard not to think about historical parallels like the abominable Tuskegee Study.This theme of coercive experimentation carries over to sex. The rapes attempted by other humans in the book are the familiar sort of terrible. (In Dawn, terrestrial tensions and barbarity don’t improve when the constraints of civilization are stripped away.) But the chemical and neurological manipulation the ooloi use to tempt and control their patients corrodes consent in a different, more insidious way.Ultimately, though, Dawn comes down to a classic sci-fi quandary: What does it mean to be human? It can’t simply be a question of genetics—fluidity has always been baked into our DNA, an evolutionary malleability Butler hints at when an ooloi reverts Lilith’s physical strength back to the level of our primate forebears’. The Oankali suggest that what truly defines us is our tendency to be both intelligent and hierarchical. Yet for all their strangeness, the aliens have these traits in common. (Paternalism might be too gendered a term for the form of “we know what’s best for you” condescension they levy at Lilith and her cohort, but the attitude is uncomfortably familiar.) Some of the Oankali are even likable. And while they display feelings like love and grief differently, there’s enough overlap with the human varieties of these emotions to make you wonder where the lines of delineation are—or if they even exist.So did I enjoy reading Dawn? Not entirely. I found it more thought-provoking than thrilling, partly because Lilith doesn’t have much agency. Her rebellious impulses never really mature into a plan; mostly, she fulfills the role the Oankali set for her, resigned to playing a “Judas goat” the majority of her fellow humans will always see as an agent of the enemy. But I won’t soon forget this book. And I intend to continue on in the series.I just might read some lighter fare first.

it was an unsettling mystery that kept me wanting more!

Octavia Butler writes science fiction using “normal” words. She is so good at writing like this that her books read like novels.

This review is for the entire Xenogenesis Trilogy aka Lilith's Brood. I was Introduced to Octavia E. Butler by another sci-fi loving friend of mine. When I read the Trilogy several years ago the novels were published together in one book titled Lilith's Brood. I had no idea it was originally titled something else and I also knew nothing about Butler. I'm so glad that I originally read them in this state of ignorance because it has made it possible for me to review and appreciate the novel(s) for the amazingly imaginative story and the evocative prose used to tell it. I won't summarize the books as others have already done so. I will say that in my opinion Butler has reframed the Genre of extra-terrestrial, space travel and dystopian stories. Xenogenesis is a thought provoking trilogy that will make the reader question her beliefs regarding humanity's origins and its future. I was completely fascinated by the Oankali's ancestral knowledge. Oh to be able to truly understand who we are and where we came from!That brings me to my other reading of Xenogenesis. When I discovered that Butler was an African American woman I began to rethink my understanding of Lilith and her descendants stories. I now see it more as an allegory of the African American experience. Like Africans kidnapped and sold into slavery Lilith is forced into a world that she despises. Her story illustrates two of the oposing methods for slaves to live with being enslaved. Like some slaves Lilith believes there was no hope for escape for her. She finally decides to survive by enduring. I kept picturing Bell Waller - Kunte Kinte's wife in Roots. She also endures. Just as "resistors" of the Oankali invasion despise Lilith for surviving WITH the Oankali Kunte Kinte feels disgust for the American born slaves including Bell. he sees them as weak and degraded just as the rebels see Lilith. Like the resistance some slaves formed rebellions or attempt escape. Some survived by enduring like Lilith. additionally i could not stop thinking of the rape of black women by white masters as I read of Lilith's reluctant joining with her Oankali mates. Like many of those African American slave women she must have been torn apart by her love of her children born off rape and her hatred of their human/Oankai mix. I recall Kunte Kinte fearing that his child would be light skinned and not pure African. Also like the American slave experience The human's culture is obliterated. They are also forced into a mass exodus from their homes to a barely liveable planet. There are too many more examples to list and not enough time. It's an even more thought provoking piece of literature when read with the knowledge of Butler's own heritage. I found that my respect for Lilith grew when I thought of her in this way. She ensured that at least a small piece of humanity would survive just as American enslaved women ensured that one day their culture would survive. It's these women's' ability to endure that makes them honorable and heroic in my eyes.It's a new and unique way to think of the dirty history American slavery and the extraordinary people who survived that awful institution. This should be required reading for all Americans - especially in today's NOT-post-racism-culture

