A Further Review of Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
- The Messy Mrs
- Apr 12, 2022
- 2 min read
I reviewed this book in a single paragraph under my Reviews of Books Read in 2022; however, I felt it warranted further explanation here. Use the button to view my original review.
I really enjoyed this book. Recently it seems that books starring a main character of color become very preachy and sometimes even hateful.
And I get it, especially in the United States, there is a lot to be hateful about. That's saying something coming from me because I am one of the most hateful people I know. This book was a refreshing break from some of the others that I have tried to read.
That may be in part because it was written in 1987 rather than today; however, I think much of it has to do with the fact that the messages regarding race were not central to the plot. They were underlying themes, but they were not the primary focus. As a white reader, that drew me in. As a person who has had a LOT of unfairness and wanted to escape some of it, this book captivated me.
As much as I am about to rave about this book, I want to make note that the first chapter was very boring for me. It was fairly repetitive and it seemed to draw on longer than it needed to. As a writer, I am guilty of this too and that is why I pushed through. It was also a fairly short chapter, so it was easy to get through.
Once I was drawn in, I enjoyed following the journey of Lilith Iyapo as she adapted to an alien culture that intended to use her for whatever it could and anything she was willing to offer, so long as it was in accordance with what they needed. There is a good mix of dialogue and I appreciated the use of English with a notation that they were speaking another language rather than attempting to create a language and a list of words for us to try and remember.
Another thing I appreciated was the explanation of the various 'tribes' which all spoke different Earth languages and were grouped together via that. Butler does an excellent job arranging this and eliminating many questions and accounting for many factors.
Butler also does an excellent job explaining things in an understandable way while leaving plenty to the imagination. There are some awkward time jumps; however, this is explained away through the "Awakenings" that happen and help to clarify some of the main character's confusion as well as our own.
Overall, it was well thought out and excellently crafted, avoiding many of the pitfalls of Sci-Fi. I really admired her work and hope to replicate some of her tactics in my own work moving forward.
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