Octavia E. Butler

Doro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex -- or design. He fears no one -- until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu is a shapeshifter who can absorb bullets and heal with a kiss...and savage anyone who threatens those she loves. She fears no one -- until she meets Doro. From African jungles to the colonies of America, Doro and Anyanwu weave together a pattern of destiny that not even immortals can imagine.

Wild Seed

i went into this book w/ high expectations—i know the patternmaster series is hanif abdurraqib’s favorite by octavia, and based on my own readings of her, i hoped it would be good.

and………………. it was!!! even though based on context clues i kind of knew where each section of the story was going to go, it was very engrossing and i found it quite difficult to put down. and let me tell you, it is SO satisfying to read full characters that have realistic interactions and are set in a world that makes sense!!! thank you again octavia butler!!!

i very quickly kind of assigned like “okay doro=colonialism and anyanwu=pre-colonialism?” and i think this kind of holds true! my issue w/ the xenogenesis series was that for a while i was looking at it like humans are everything horrible and the oankali are everything great, but this fell apart towards the end of the series, as i realized that what is best is a combination of the two. and i think that this also slightly falls apart w/ my ideas of doro and anyanwu, but not for the same reasons. 

i saw this tweet the other day that was like “stop romanticizing pre-colonial indigenous communities, they were flawed too,” and that made me think about wild seed. i wrote a note at one point that said something something “the real abomination is the way they kill disabled kids that they have created,” (which im kind of realizing now is that anyanwu was saying) and i also think that this is true! all of this is why anyanwu’s way of life is so needed—so the incest and killing can stop, so the people can heal and be supported and create sustainable generations. but also how can you just ignore their potential, their abilities? especially when these abilities could ease pain, could allow for continued evolution? which is where a little sprinkle of doro comes in—not his murdering, not his white supremacy, but his ambition, his active shaping of change (but again not even the way he shaped change lmao). it literally all just comes back to earthseed!!!! and that is how i know it’s the answer

 i also wasn’t entirely a fan of the “she’s taken captive by him but learns to forgive and now she loves him,” trope, growing up reading wattpad fanfics i saw a LOT. of tropes like this that were just misogyny (a specific one comes to mind where a girl is taken hostage by zayn from one direction to be his enslaved secs worker LMAO)… but i think wild seed is like literally the only exception lol. it’s the only story that COULD work, that DOES work—so far, at least. of course, waiting to save my judgements on if the “now she loves him” section feels true for later in the series. 

all in all i liked this book a lot!! after reading it i’ve had some realizations about my goals and aspirations in life, and reading wild seed has helped me question that in what i feel is a positive direction. looking forward to reading the rest of the series in time.

madison w

i went into this book w/ high expectations—i know the patternmaster series is hanif abdurraqib’s favorite by octavia, and based on my own readings of her, i hoped it would be good.


and………………. it was!!! even though based on context clues i kind of knew where each section of the story was going to go, it was very engrossing and i found it quite difficult to put down. and let me tell you, it is SO satisfying to read full characters that have realistic interactions and are set in a world that makes sense!!! thank you again octavia butler!!!

i very quickly kind of assigned like “okay doro=colonialism and anyanwu=pre-colonialism?” and i think this kind of holds true! my issue w/ the xenogenesis series was that for a while i was looking at it like humans are everything horrible and the oankali are everything great, but this fell apart towards the end of the series, as i realized that what is best is a combination of the two. and i think that this also slightly falls apart w/ my ideas of doro and anyanwu, but not for the same reasons. 

i saw this tweet the other day that was like “stop romanticizing pre-colonial indigenous communities, they were flawed too,” and that made me think about wild seed. i wrote a note at one point that said something something “the real abomination is the way they kill disabled kids that they have created,” (which im kind of realizing now is that anyanwu was saying) and i also think that this is true! all of this is why anyanwu’s way of life is so needed—so the incest and killing can stop, so the people can heal and be supported and create sustainable generations. but also how can you just ignore their potential, their abilities? especially when these abilities could ease pain, could allow for continued evolution? which is where a little sprinkle of doro comes in—not his murdering, not his white supremacy, but his ambition, his active shaping of change (but again not even the way he shaped change lmao). it literally all just comes back to earthseed!!!! and that is how i know it’s the answer

 i also wasn’t entirely a fan of the “she’s taken captive by him but learns to forgive and now she loves him,” trope, growing up reading wattpad fanfics i saw a LOT. of tropes like this that were just misogyny (a specific one comes to mind where a girl is taken hostage by zayn from one direction to be his enslaved secs worker LMAO)… but i think wild seed is like literally the only exception lol. it’s the only story that COULD work, that DOES work—so far, at least. of course, waiting to save my judgements on if the “now she loves him” section feels true for later in the series. 

all in all i liked this book a lot!! after reading it i’ve had some realizations about my goals and aspirations in life, and reading wild seed has helped me question that in what i feel is a positive direction. looking forward to reading the rest of the series in time.

I should start by saying that I am not a fan of science fiction. As a result, there might be a lot that I have missed in this novel. I always struggled with whatever was related with eugenics and I feel that it is very much the center of this book, except that it is also surrounded by a heavy context of slavery. 

