The Omnibus

How do you feel about Omnibuses?  I understand why they are created, popular trilogies (or quartets and quintets) are collected into one volume and sold at a good price. People buy, read, it's great. Sometimes they replace the individual novels.

Here is where my question really comes from: Do you read the omnibus as if it were one book? Typically, when I read series, I break them up. I like variety, I like to think and ponder. It's been a long time since I binge read a series. I can't even think of an instance. Maybe when I read Harry Potter when only the first four books were out? I haven't felt the urge to binge-read either. Recently, I read Seed to Harvest and Underwater Love (two completely different books).  Seed to Harvest is the collection of Octavia E. Butler's Patternmaster series. Underwater Love is the collection of MaryJanice Davidson's Fred the Mermaid series. In both cases, I broke up the series, reading each book, then something else, then coming back. Neither omnibus was that long, but I chose this option anyway. Patternmaster is a series of such different books, I don't know if reading them all together would have mattered.

Part of me feels ridiculous for doing this.  Am I ridiculous?  This is just how I've always read series, interspersed with other books.  The omnibuses have just made me think about my choices.

Patternmaster

Patternmaster is the last and first book in the Patternmaster series. It was published first, but it chronologically takes place at the end of the story and has been collected with the other Patternist books in Seed to Harvest. After reading Patternmaster, I can see why Octavia E. Butler felt inspired to write the other three novels. There's so much that happens in Patternmaster, that the events ask for some sort of explanation or history. In passing, a long-lived creator is mentioned, who was killed by his own daughter, and a disease that was brought back by the only ship to ever visit another planet. There was so much involved in creating the Patternist world.

Patternmaster takes place hundreds of years in the future. After finishing it, I realized it was a dystopian novel before dystopian novels were a thing. Without the other three novels, a reader would have the question that they would have after reading so many dystopian novels, that I had after reading The Hunger Games and 1984, how did our society reach this point? Reading Patternmaster I didn't wonder that. I had read Wild Seed, Mind of my Mind and Clay's Ark. I knew exactly who that long-lived creator was, I knew what happened to our society, and I knew where the disease came from.  If I had known the publication order before I started the series, I might have read Patternmaster first and allowed myself to have these questions.  Though, I don't know if I would have been happy ending the series with Clay's Ark.  Maybe one day if I ever reread the Patternist series again that's exactly what I'll do, though I doubt I would ever be able to forget this incredibly intricate story.

Patternmaster is a unique story with interesting and complex characters. I enjoyed getting to know to Teray and Amber. I also liked the antagonist Coransee, he had a Doro kind of vibe, and I appreciated that Iray did not do what I expected her to do. However, after reading the other three novels, I fully expected Rayal's behaviour. Also, I don't know if I am 100% satisfied with that ending. Not that I expect endings to tie up everything, but I like more of a sense of closure. I feel like there is so much more to know about these characters. Though maybe, I have just lived in this world for so long, I am wishing for more Patternmaster books. Patternmaster was exciting and the series was fantastic. It has me excited to read more from Octavia Butler.

Clay's Ark

There is a ship, Clay's Ark, which takes Earth's first ever interstellar explorers to another planet. That doesn't turn out so well. The last surviving crew member makes it back to Earth and goes into hiding. There is also a family. A doctor and his two daughters, their mother having died some time ago. It is 2021 and America does not seem like a great place to live. Smash all that together and we have the story of Clay's Ark.

What I liked most about Clay's Ark was Octavia E. Butler's allusions to the future.  Clay's Ark was published in 1984. To me, it doesn't seem that long ago, but it has been 31 years (and that makes me feel old).  Talking about her grandparents, Keira "wanted to visit them in the flesh, not just see them on a phone screen." That's something we can relate to now. We Skype and FaceTime our family and friends who live far away, even ones who don't, but sometimes it is nice to be with them in real life. Even the main character's name is called into question.  When Eli asks where Keira got "a name like that", her response is that her mother didn't want her children "to have names that sounded like everybody's." To which Eli starts calling her Kerry.  If Butler only knew, I know more than one Kiera (and Keiran) and her sister Rane does not have an unusual name for the 21st century either. At one point, the characters "turned on the map", which I think means they turned on the GPS.  From the descriptions of the screen in the car, I'm sure it's an onboard GPS. The vocabulary to describe it was just different in the early 80s.

