Paperback, 248 pages
Czech language
Published Jan. 1, 2000 by Polaris.
Dlouhodobé křížení mezi pozemšťany a Oankali je skoro u konce, když tu je náhle ohrozí dítě. Není to však chlapec ani děvče: Jodahs je lidské óloi, třetí oankalské pohlaví. Mohlo by se stát pojítkem mezi vším, co je lidské a co není: je schopno měnit tvar, léčit raněné a měnit DNA pouhým dotekem. Ale lehce defektní óloi může zničit svět, zmutovat půdu, po které kráčí a šířit choroby každým svým vydechnutím.
Malé dítě se bude muset snažit ovládnout síly vymykající se lidskému chápání, jinak se stane doslova živou pohromou. Aby přežilo, musí Jodahs objevit jedinou věc, kterou úžasná věda Oankali nikdy nedokázala: zázrak.
Tak trosku "povinny" dokonceni trilogie. Zacatek drhl a moc me neba, pak uz to slo slusne. Samostatne asi nejslabsi kousek. Skoncilo to vsechno stastne az slza ukapla. V kazdym pripade horkej podtext zustava a k zamysleni je tam vic veci nejen ohledne lidstvi jako takovyho.
For me, a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, continuing to push the themes of race, gender, nuclear armageddon, sex and biology. The alien-human hybrid Jodahs is the narrator. It - for that is its pronoun - is another Christ figure, like Akin in the previous novel. But this time the name suggests Judas, and there is frequently a suggestion that a putative mediator could turn out to be a betrayer.
One thing I like about Butler is how she goes to extremes. In this case the most sexually desirable creatures left on planet earth are a community of nuclear mutants afflicted with debilitating degenerative conditions and horrible skin diseases. Bow-chicka-wow-wow!
In her other novels (e.g. the Patternist series) she portrays the worst traits of human debauchery and murder, just to make it hard to pick a side - hegemonising aliens or violent human psycho-killers. Here I found I had sympathy …
For me, a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, continuing to push the themes of race, gender, nuclear armageddon, sex and biology. The alien-human hybrid Jodahs is the narrator. It - for that is its pronoun - is another Christ figure, like Akin in the previous novel. But this time the name suggests Judas, and there is frequently a suggestion that a putative mediator could turn out to be a betrayer.
One thing I like about Butler is how she goes to extremes. In this case the most sexually desirable creatures left on planet earth are a community of nuclear mutants afflicted with debilitating degenerative conditions and horrible skin diseases. Bow-chicka-wow-wow!
In her other novels (e.g. the Patternist series) she portrays the worst traits of human debauchery and murder, just to make it hard to pick a side - hegemonising aliens or violent human psycho-killers. Here I found I had sympathy for her protagonist Jodahs, but at the same time the ooloi are an alien species with a special gland that excretes the ultimate date-rape drug. One whiff and you can't help falling in love with that tentacled freak from space. Consent and free will, it seems, are more complicated in the post-nuclear alien contact phase of humanity.
But then, Jodahs doesn't have any choice in the matter either, it has to find human mates or descend into a suicidal metamorphosis where it devolves into a mindless slug and finally dissolves itself in the post-nuclear swamp.
Much as this is a compelling story with some appealing concepts, Butler's futures are not aspirational.