Overall, I am very confused about this novel. I am unable to decide whether I liked it or not. It is hard to enter into it but once I did, it was harder to put it down. However, if I can sort of guess the underlying messages and directions of the book, it was difficult to get out of the very harsh and tough tales of Doro's cruelty long enough to fully grasp them.  Some interpretations of this book seem to see it as a love story. Never before have I read one in which I was rooting for one to kill the other. Anyanwu is an exceptional character, so full of contradiction and strength. I was only hoping that she would have been strong enough to kill Doro. 

Anyway, it is a novel that does not leave one indifferent. Maybe reading the other books of the series would help in understanding this one.

Stephanie 

I should start by saying that I am not a fan of science fiction. As a result, there might be a lot that I have missed in this novel. I always struggled with whatever was related with eugenics and I feel that it is very much the center of this book, except that it is also surrounded by a heavy context of slavery. 

Overall, I am very confused about this novel. I am unable to decide whether I liked it or not. It is hard to enter into it but once I did, it was harder to put it down. However, if I can sort of guess the underlying messages and directions of the book, it was difficult to get out of the very harsh and tough tales of Doro's cruelty long enough to fully grasp them.  Some interpretations of this book seem to see it as a love story. Never before have I read one in which I was rooting for one to kill the other. Anyanwu is an exceptional character, so full of contradiction and strength. I was only hoping that she would have been strong enough to kill Doro. 

Anyway, it is a novel that does not leave one indifferent. Maybe reading the other books of the series would help in understanding this one.

alex 

Becky A

I am not quite sure how I felt about this one, but it is very, very good and I'm glad I finally read it.

Nick Bicko

Sometimes there are acclaimed books that are considered luminaries of the genre but just won't click. "Wild Seed" was such a book.

At times, it was torture. I can't even count how many times I had to read a page twice because I had drifted off in thought in the meantime.
Slow-paced, dull, with dialogue that no human would ever speak and a subject matter that simply didn't interest me.
Well, checked off at least. 

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Cindy Lieberman

I keep seeing Octavia Butler’s name as an important science fiction (SF) writer and knew I had to read some of her books. While an interesting and well-written story, I could find no reason for it to be called science fiction. Fantasy, yes. But not SF. I’d actually just call it Fiction of the magical realism type. Nothing wrong with that: just not what I was expecting from an acclaimed SF writer. 

I did get engrossed in the story and am glad to have read it. But not sure I will follow the series.

I prefer hard science, technology-driven, space, and off-world fiction like Iain M Banks and Alastair Reynolds deliver. (Please add your recommendations in the comments for your favorite writers in these categories!)

Lydia Enge

At first it took me a minute to get into this book but the end I was hooked. This book made be question what the meaning of life was and what living a good life would look like. 

'A book that shifted my life... Epic, game-changing, moving and brilliant' VIOLA DAVIS 'Will rewire the mind of whoever reads it... you don't emerge from the journey unaffected' NNEDI OKORAFOR A PATTERNIST NOVEL: BOOK ONE It begins when two immortals meet in an African forest. Doro is an ancient spirit who, for thousands of years, has cultivated a small village of people in search of perfection. He steals from their bodies to sustain his own life. Doro fears no one - until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu is like Doro and yet different. She uses her wisdom to help others, healing injuries, birthing tribes and shifting the shapes of her own body. Anyanwu feels no threat - until she meets Doro. In an epic story of love and hate, Doro and Anyanwu chase each other across continents and centuries - a power struggle that echoes through generations. Together they will change the world.

Flavia Louise

Octavia E. Butler is an amazing author and whenever I read a book by her I am amazed how well written and before its time it is. I was not disappointed with this.

Vitor Augusto Dal Molin 

THIS WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jessica Smith

What an amazing book! The heart of Wild Seed is the entrancing dynamic between Anyanwu and Doro, two immortal people who meet in western Africa around 1690 before Doro brings Anyanwu across to New York. Anyanwu is a powerful healer and shapeshifter, but Doro – as we might remember from Mind of My Mind – has the power to leap from body to body, killing the person inside. As they gain familiarity with one another their relationship evolves: sometimes lovers, and sometimes mortal enemies, but always with the overriding tension that the more powerful Doro considers himself the rightful “master” of people with supernatural abilities like Anyanwu, and what Anyanwu wants for herself and her descendants is to be free.

I did feel like (much like the other Patternmaster books) the novel took a little while to build momentum, but once it did it was unstoppable. Wild Seed felt more focused and cohesive than Mind of My Mind; in fact, I'm glad I read this one after that, because I think Mind of My Mind would have been disappointing in comparison (with the Doro/Mary conflict retreading much of the same ground as the better conflict between Doro and Anyanwu here, and with Anyanwu in that book – now renamed Emma – being an underwhelming character to say the least). I did find it interesting that Doro here seems less sure about what it is he's hoping to create through his breeding program – instead he's working on gut feelings about “potential” – whereas by Mind of My Mind he seems much clearer that he's trying to establish a race of telepaths.

Overall, this book shows why Octavia E. Butler deserves her place as one of the greats of the science fiction genre. I'm sure the relationship between Anyanwu and Doro will stick in my mind for a long time to come, especially the way their characters developed in the superb third part of the book. Although Patternmaster does come close, this is probably the best instalment in the series yet.

Wild Seed

Reviews