Review: Lilith's Brood

Lilith's Brood by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As a reader I am continuously wowed by how remarkable this woman was. She took a concept so strange and made it palpable. Human's as pets to an alien race, then as sort of cattle, then as lovers. A study of human communication, and belief. This book changed the way I think about the world, about other people, and about myself. It changed the way I talk to myself.
As a writer I am awed by how she took characters that were physically very strong, and very capable of living in any condition then wove an intense, thrilling drama around their lives. If you are looking for a study in how to write drama around characterization this is it. The drama here is just as emotional as it is physical. Here we have characters who don't want to kill for any reason, but are capable of it in an instant, and have every reason to use it but won't. We also have characters who will kill at the drop of a hat but have been made helpless, then trained to love that which they fear. Humans turned into pets for an alien race that adores them. Brilliant.

View all my reviews