Xenogenesis (Masterplots II: African American Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Octavia Butler
- First Published: 1987
- Type of Work: Novels
- Type of Plot: Science fiction
- Time of Work: 250–350 years after a fictional holocaust on Earth
- Setting: Space and Earth’s Amazon Basin
- Principal Characters: Lilith Iyapo, Nikanj, Akin, Augustino (Tino) Leal, Jodahs, Aaor
- Genres: Long fiction, Science fiction
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Culture, Children, Exile or expatriates, Extraterrestrial life, Future, Other worlds, Space flight or travel, Space ships, stations, or vehicles, Acculturation, Human behavior, Bioengineering or biotechnology, Earth, Genetics
- Locales: Space, Chkahichdahk (fictive), Earth
The Novels
In the Xenogenesis series, Octavia E. Butler tells a story of confrontation and accommodation between cultures. One of these cultures is made up of human beings; the other, of far more advanced extraterrestrials called Oankali. After a war devastated Earth and killed most of its inhabitants, the Oankali transported the survivors to their spaceship, where they observed the humans for some two and a half centuries, finally concluding that human nature is so badly flawed that human beings will destroy any world they inhabit. Sensibly, the Oankali refuse to let...
[The entire page is 2706 words long]
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