Of all the things that were part of the "future", this quote struck me most, "She knew about ugly reactions. Probably Jacob knew more, or would learn more, but walking down a city street between her mother and her father had taught her quite a bit." Keira's mother was black and her father is white.  She remembers the racism she has had to deal with in her life (though Butler never uses the term "racism" throughout the entire novel), about people not believing Blake is her "real" father, as she is darker skinned than her sister.  I hope we are mostly past these reactions. I haven't experienced them here, but maybe that is also about where I live.  I have gone to other places and felt "different", a feeling I hope my children never experience.  I sometimes wonder if it would be worse for them too, because their father is white. Nobody has ever stared at them though, except to say that they are adorable. I appreciate Butler writing these kinds of characters in the 70s and 80s. I've read other works by her with interracial couples and I feel like those stories might have been difficult to get published.

The story takes place in 2021, which was a long time away for people living in 1984, but that is only six years from now.  Are we going to Proxima Centauri in six years? I doubt it. Though how they got there was not based on current technology (that of the 80s or of now). Here's how they did it...

I waited for half the book to tell me about Clay Dana and why Eli's ship was called "Clay's Ark". Then, it was barely a couple pages of information, about Clay Dana giving over information for interstellar drives, based on his own psionic powers and how the potential for these powers in others could power the drive.  I'm not sure I'm on board with this reasoning, but it is what happened.   The part that irked me the most was that the ship was the only information we got about Clay.  What about him as a person?  Yes, he was with Eli and the other astronauts, but what about his life?  Who was he with?  Did he have a wife and family? What was his life like after he left his brother behind? Where is he now? What about his brother and the Patternist people?

In the end, I felt like Clay's Ark was a set-up book.  With Doro gone by the end of Mind of my Mind, the Patternists had no enemies, no one to stand against them as they spread.  By the end of Clay's Ark, there is something that can now threaten the survival of the Patternists.  It had to come from outer space, but it is on earth now.  I wonder what the Patternists are going to do about it, but I also wonder if we needed a whole book to give the organism a back story.  I think I would have liked the story better if it felt more connected to the series, instead of me just waiting for information that was never coming.  Clay's Ark was okay.  I think the story had more potential, but it didn't dive deep enough.  It did make me think though, and I can always appreciate that. I am looking forward to Patternmaster. I have a feeling there is a showdown coming.

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.

Wild Seed

Wild Seed is the first novel in Octavia E. Butler's Patternmaster series, in the chronology of the Patternmaster world.  It is actually the 3rd novel written in the series.  If I had known that before I started, I probably would have read the books in publication order.  Oh well.  The edition of Wild Seed I have is collected in an Omnibus titled, Seed To Harvest.  I hadn't fully decided until I reached the emotional end of Wild Seed, whether I would write about each of the four Patternmaster books individually or if I would write about Seed to Harvest as a whole. It was an emotional ending and a fantastic story. Wild Seed is definitely a story on its own, able to stand alone, not just as a part of a series.  The power of the story decided for me, I had to write about Wild Seed (and now each subsequent story) on its own.

Wild Seed starts off with Doro. Sensing the presence of Anwanyu, Doro veers off his path to find her. That decision sets their immortal lives on a new course.  I loved this story.  Not only is the plot interesting and unique, it gives us a view of a world we don't often see in fantasy. Doro is a spirit, who's not a spirit; who changes bodies by first killing the spirit of the ones who own it. He can become male or female, black or white, anyone he wants. Anyanwu is an incredibly strong shapeshifter. She can become any living creature, learning all she needs to know about how a body functions by eating a bite of that animal. She can be a woman or man, make herself black or white or whatever she wants. Doro has lived for almost four thousand years. Anyanwu is young in comparison, only about four hundred by the time the book ends. They were both born in Africa, but their lives have moved to the new world, to a secluded part of New York. 

