Adulthood Rites

by Octavia E. Butler

hardcover, 288 pages

Published Sept. 30, 1988 by Orion Publishing Co.

ISBN:: 978-0-575-04238-4

(5 reviews)

The second book in the Lilith's Brood trilogy, this story takes place years after the arrival of Oankali aliens in the first book. Now, the Oankali have established some colonies on Earth, where they live and breed with humans. Other villages are populated by human resisters, who refuse to interact or breed with the Oankali but are frustrated because they can no longer reproduce on their own and feel they have no future. Akin, a boy "construct" born with mixed human and Oankali DNA, confronts these tensions between the two species and grapples with his own identity.

17 editions

reading tofu reviewed Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler (Lilith's Brood, #2)

The personality of an alien

5 stars

As the first book, world- and character building are amazing. Somehow, the first book seems like nothing more than a setup for this in hindsight. Finishing this, I can't wait for the next one, to see how the plan Akin spun unfolds. Admittedly I have been a hard time following the dialogues when more than 2 Oankali were involved, but I think I can follow and understand Akin pretty well thanks to how Butler described him.

I didn't notice I'm reading a book from the eighties until I looked up from when the book is. Beside some words that are rare today and some historical mentions, the series could have been written now.