/lit/ - Literature

>>15586270
Imago - Octavia E. Butler, Xenogenesis trilogy book 3, 1989

Probably should have noted this the first time, but various plot spoilers, etc.

Certainly the weakest of the three books for me. Imago doesn't really build on anything and seems unnecessary overall. I may feel this way because nothing in the book resonated with me. While the first book is about how humans deal with captivity, and the second is about how humans regain their dignity with the help of a privileged hybrid, the third book is about two novel hybrids who really, really, really, want to mate with young humans, but there are a lack of them. One of them attempts suicide because they can't endure being involuntarily celibate as a result of their requirements for a mate. Yes, both of these hybrids are also part of Lilith's brood. There are many in her brood born over the course of a century. A different way to look at it would be that the first book is the story of the oppressed, the second is the story of the liberator, and the third is the story of the oppressor. That's probably why I liked it the least.
Imago takes place 50 years after Adulthold Rites, which makes it 100 years since the main narrative of the first book and 350 years since humanity almost destroyed itself.
Eventually the protagonist stumbles onto a sibling pair of young humans and immediately declares them his mates and makes them an offer they can't refuse, more or less literally. Concerns about consent are brought up, but the protagonist says that if they were given the option to consent, they could have said no, and that wouldn't have been acceptable for a variety of reasons. The humans lead him back to their village of incestous mountain people and they are colonized. The End.

Rating: 3/5
TL;DR: MUST FIND YOUNG HUMANS TO MATE WITH!