June book study: Dawn

I just bought this last night. Couldn't find the individual book so had to get the entire series, Lillith's Brood, at B&N.

My e-reader's down. I tried seeing if the library had it but it's already checked out lol.

*averts eyes from the posts*

Just picked up the collection, (Lilith's Brood) Yesterday. I'll pop in here when I think i've gotten to where Dawn ends.

I hae a copy from work, and I've started reading in. I'll post again when I'm a little further in the plot.

Woohoo, I'll be getting Dawn tomorrow. I'll post more when I've read it some.

I just ordered it about a week ago for another book club - I'd love to join in here. My first experience with Butler.

So I'm just at Part III. I wish I liked this book more. It's not bad, just kind of...bland? I mean, the writing is fine, but it's not gripping. So far there's only been a few parts (the beginning and when Lilith meets Paul Titus) that really made me go 'Wow, I have to see what happens next.'

I can definitely see how you think it's bland

I'm at the part where Lilith has started to 'Awaken' people, and I'm liking it a lot more. I find I prefer the author's dialogue to her narration.

Also, I liked the alien sex scene, if you can call it that. It's made me think about sex scenes in fantasy and sci-fi. The last book featured in the AW book club (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms) also had a sex scene between a human and something other (in THTK it was between a human and a god, in Dawn's case it was a human and a human and an alien). It's hard enough writing those kind of scenes when it's just two people going at it, but once you bring another element in you're faced with a whole other set of problems. Suddenly you're not just concerned with purple prose and finding a balance between description and euphemisms, you also have to introduce the readers to whole new concepts and ideas. Dawn does a good job with it, though the THTK just made me roll my eyes.

I finished this last week. I like how Lord of the Flies-ish things got at the end- the aliens in this series may have their own agenda, but it's not like humans are a great catch either.

So I guess no gay people survived the nuclear holocaust? In a series where sexuality and gender plays a huge role, it seemed really odd that the the book never even hints at how gay or lesbian people fit into the oolanki's new world order.

I see Octavia Butler's name brought up a lot when there's a discussion about people of colour in sci-fi and fantasy (see for example, a recent thread right here in this forum) and I'm not exactly sure why. Is making your main character a black woman really all it takes to be groundbreaking in sci-fi? That's kind of sad. Personally, I found Dawn didn't deal with race so much as it did with gender.

The writing didn't wow me, but it was clear and readable. I liked the characters and the concepts in the book, so I plan on checking out the rest of the trilogy.

I only just today got around to reading this. Read about 60 pages last night before bed and finished the rest up this morning.

Like I mentioned before, I had to get the entire series to read Dawn but I stopped when I finished Dawn to come discuss it here. I fully plan to read the rest of it because I really enjoyed it.

I think we live in a weird time in science fiction. Maybe it's just me but I feel like the trend in sci-fi is to turn away from the absolutely alien. I can understand that because if it's too alien we can't relate to it, but that also makes it harder. And when writing my own stories I tend to find ways that don't focus on aliens but focus on humans, and anytime I write something about aliens it's hard to make them in any way believable to my own mind.

anyway, I liked how alien everything in the book was. I liked how even when the humans were dealing with each other, the alien concepts, the idea of a loss of humanity, constantly cropped up. Makes me hopeful for my own stories some day

I really like Butler's way of writing. It's so simple. She says exactly what needs to be said. Who would've thought a human trapped on a plant-like alien ship forced to cope with an alien civilization could be said so easily? And I think that helps make it believable. And it's a good thing the story is told mostly from Lilith's view of the world around her because Butler would have a hard time explaining some of the things going on, lol. I like that because it avoids some otherwise wordy info dumps.

I do think it's weird what things Butler chooses to focus on. She'll go into GREAT detail about the alien sex and genetic enhancing, but when it comes to humans having sex it's mentioned in passing like it was as common as food. When she mentions the humans pairing up, I got the feeling I was one of the aliens, watching with a scientific, unblinking eye at humans having sex with each other. Usually sex isn't ignored that way.

I got that feeling a couple of times, and while I feel like it meshed with the simplicity of the writing, sometimes some things should be dwelled on a little bit more.

Anyway, I was really looking forward to this book because I've heard good things about Octavia Butler. My girlfriend, who is from Africa originally and moved to America at 17, told me Butler's book Kindred was one of the first things she read in English. They actually gave it to her to read at a ESL class. I find that fascinating, and I figured there must be something about Butler's writing that would lend them to do that. (Kindred is about a person traveling back in time to a slave plantation, by the way, it's the book that developed Butler's reputation toward writing about race)

I can see why they would suggest it. The language is very simple and very lean, but she still manages to explore complex subjects. I really liked it, couldn't put it down. I mean, it's short. Only 250 pages. But still, it kept me entertained until I finally put it down.

I finished the first part, and now I'm at the part where Lilith is Awakening others.

Agree with others that it's a little bland so far. The circumstances are certainly horrific, but she's ultimately coddled and treated well. Most of the first section are all her being taken care of, eating, wandering around. Not exactly gripping fiction.

I LOVE non-human characters and alienness, but the aliens thus far haven't really grabbed me. I can't really tell them apart. I suppose that reflects Lilith's inability to tell them apart, but it seemed like they were throwing out way too many names for me to remember, of aliens who are nearly indistinguishable in personality, or don't seem like they'll play into the story later. If I were Lilith in this situation, I'd probably be squinting specifically for the things that do distinguish them and think of them as "the one with darker tentacles" or "the smooth one" instead of a tangle of names.

I wonder if the alien blending of genetics and "sharing themselves" is a metaphor for imperialism. Enforcing what they think is the best about their culture on others, stealing what's good about the "conquered" cultures for their own use...