I love Anyanwu. I love how much she loves her friends and family. I love that she wants to be around her people. I love how much she cares for them, wants them to be safe and to grow and think for themselves. I love how much she loved Isaac. She was amazing, they were amazing. I'm so glad that this is a series and I (hopefully) get to see what happens next to her. 

I loved to hate Doro. I just wanted him to see what he was doing was wrong, not just because of convention or superstition, but because it can create bad people. Before finding Anyanwu, he lost most of his humanity. Anyanwu is a good (interesting) influence on him. I'm excited to see what kind of change will happen to him through the books in this series. 

I liked that we got to know Isaac. Besides him, we don't really see much of the other people Doro and Anyanwu interact with. The rest of the characters flit in and out of their lives, though there are a few we get deeper glimpses into, like Stephen, Luisa, Thomas, Nneke, and Leah. I wonder who we will see in future books. I suppose with the unending lives of Doro and Anyanwu, the next book could start with the end of Wild Seed, or it could start a hundred years in the future. 

I wonder about the other books. How much time will have passed? Where are we going to find this immortal pair? Will Anyanwu change Doro? I'm excited that I have started this series and I'll be reading the other books soon.

 
 *I really like all these interesting covers from over the years.  I had to share.*

Random List: Books I Probably Wouldn't Have Read If Not For Required Reading

Inspired by a post I saw on a blog I can't remember (sorry), I decided to create this little list.  I was then reminded I hadn't finished it when I saw The Broke and The Bookish's A Cocktail and Conversation. I decided to post some of my favourite books that were required reading.  I'm not saying I would have never read these books, but way back in my school days, I probably wouldn't have picked them up by choice.  These required books, from both high school and university have stayed with me over the years.  They have led me to favourite authors and enriched my reading life.

1. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

2. Coming Through Slaughter, by Michael Ondaatje

3. A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal, by William Wordsworth (I know it's a poem, but I had to include it.)

4. The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

5. The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham

6. Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare

7. David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens

8. Kindred, by Octavia Butler

9. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

10. Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder

I decided to stick with ten, a nice round number.  I should mention though, that I would never have read Ethel Wilson, Edith Wharton, Henry James or Thomas Hardy without required reading... and probably a whole slew of other fantastic authors.  I know required reading is often dreaded, but so many times I didn't need to worry.

Let's Get To Know Each Other: Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition

This week The Broke and The Bookish want to know who we think are the Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition.  I did this topic way back in March 2011; I won't repeat authors.  I didn't even make it to ten last time. Can I 2+ years later?  I'm going to include along with the author's name, something they've written that I've enjoyed.  In no particular order.

1. Lauren DeStefano - The Chemical Garden Trilogy

2. Miriam Toews - A Complicated Kindness

3. Morgan Rhodes - Falling Kingdoms

4. Colleen McCullough - The Thorn Birds

5. Katherine Mansfield - The Garden Party

6. Zora Neale Hurston - Their Eyes Were Watching God

7. Khaled Hoseinni - And The Mountains Echoed

8. Richard Ford - Canada

9. Octavia Butler - Kindred

10. Donna Morrissey - The Deception of Livvy Higgs

I reached ten!  I know some of these authors have won awards and have multiple books under their belt, but a lot of them I don't see on other blogs.  I don't read about them in newspapers and magazines.  I try to talk about them in real life with people and they don't know who they are!  For some of these authors, if it wasn't for Goodreads or my attraction to pretty/interesting book covers, I might not even know about them.  Some are "classic" authors that have been forgotten when others are constantly discussed.  Each of those ten books I loved, for different reasons, and I would recommend them.

Who do you think deserves more recognition?

Amazing Books From Long Ago

This week The Broke and The Bookish have asked what are my Top Ten Favorite Books I Read Before I Was A Blogger. The only trouble I had with this list is remembering which books I read before I was a blogger.  I've been blogging since 2006 and that's a lot of books.  Then, I also had trouble narrowing it down to ten.  But here are ten favourites that have stayed with me over the years.  I plan on re-reading some (all) of them eventually.

1. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

2. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

3. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

4. Kindred, by Octavia Butler

5. The Lord of The Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkein

6. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel

7. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë

8. Lives of Girls and Women, by Alice Munro

9. The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

10. Haroun and The Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie

I'm going to sneak in an honourable mention of books 1-6 of the Harry Potter series.

What books did you love before blogging?

You Must Read These!

I love this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and The Bookish.  I want to encourage reading and I'm always ready to recommend books.  I think my list is pretty diverse.  I try to recommend books based on the person because I like for everyone to have good reading experiences.  These are a selection of books that aren't just favourites, but one's I think other people will like.  In no particular order the Top Ten  Books I Recommend The Most:

1. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood - One of the best books ever.  It's so eerily possible.
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini - Another best book ever.  Good if you are interesting in the problems in the Middle-East from the perspective of someone who lived there.  Also good if you're interested in women's rights (and who isn't?).
3. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins - I've described this book as Extreme Survivor.  That still holds true.
4. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King - King's epic.  It's also good for those who don't necessarily like horror, because this lends itself towards fantasy.
5. 1984, by George Orwell - You want to know where "Big Brother" comes from?  Here it is.  It is so scary.
6. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells - Classic Science-Fiction: Wells' commentary on the British class structure, with our cannibalistic descendants.  I plan or re-reading this one soon.
7. The Shopaholic Series, by Sophie Kinsella - So fun!  Good for the beach, to relax, to forget about the world.
8. Flush, by Virginia Woolf - It is short and clever.  It's a great way to test out Woolf if you're not sure about diving in, probably the least like her other books.
9. Kindred, by Octavia Butler - It's been over a decade since I read it, but the story has stayed with me and I don't think it will ever leave.  To me, that's pretty powerful writing.
10. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley - Easily my favourite of the classic horrors.

So, read these books.  I highly recommend them.  What do you think I should read?  Recommendations?

Dear Santa, I Would Like ALL These Books....

I like this week's question from The Broke and The Bookish.  I love books.  I don’t think I could ever have enough.  My hubby (who loves books too) thinks I’m two steps away from becoming a book hoarder….  Even still, I can easily come up with ten (or more) books that I’d like Santa to bring.  So, in no particular order, my top ten books I’d like from Santa.

1.     The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger: The Battle of Tull, by Stephen King

2.     Kindred, by Octavia Butler

3.     The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks, by Max Brooks

4.     Fray, by Joss Whedon

5.     The Wind Through The Keyhole, by Stephen King

6.     At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories, by Kij Johnson

7.     Clockwork Prince, by Cassandra Clare

8.     A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness

9.     The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid

10.   The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

11.   Any of the Undead books I don’t own, by MaryJanice Davidson

12.   Out of Oz, by Gregory Maguire

13.   Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, by Steve Hockensmith

14.   Moranthology, by Caitlin Moran

15.   Philosophy: A Discovery in Comics, by Margaret de Heer

16......

 Okay… like I said… book hoarder…. Ahh!

What books do you want for Xmas?

Don't Forget About Me! Ten "Older" Books I Think It's Important To Remember

I like the Broke and The Bookish's topic for this week's Top Ten.  What "older" books do you love, that you want to make sure no one forgets.  There are tons of books I could put on the list, but these were the first ten I thought of (yup, my mind went from Rice and Harris to Montgomery and Lewis without pause).  In no particular order, my top ten don't forget about me books:

1. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood - My very first dystopian and very scary.
2. 1984, by George Orwell - Another classic, very scary dystopian.
3. Interview With A Vampire, by Anne Rice - Great vampire fiction.
4. Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris - The book that inspired True Blood.
5. Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery - A classic book, the thought of which always makes me smile.
6. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis - I'm on the last book and it's a series I don't want to end.
7. Carrie, by Stephen King - This one is a bit of a cheat   I haven't actually read it yet.  But it's King's first book and the one that started his career.
8. Kindred, by Octavia Butler - Just brilliant.
9. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee - An amazing story.
10. A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini - It still makes me emotional.

I was tempted to add Harry Potter to this list, but I figured it would be on tons of other lists this week.

What older books do you love?