Lilith’s Brood by Octavia E. Butler

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“The Human Contradiction again. The Contradiction, it was more often called among Oankali. Intelligence and hierarchical behavior. It was fascinating, seductive, and lethal. It had brought Humans to their final war.”

There are so many other quotes that I could put in here that have resonated with everyday events we are witnessing through the world that it’s sorda scary. I found this series of books by Octavia E. Butler was so calmly disturbing that I actually found myself taking breaks to read it.

It’s commentary on the human condition and what it really means to be human throughout the three books (Dawn, Adulthood Rites, Imago) was so smart and enlightening and honestly scary at times. But that’s what makes this series so beautifully compelling. It took me 6 months to read all three books because I had to take breaks to digest the information but also because I was scared of how this series was going to end. I have to tell you, it didn’t end the way I thought it would and boy was I glad!!

The first book, Dawn, starts with Lilith, our first main character. She is a strong, beautiful and complex woman who wakes up to find herself alive after the devastation of a war on Earth, and in a strange prison. This isn’t the first time she’s woken up in the prison. She is still the same age she was the last time she woke up, and one day she finds herself talking to someone in her cell - a completely alien creature.

We come to know them as Oankali. They “saved” whoever they c

ould before the Earth was completely destroyed and wanted to help them create a new humanity. What’s more? They’ve chosen Lilith to pick who gets to create this new civilization with her. The Oankali are also trying to avoid what is in our DNA, what they call “The Human Contradiction.” What’s this? That we as a species are intelligent beings but hierarchical, which ultimately results in our downfall.

And how are they to avoid this? To Lilith’s horror and simultaneous pleasure, they want to procreate with the remaining humans - so ends the first book.

The themes discussed throughout this incredible series resonated so much with the chaos and human condition in which we experience today. I think that is the most amazing thing about these books -- is that the same commentary on the human experience that Butler expressed in 1987 are still the themes that we discuss today. That is the true power of Butler’s work.

This is why I rated this series ⅘. It’s simple language and yet complex exploration of multiple societal, biological and even psychological issues throughout the series was something I haven’t read in a very long time. Butler’s work is very special and I’m excited to read more of her work. Have you read it? Let me know your thoughts! I’d love to have a discussion on this one to help sort out my thoughts.

What’s Next: I’ll be reading and reviewing The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman