L'Aube - SFBA Book Club

Another Hopeful Fool reviewed Dawn by Octavia E. Butler (Xenogenesis, #1)

Fascinating and disoncerting

4 stars

I can't remember the last time I read a book that flowed so effortlessly. There is no "dead air" in this novel. Lots of dialogue, with terse and welcome descriptions keep things moving without feeling rushed. The alien species is truly alien and disturbing on multiple levels, without coming off as malevolent.

The novel takes on a pretty different tone shortly after the halfway point, which I could definitely see upsetting people. It upset me, even though I loved the book. I think that's the point, but look up the CWs for yourself if you don't want to chance it.

I'm used to novels that much more clearly editorialize the author's morality into the book somehow. This one leaves that kind of hinting completely out, leaving you kind of gaslit over how to feel.

There is a pretty strong reading that can be done of this book from a critical …

I can't remember the last time I read a book that flowed so effortlessly. There is no "dead air" in this novel. Lots of dialogue, with terse and welcome descriptions keep things moving without feeling rushed. The alien species is truly alien and disturbing on multiple levels, without coming off as malevolent.

The novel takes on a pretty different tone shortly after the halfway point, which I could definitely see upsetting people. It upset me, even though I loved the book. I think that's the point, but look up the CWs for yourself if you don't want to chance it.

I'm used to novels that much more clearly editorialize the author's morality into the book somehow. This one leaves that kind of hinting completely out, leaving you kind of gaslit over how to feel.

There is a pretty strong reading that can be done of this book from a critical lens of colonialism, and through that viewport, Dawn is an account of experiencing the overwhelming force of another peoples technology and culture.

AvonVilla@ramblingreaders.org reviewed Dawn by Octavia E. Butler (Xenogenesis, #1)

Sexy incestuous alien tentacle time for health and happiness

5 stars

Another essential Butler novel. It's the first post-post apocalypse novel I can think of, because earth is wiped out in a nuclear conflagration, but the story starts after the final human survivors have been whisked away on a huge alien spaceship by a race which compulsively genetically merges itself with species it encounters. With humans the compulsion is particularly strong, it's sexually charged. They are at times lustful, loving, protective and dictatorial.

The echoes of slavery and colonisation are hard to escape here, as with all Butler's fiction. If you've read The Patternist series and Kindred, you will find familiar ideas from those books here.

Dawn showcases one of the greats of the genre at her finest, and I am relishing the prospect of the two sequels.

Ameimse reviewed L'Aube by Octavia E. Butler

Une déclinaison particulière de la rencontre entre l'humanité et des extraterrestres

5 stars

Une humanité qui s'est autodétruite lors d'une guerre. De rares personnes survivantes récupérées par des extraterrestres. Parmi elles, celle qui va constituer le fil rouge de ce roman : Lilith. Le roman adopte son point de vue pour découvrir peu à peu une société extraterrestre Oankali riche et complexe. L'Aube propose une déclinaison originale du "premier contact" au sens où cela n'a rien d'une rencontre sur un pied d'égalité : l'humanité se retrouve entièrement placée sous la dépendance des Oankali, lesquels se trouvent en position d'analyser et d'étiqueter l'humanité à partir de leur propre perception, et d'imposer (ou du moins de tenter d'imposer) leur grille et leur fonctionnement à ce qu'il reste de l'humanité. Lilith va se voir confier un rôle particulier dans leurs projets. Délivrant un récit intime, servi par une plume très fine, c'est une histoire qui s'avère aussi riche que déstabilisante, abordant et invitant à questionner l'altérité, …

Une humanité qui s'est autodétruite lors d'une guerre. De rares personnes survivantes récupérées par des extraterrestres. Parmi elles, celle qui va constituer le fil rouge de ce roman : Lilith. Le roman adopte son point de vue pour découvrir peu à peu une société extraterrestre Oankali riche et complexe. L'Aube propose une déclinaison originale du "premier contact" au sens où cela n'a rien d'une rencontre sur un pied d'égalité : l'humanité se retrouve entièrement placée sous la dépendance des Oankali, lesquels se trouvent en position d'analyser et d'étiqueter l'humanité à partir de leur propre perception, et d'imposer (ou du moins de tenter d'imposer) leur grille et leur fonctionnement à ce qu'il reste de l'humanité. Lilith va se voir confier un rôle particulier dans leurs projets. Délivrant un récit intime, servi par une plume très fine, c'est une histoire qui s'avère aussi riche que déstabilisante, abordant et invitant à questionner l'altérité, l'humanité, les formes de domination et leur perpétuation, ou encore la liberté et la capacité d'agir. Autant de thématiques fortes qui interpellent, pour lesquelles il n'y a aucune réponse facile, et qui m'ont captivé. Un vrai coup de coeur.

bookafnd reviewed Dawn by Octavia E. Butler (Xenogenesis, #1)

dawn

4 stars

The Oankali have strange and disturbing ideas about consent, which makes this an uncomfortable book to read. (This is, like, intentional, though.)

There's a disregard for singular 'they' as a genderless pronoun, instead 'it' is used to refer to the Ooloi; this doesn't feel as bad as it might because it's apparently the pronoun that the Ooloi chose to use for themselves in English

The biggest problem I have with it technically is that not all that much happens for much of the book? At least the first half is spent with Lilith just learning things about the Oankali. Which is interesting, but pretty slow

Dysmorphia

rated it

Jan. 29, 2013

Mignon

rated it

Oct. 9, 2011