Hark
Science fiction often aims to speak broadly about mankind, either where we come from or where we're going. Usually this leads to novels that feel impersonal. Not the case with Butler. In all her works, that I've read so far, she's always displayed the nuanced tapestry of human emotion. She understands that rarely is something absolute. If we hate someone we don't just hate them. We can pity, envy and even love them all at the same time. Though at times it's hard not to feel as though our narrator isn't a sheltered 18 year old girl speaking but Butler herself in all her wisdom. On one hand she often speaks broadly of the world with a deep philosophy on life, adding another layer to this already interesting character, on the other it's slightly jarring having someone speak so deeply about the world who has yet to fully experience it.
Butler expertly manages to maintain both intrugue and tension throughout the first half of the novel but drops the ball in the second half where stakes should be at there highest. We meet character after character with little to no fanfare or fireworks and each hurdle is overcome without much difficulty or sacrifice. Similar to Kindred this book doesn't really have a climax, more the story just reaches its natural conclusion and simply ends.
Science fiction often aims to speak broadly about mankind, either where we come from or where we're going. Usually this leads to novels that feel impersonal. Not the case with Butler. In all her works, that I've read so far, she's always displayed the nuanced tapestry of human emotion. She understands that rarely is something absolute. If we hate someone we don't just hate them. We can pity, envy and even love them all at the same time. Though at times it's hard not to feel as though our narrator isn't a sheltered 18 year old girl speaking but Butler herself in all her wisdom. On one hand she often speaks broadly of the world with a deep philosophy on life, adding another layer to this already interesting character, on the other it's slightly jarring having someone speak so deeply about the world who has yet to fully experience it.
Butler expertly manages to maintain both intrugue and tension throughout the first half of the novel but drops the ball in the second half where stakes should be at there highest. We meet character after character with little to no fanfare or fireworks and each hurdle is overcome without much difficulty or sacrifice. Similar to Kindred this book doesn't really have a climax, more the story just reaches its natural conclusion and simply ends.