Dawn
Xenogenesis: Book One
Transgendered secondary characters. Gender issues; queer issues.
. Highly Recommended.
March 3, 2006 | Revid 364 < prev | next >
Lilith Iyapo knows that the earth has been all but destroyed by nuclear war. She also knows that she is alive. What she does not know is where she is, or why her mysterious captors refuse to show themselves. When the truth is finally revealed, Lilith not only fears for her own fate, but that of the entire human race.
A vivid story that explores a wealth of social and scientific possibilities through the eyes of a very self-possessed protagonist who does an admirable job of standing in for humanity itself. Lilith finds herself in an untenable position, almost completely powerless to change it, and yet she resists. Stripped of her culture, her social support, and even the trappings that make us feel human in the first place, she is forced to adapt to a situation not of her own making—or give up and die. In some ways her story parallels that of colonial Africans kidnapped into slavery and the terrible choices they faced. It was also a sad and poignant commentary on the potential of the human race to destroy itself.
Within its tightly-woven narrative, Butler manages to communicate a variety of fascinating concepts, from moral dilemmas and biological speculation, to an unflinching examination of what makes us human—or what we think makes us human. The questions it poses may not be comfortable, but they'll certainly leave you with a lot to think about.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. Please attribute this work to "Finder at GLBT Fantasy Fiction Resources." Linkbacks are always appreciated.