Grabbed me from the first page; I couldn’t put it down and finished it in one sitting.Having said that - and this is not a criticism, more an observation - I found it incredibly frustrating at times since were I in the same situation I would be welcoming the Oankali’s involvement with open arms. I suppose it’s the misanthrope in me coming out; the thought of being genetically modified didn’t fill me with the same feeling of horror or with the stubborn insistence to maintain our genetic autonomy that the human protagonists feel. Frankly, as a species, I think we could use all the help we can get.The fact that I felt this dichotomy with the human characters was what made it doubly entertaining to me, quite apart from the story itself and the fascinating concept of the aliens’ appearance and existence. Onto the next.

In the age of Brexit and Trump, Dawn is an antidote, an anti venom. The story imagines a future in which a few survivors of a nuclear war have been rescued by an alien race. This race have a technology based on the manipulation of living things. They are interested in human genetics, specifically the potential for human bodies to grow cancer. They want to extract the cancerous potential from human calls, and use it in a controlled form to regenerate damaged body parts. There is the potential for a genetic trade between what's left of humanity and the alien race, benefitting both. The extraterrestrials gain an important medical advance while humanity gains control of a deadly disease, and access to the benign, tolerant social structure enjoyed by the aliens.Not surprisingly, some of the humans are hostile to this idea. The book goes on to explore the conflict between the benefits of sharing and fear of the unknown, via a group of humans who are equally able to see alien danger amongst their own kind as they are in creatures from outer space.Dawn is a wonderful book. I was going to call it humane, though I felt humanity was an embarrassment by the end of it. Admittedly I did have some plot quibbles. Humans after all are not the only creatures afflicted by cancer on earth, and if this is what interested the aliens, you do wonder why they didn't choose a far less troublesome and unpleasant species to deal with. They could have chosen dogs for example. This is not, however, is going to stop me from giving this book a five star rating. It's a parable for modern times.

The book itself is brilliant. The kind of book you don't want to put down. For a while the Kindle version of the 3rd book in the series was not available & even paperback versions are over £30. Audible is not a good option for me due to verbal processing issues with my autism. I have now managed to get the Kindle version so I have updated my review

This has been such an interesting read. I can't absolutely visualise the aliens (which is exactly how it should be given the repulsion and horror Lilith feels on first encounter).An absolutely engrossing to read feeling sometimes that I was inadequate because I felt I was only comprehending the human perspective; yet what other perspective can I have being human?!I felt like a 5-yr old on their first day at school. I just had to go with the flow to begin with until it all started making a sort of sense.Humans really come out badly in this and I applaud Octavia E. Butler's grasp of human psychology and reactions. The aliens are coercive in human terms but if one suspends human expectations (if such a thing is possible) is their behaviour unreasonable? This novel has really given me a lot of food for thought and I am delighted that I have another two to go!

I've been an avid sci-if fan for my entire life (minus the initial 5 years). I've read all the classics, Asimov, EE Doc Smith, Heinlein, Cherryh, etc you name it.This is up there with them. it's a book of it's time, I.e. If you were an adult at the time of the Cold War, you will recognise not just the premise, but also the social influences of that time.Reading it now, I was frustrated and disappointed with humanity, but I also recall that it's an accurate portrayal of the mindset that existed at the time (remember the insanity of nuclear M.A.D. ?)The book is well written, and the aliens are fascinatingly conceived. I kept trying work out if they were the good guys or the bad guys, and at the end of this, the closest I could come was "both", and I loved that they defied pigeon-holing.I really liked Lillith's character. Strong, resilient, enough intelligence and ego to lead, but also enough humility and insecurity to really not want to! Unwanted responsibility for the entire (remaining) human race; I can't imagine how how I would have felt in her shoes.I wonder what would have happened if these aliens had come upon us now in these "enlightened" times; yes, a bit of irony there, but . . .Read on and enjoy1