Friday, May 27, 2016

Is Butler's Patternist series a prelude to her Xenogenesis series?

The short answer to your query is no.
Octavia Butler rose to fame as a science fiction author with the publication of her five-novel Patternist series from 1971 to 1984. Interestingly, the five novels of the series were published out of chronological order, and Butler later recommended an alternate reading order.
Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy was released in three installments from 1984 to 1989. Although all three Xenogenesis novels were published after Butler's Patternist books, they do not share characters, plots, or settings. However, they do share some similarities that are worth discussing.
Both series explore the relationship between humans and alien races. In the plot of each series, humanity loses its dominance over Earth and is forced to share the planet with powerful extraterrestrials. Both the Xenogenesis and Patternist series examine questions of how humanity would change if interbred with aliens and the social and political tensions that would arise from this altered genetic state. Butler uses these situations to explore themes of gender and race throughout these two stories.

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