Dawn (Xenogenesis #1)

Earth has been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. A wholly alien life form, the Oankali, succeeded in saving numerous humans, who they have kept in suspended animation for 250 years while the Earth heals. They inhabit a huge spaceship orbiting the Earth beyond the Moon, that is .made of living organic material.
The Oankali finally awaken one, Lilith, who must first accustom herself to these apparently repulsive creatures. Once this is accomplished they enable her to awaken others of the suspended humans. At first all goes well, but as more and more are awakened they become suspicious of Lilith’ s association with the Oankali. Because the spaceship can replicate earth-like environments, they doubt that they are in space. Suspicion and antipathy emerge between groups. Rivalry and deadly conflict develop. A few of the most intransigent are put back to sleep. The rest are sent to Earth, but poor Lilith, who has deeply yearned for human contact, is kept behind
to continue living with the Oankali.
Butler’s conception of alien life forms and alien “technology” is very creative. Also she skillfully plumbs the inherent emotions and conflicts within the human psyche and between and among human groups. The story may not be the best narrated, but it gives the reader a great deal to think about.

This was one of those books I read more on a friends recommendation rather than any interest in the subject. And Im glad I did.

Dawn drew me in from the first page. Lilith has memories of contemporary Earth, before the war, but she has no idea why shes in this tiny room with no clothes, held by captors she cant see and who wont answer her questions, nor does she know why shes put to sleep for indeterminately long periods. The story slowly and expertly expands, revealing elements piece by piece, giving us time to adjust to the incredible ideas in the authors head, before introducing the next idea, then the next character, then a batch of characters, always giving us time to catch up but not enough to feel comfortable. Thats a good thing, by the way.

Octavias aliens are duly strange without being so foreign you cant relate. Her characters are strong, opinionated, diverse, and full of conflict. In fact, my only gripe is that, perhaps, a group of people when put together in the situation they were may not have been quite as conflict driven, but Im no expert, either. Regardless, Octavia did a fantastic job of weaving them together and keeping the plot moving, rehashing just enough throughout the story to reinforce some of the stranger concepts, but not enough to feel annoying.

Im sad that I discovered this author so long after her passing, but Ill definitely be reading more of her work, and recommending them to my children when theyre older. If youre looking for a different xenomorphic story full of thought-provoking moral challenges and inner and external turmoil, I cant recommend Dawn enough.

I looked forward to reading Octavia Butler, given her reputation. This was the first book of hers I have read, and I wavered between 3-4 stars. Giving it 3 because I wont be reading the sequels, as I didn’t find this work compelling enough. Why not? Her writing is crisp and clear, her descriptions are good enough to convey scenery, etc. well and enable really excellent worldbuilding, so where did I get lost?
Characters. Her protagonist is well drawn and fleshed out, and has flaws and personality and a point of view, which I loved. All her supporting human characters, though, are drawn so sparingly that they are more cliches than people.

MILD SPOILERS BELOW

At one point, she is literally reviewing dossiers about other humans in order to make some decisions, and the brief sketches she reads in them are the primary method for introducing these characters. Carl is exactly what he is presented as, and we never hear these supporting characters enough to really dig into their personalities, conflicts, etc. so when there is conflict. It is more like character versus NPC than against another character. The book is so short, it would have been easy to add dimension to the supporting characters to illuminate the protagonists choices and challenges. Instead, we get a lot of eloquent internal monologue and a bare-minimum of external dialog. Some characters oppose the protagonist? Well, an NPC will tell her X, Y and Z are plotting against you! So now the reader knows.
This is her story, but it is told with so little else in terms of other characters that we get a one-dimensional view of her and a zero-dimensional view of the other human characters. The aliens are slightly more fleshed out and there is more interaction, but I feel like Butler focused too much on the protagonists inner thoughts and ignored the opportunity to show her as a full, rounded character by giving us other more richly-drawn characters for her to bounce off of.
This book was good enough I wish it had been better.

In the age of Brexit and Trump, Dawn is an antidote, an anti venom. The story imagines a future in which a few survivors of a nuclear war have been rescued by an alien race. This race have a technology based on the manipulation of living things. They are interested in human genetics, specifically the potential for human bodies to grow cancer. They want to extract the cancerous potential from human calls, and use it in a controlled form to regenerate damaged body parts. There is the potential for a genetic trade between what’s left of humanity and the alien race, benefitting both. The extraterrestrials gain an important medical advance while humanity gains control of a deadly disease, and access to the benign, tolerant social structure enjoyed by the aliens.

Not surprisingly, some of the humans are hostile to this idea. The book goes on to explore the conflict between the benefits of sharing and fear of the unknown, via a group of humans who are equally able to see alien danger amongst their own kind as they are in creatures from outer space.

Dawn is a wonderful book. I was going to call it humane, though I felt humanity was an embarrassment by the end of it. Admittedly I did have some plot quibbles. Humans after all are not the only creatures afflicted by cancer on earth, and if this is what interested the aliens, you do wonder why they didn’t choose a far less troublesome and unpleasant species to deal with. They could have chosen dogs for example. This is not, however, is going to stop me from giving this book a five star rating. It’s a parable for modern times.

I’ve been an avid sci-if fan for my entire life (minus the initial 5 years). I’ve read all the classics, Asimov, EE Doc Smith, Heinlein, Cherryh, etc you name it.
This is up there with them. it’s a book of it’s time, I.e. If you were an adult at the time of the Cold War, you will recognise not just the premise, but also the social influences of that time.
Reading it now, I was frustrated and disappointed with humanity, but I also recall that it’s an accurate portrayal of the mindset that existed at the time (remember the insanity of nuclear M.A.D. ?)
The book is well written, and the aliens are fascinatingly conceived. I kept trying work out if they were the good guys or the bad guys, and at the end of this, the closest I could come was “both”, and I loved that they defied pigeon-holing.
I really liked Lillith’s character. Strong, resilient, enough intelligence and ego to lead, but also enough humility and insecurity to really not want to! Unwanted responsibility for the entire (remaining) human race; I can’t imagine how how I would have felt in her shoes.
I wonder what would have happened if these aliens had come upon us now in these “enlightened” times; yes, a bit of irony there, but . . .
Read on and enjoy1

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