Well, I wimped out and picked up this book (the single volume “trilogy”) along with others the other day from the local bookstore. I finished reading the first book and am now starting Adulthood Rites (the second book).
Please keep the spoilers to the first book Dawn but don’t talk about the other books until a later thread is started. I don’t want to have it ruined for me yet.
Spoilers below.
I have to say I am very impressed with Ms. Butler. She has managed to produce an alien culture and physiology that seem plausible and completely foreign. The first part of the book where she is trapped in the “cell” moved a little slow but the voice was fast enough to keep it going.
I really like how the aliens ingrained themselves on the few humans who have been awakened and have the humans totally dependent on them for reproductive purposes (at least while still on the ship. The first book ends with Lilith’s most of Lilith’s awakened children going to Earth.)
The first man Lileth meets, Paul Titus, was quite believable. He was kept as a “pet” to the Oankali. His attempted rape forshadowed much of the future contact the Oankali had with the humans. The moment Joseph said no to Ninkaj, I felt that the Oankali were rapists and not entirely as benign as they initially appeared. Joseph kept saying no, but his body said yes. I really hated that logic but it just made the Oankali that much more believable. Very similar to how Lilith finally becomes pregnant and didn’t want to be. The gene manipulation would be too much.
Overall, I am very impressed with the pace of the story in book one. I found that it spoke of many of our contemporary morality issues (cloning and gene therapy specifically) and the possibility of some of the worst outcomes.
Please add any further thoughts or questions below.