Patternmaster - Need A Rehab, Free Me From Octavia Butler Addiction!
Written: May 15 '01 (Updated Oct 18 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Butler's humanity orientated sci-fi, strong character development, & great story.
Cons: Too short at 202 pages!
The Bottom Line: Patternmaster is accessible to everyone. The story is exceptionally strong whenever it involves human relationships and it's hierarchy (masters, slavery, power).
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| shaithis's Full Review: Patternmaster Books |
After being introduced to Ms. Octavia Butler through an out of the blue, random purchase of her Xenogenesis series (from the Sci-Fi book club), I have instantly become a fan.
Normally, most of my reading material is in the horror genre. Occasionally I like to mix it up a bit by trying out a fantasy or science fiction novel.
While I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, I love futuristic type stuff and basically new ideas. I am not one to read a novel that explains what a tricorder (or other techie device) is over a couple of chapters. I suppose I can be categorized as a 'soft' sci-fi fan.
Octavia E. Butler's Xenogenesis series was so impressive that I eventually had to move on to some of her other works.
Patternmaster apparently is her first novel in the 'Pattenmaster' series. The novel is about a race of humans that communicate, fight, and do virtually everything else through the use of their psionic abilities. One of the most interesting aspects of Ms. Butler's writing is how she shows human interaction. Every character, regardless of whether they are the 'baddie' or 'goodie', you enjoy and care about.
Another major draw for me is how Ms. Butler shows the various levels of human interaction. There are references to human history, especially black history when she shows how the 'patternists (psionic people)' are the norm. 'Mutes (people like you and I are currenty - no psionic ability)' are basically used as slaves. Mutes are commanded through telepathy most of the time so they don't even know that they dislike the work. Fancy that sexy gardener? Implant a command in her head that she thinks you are attractive and should sleep with you. Yes, a Mute while still having some independence, really are nothing but slaves to the patternists.
There are other neat races in the novel too. A 'clayark' is some kind of human that is afflicted with a terrible disease. It makes the world very dangerous and all clayarks are at war with humans.
The main character in Patternmaster is a young recently married man named Teray. He has recently left a school for 'patternists' and is ready to join a community of other patternists. Corruption and deceit begin to ruin his life as one bad thing happens to him and then another.
Teray is also one of the many children of THE 'Patternmaster'. THE Patternmaster is the main telepathic-type person that runs everything. All people with psionic ability are mentally linked with the Pattermaster. Therefore, one would assume that the Patternmaster is the most powerful human around.
Naturally with that amount of power, the Patternmaster's position is the envy of many. The current Patternmaster is old and sick. One man, Coransee (a brother of Teray's) vies to take over after his father passes away.
The clash between the two siblings is what eventually powers the novel, but up until a little over the halfway point of the story it's more of an excellent creation of a believable culture. Obviously comparable to the film Planet of the Apes, only with telepaths instead of apes.
The only problem I have with Octavia Butler's novels is that they are so short and exciting that you have to run out immediately and pick up the next in the series. It happened to me through her Xenogenesis stories, and it's happening again with her Patternmaster ones. I read Patternmaster in a day, read her next one Mind of My Mind (Book Two) the next, and am now reading Survivor (Book Three). You need to know more about her characters. When you finish this novel, you will want more, period.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
shaithis
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Location: Winnipeg, MB
Reviews written: 164
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Canadian, still alive, barely.
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