Mind of My Mind

I can't believe Mind of My Mind ended that way. I saw the situation, the final scene of the end sequence coming; it was only logical. The result of the final scene was the surprise. Especially after reading the first book, Wild Seed, there were certain characters I thought would continue, would have to continue. Honestly, I'm not sure how to process the end. I don't even know how to talk about it without giving it away...and I don't  want to. I want people to read Seed to Harvest / Patternmaster series. I want people to read Octavia E. Butler. The first two Patternmaster books were amazing. Mind of My Mind kept me up late for a lot of nights. I just can't talk about the amazing ending anymore. 

I wanted more Emma. Emma is the name that Anyanwu took at the end of Wild Seed. I thought Wild Seed was amazing and I loved Anyanwu. Though I also thought Mind of My Mind was brilliant, I missed her. I wanted to know more about Emma, her thoughts and feelings in this new world. I wanted to know how much she agreed with Doro, how much she fought him. I wanted to spend time more time with her. Now, I don't know if I'm ever going to find out anything more about her. 

Though I missed Emma, Mary was a great new lead female character. I thought her and Karl were wonderful. I liked that their relationship grew over the course of the novel, that there was hate and love, mistrust and affection. Mary was so complex. She was young, but developed an unexpected wisdom. I enjoyed all of the "First Family". I could easily see how Jesse and Rachel would be pulled towards each other. I really liked Seth and Clay, and wished I could spend more time with them too. The next book is titled Clay's Ark, so maybe I'll see them again soon. 

I appreciated the metaphor (allegory?) of the race of telepaths enslaving the "mutes". To the Patternists, skin colour didn't matter, it was irrelevant. What mattered was their telepathic abilities, their intelligence and maturity. To them, however, if they needed something from a non-telepath, they took it; they used their mental abilities to tweek people, making them compliant and willing helpers. They used them as foster parents, they took over a school, invaded homes. They made it seem nice and they made sure that their mutes were happy, but they weren't free. Is it real happiness if they have no choice.  The breakdown of the girl Page with Ada was what really brought it home. She called Ada and the first family on what they were doing and basically Ada said that they do what they must. It broke Page's heart.

From Wild Seed to Mind of My Mind, the story jumped a large amount of time, probably one hundred years.  So the more I think about it, the more I wonder if Clay and his brother will actually be in Clay's Ark.  Will he turn out to be immortal like Doro?  Will it be about something Clay built?  I was so happy for his and his brother's happiness.  After centuries of manipulation, Doro's people were finally becoming a community.  I want to know more.  I hope to find out what happened to them, even if, like Emma, I don't get to spend a lot of time with them.  I am very much looking forward to the second half of the Patternmaster series.