A decent looking woman with an afro suggested this book to me a couple of years ago and I just finally gotten around to getting it. I just finished this book yesterday and I have to say it was one of the best I've read. I didn't know what to expect from it all given the woman didn't tell me at all what it was about which I'm not complaining about because I prefer it that way, but I was certainly pleased with what was given. If you haven't read the book skip the following as it contains spoilers. Spoiler When Anyanwu's shapeshifting abilities was first revealed I was a little surprised that she could attain male sex organs when becoming a male. If I hadn't known about Mystique from Marvel doing the same it would've been more surprising. Anyanwu and Doro's first conversation held some tension. I was unsure if this woman was actually going to consider going with a stranger I was mixed in my feelings in regards to that; I wanted her to go with him just to see how the story would play out, but I would also not want her to go because of the potential risk, but Doro was threatening and considering the Doro back then, she didn't have much of a choice. When Doro made his first change and said killing the man was just an annoyance to him. I knew this was one cold brother. It felt cheesy at the time, but later on several other things he does wipes away that feeling from me. I'm not sure if I read it back then, but when Doro and Anyanwu first met the slave traders I thought Doro had mentioned that he used slaves of his own which pissed me off. I'm not sure if all the black people on that ship were all going to Wheatley or some were slaves, but everyone he ended up using ended up as a slave just a different type. I thought the relationship between Isaac, Doro, and Anywanwu was nicely done and when she declared war on Doro when she killed his seed I was impressed that she can control her pregnancy like that and I also had strong feelings for Anyanwu at that time. Doro had no right to treat her like that and treat her and everyone in that village as animals. He threatened to kill her and her family just so he could hope to build some kind of mutant society, speaking of which that whole part of the story reminded me of the X-men. I'm not quite entirely sure if that's what Doro's true ambitions are. He's been doing this with people for a couple of thousand years, but it was never apparent what he would actually do with these people. Isaac claimed that Anyanwu was too important to kill, but it was only because he believed they were perfect for each other since both of them are immortal. I was hoping that Anyanwu would find some way to kill that motherfucker. He just forced her to commit to things that went against her beliefs and even forced people to commit incest. Just about everyone in Wheatley was brainwashed by him and who knows how many other people in his other settlements. When Nneke lost control and attacked Issac and Anyanwu my heart raced. I hoped that Anyanwu and Doro would both live. I got Anyanwu at least. I was proud of her when she left off to the ocean to runaway from Doro. I don't think she knew that he couldn't detect her while she was in animal form, but she knew it made him hard for him to track her. When Doro had found out about a werewolf that was attacking townspeople I was hoping that it was an actual werewolf, but was disappointed when it turned out to be Anyanwu. How could she slip up like that? At that moment when he came onto her plantation I knew then that she was either going to die or try and escape, but later was quickly reminded that if she did, Doro would take over her family. I was really surprised when he changed his mind about killing her and he was finally starting to show more human emotions then. Anyanwu of course still hated him. When Stephen died, Anyanwu had had enough at that point. It went way over my head when Anyanwu had broken Doro, broken him down so much that this murderous bastard broke into tears. I wondered if her feelings were genuine at this moment or if she was running a very well done psychological game on him. She didn't go through with the suicide and I was surprised once again at how well she could control her body. She could just turn herself off like a candle flame. If she was running game it worked because Doro became a changed man after that. I might go back and read the epilogue again, but from what I remember he was only killed when he had to from that point on. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
Agreed: terrific. This is what makes an author so good, is that she (or he) can emotionally involve you in the story in that way, and make it all believable (within the book, at least). The things that people do and say in such a book ring true with us because they reflect true and plausible emotions and observations. Octavia Butler is my new heroine
Spoiler One thing I was wondering in my book is "Could Doro be truly killed if someone say, shot him in the head for instance while he was occupying a body?" If you've read the other books don't answer it because I haven't read them yet.
Is there something wrong? I want to edit the first post so I can change the title of the thread, but I don't see the edit button anywhere. Anyways I just finished reading the second book in the series, Mind of My Mind and I thoroughly enjoyed it, except for one thing at the ending. Spoiler Anyanwu's sudden decision to kill herself. I was furious at that considering how much I loved her in Wild Seed and she wasn't even in this book much and she just died in her sleep just because Doro had died. I felt cheated.
Never read Wild Seed, but I loved Fledgling....the beginning of that book just grabs you. Ms. Butler could write, and the way she brought in themes around race in her fantasies was beautifully done and resonated.
Just finished Clay's Ark. I didn't like it in the middle, but the ending of the book really put me in. I'm very eager to read Patternmaster now. Spoiler Rane went out like a True G
