Xenogenesis
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The Xenogenesis trilogy (currently published as the one volume novel, Lilith's Brood, which was released in 2000) was written by Octavia Butler. The three volumes of this science fiction series were previously collected in the now out of print volume, Xenogenesis.
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[edit] Background
This series introduces the alien species, known as Oankali, who come in three sexes--male, female and ooloi, a gender that mixes and manipulates the genetic material produced by the other two. The series also draws upon elements of the myth of Lilith, the first wife of Adam.
[edit] Lilith's Brood (2000)
[edit] Dawn (1987)
In the first novel in the trilogy, Dawn, Lilith Iyapo, an African American woman, is resurrected by the Oankali following a nuclear war on earth which causes the near-extinction of humanity. The goal of the Oankali is to colonize earth with Oankali-human hybrids.
[edit] Adulthood Rites (1988)
In the trilogy's second book, Adulthood Rites, Akin, Lilith's part- Oankali son is abducted by sterile human resisters.
[edit] Imago (1989)
The final book of the series, Imago, is about Lilith's ooloi child, Jodahs, who comes of age and integrates human and alien societies. In entomology, an imago is the adult stage of an insect; it's also a term used in Jungian psychology.
[edit] References
- Federmayer, Eva. "Octavia Butler's Maternal Cyborgs: The Black Female World of the Xenogenesis Trilogy." HJEAS: Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies 6.1 (2000): 103-18.
- Haraway, Donna. "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century," in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. New York: Routledge, 1991: 149-181.
- Holden, Rebecca J. "The High Costs of Cyborg Survival: Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis Trilogy." In Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction, No.72 (Spring 1998): 49-57.
- Jesser, Nancy. "Blood, Genes and Gender in Octavia Butler's Kindred and Dawn." Extrapolation: A Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy 43.1 (2002): 36-61.
- Osherow, Michelle. "The Dawn of a New Lilith: Revisionary Mythmaking in Women's Science Fiction." NWSA Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring 2000): 68-83.
- Peppers, Cathy. "Dialogic Origins and Alien Identities in Butler’s XENOGENESIS." Science Fiction Studies. No. 65, Vol. 22, 1995.
- Slonczewski, Joan. "Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis Trilogy: A Biologist’s Response." Presented at SFRA, Cleveland, June 30, 2000.
