Welcome to Litsy!

(1984) Third (or 4th or 5th depending on what & how you count) in Butler's Patternist series. This seems connected to the series less by plot than by common themes: power, transformation, eugenics, toxic family relationships, and the struggle to be human in the midst of it all. (Oh and rape: big red flashing trigger warning for that, y'all.) As with others in the series, I'm torn between admiration for the craft and aversion to the material.

#20in4 #reaadathon @Andrew65 Wrapup!

Goals-
20 hours audio - Wives and Daughters (turns out Scrib doesn't like my hikes, so 9 hours of this and 7 hours of Palace of Illusions) 🎧 16/20 Finished Palace ✔
20 chapters of Clays Arc ✔ Finished!
20 chapters Trespasses (📙 10/20)
20 pages of Pattermaster - was not feeling this title so read 20 pages of The Vaster Wilds ✔

I didn't update yesterday because I was so so close to finishing a book then fell asleep!

My goals:
20 hours of Wives and Daughters - 6 hours down
20 chapters of Clays Ark ✔️
20 hours Trespasses - starting today
20 pages of Pattermaster - after Clay's Ark I need a break from Butler, so changing the start book to something I feel like reading after Trespasses is

#20in4 #readathon @Andrew65

I had thought I was going to read all of Butler's work this year but this volume has really turned me off from her.
This was brutal. Lots of talk about and on page rape. Lots of other violence too, the end chapters are nothing but. The characters have been taken over by a disease that makes them want to breed - against their hosts wishes. This whole book left me wondering why I was reading.
It is an easy grammatically to read book though.

I am a bit confused with this book. It is #3 in a series but seems to have nothing in common with the other books. Reading on GR that this was published last (#5 but listed in the republication as #3).
Has anyone read this? Does Doro show up eventually? There was a man named Clay in book 2 but this does not seem to be connected to him?
Also I can't seem to find book 4 anywhere? It seems it is the only one they randomly stopped publishing?

#weeklyforecast I have Thistlefoot on audio I also have an ARC of Naomi Alderman's The Future (author of The Power). Hoping to get through most of these, I am super busy next weekend with throwing my parents a joint 70th Birthday party so we will see how this goes!

Once again, intriguing world building. Chapters alternate between past and present timelines describing an alien disease spreading through small communities. The ideas brought up were interesting, but the final climax was abrupt and generic by comparison. Much better themes than patternmaster: consensus, interdependency, free will vs biological imperatives, etc.

It helps to have a cute kitten around when reading this third book in the Patternist series. Clay‘s Ark is as disturbing as it is propulsive. It was fascinating to read this at the same time as Midnight Sun—both feature parasitic nonhumans with super speed & strength, an emphasis on family, and mutant kids, but where Meyer sees sparkles, Butler sees horror, humanity, survival. Hard one to rate, a lot depends on the final book in the series to me.

Halfway through I realized this book was part 3 of series...🤪 which explains some of my disenchantment. Dystopian with gratuitous sexual assault is tough to read

#authoramonth2020 @Soubhiville

Oh, friends. I sort of appreciate CLAY‘S ARK, but I don‘t like it, and I‘m pretty sure the longer I‘ll sit with it, the stronger that feeling will grow.

Part of it‘s down to a rape scene close to the end. Most of it‘s because the first two books promised a particular kind of story and CLAY‘S ARK upsets that trajectory. It examines one massive consequence of the Pattern‘s work, and in doing so it changes the nature of the series. ⬇️

Pain day. Blah. I read in bed for a while, then had cream cheese waffles and coffee in my lying mug while I read some more.

CLAY‘S ARC is good so far—it‘s a different take on alien abduction/invasion—but it hasn‘t engaged me as quickly as the first two Patternist books did. I‘m hoping it‘s one of those slow burn things that‘ll click into place all at once and leave me unable to tear myself away.

I don‘t know exactly how I feel about this entry since it really doesn‘t feel connected to the first two books. It was a quick read and I‘m curious how the next book will tie this together.

Finally starting Clays Ark to finish the Patternist series in honor of Octavia Butlers birthday ❤️ I think these are the last two books of hers I haven‘t read and I‘ve been trying to stretch them out 😊

How does this volume go at all with the first two books of the Patternist Series? While I was looking for connections, I might have missed the point.

Let‘s see if the last book ties everything together.

Book 3 in the Patternist series (but the last to be published), “Clay‘s Ark” feels out of sync with the first two books. In fact, it reads like half of the backstory for the final book. I still enjoyed it. I‘m excited for “Patternmaster”!

Disclaimer: This addition to the series is nothing like the other two.
Triggers: Rape

Clay's Ark is definitely an interesting read with some good characters. I do recommend the book but I'll admit it's not my favorite of the series. It honestly felt a bit cliche in several aspects, including the end. I do hope the last book ties everything together. That being said, OEB is still QUEEN!

🌟🌟🌟☄

This next part of the Patternist series was engrossing, like the other two. It had a couple of the characters from the second book, but the books didn't really tie together too much other than that. I'm hoping the last book ties it all together. ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
Trigger warning : rape, child abuse

I joined the local bookstore‘s Octavia Butler Book Club. We‘re working through the Patternist series. This month it‘s Clay‘s Ark.
While I loved this book, I don‘t see how it connects to Doro, Anyanwu, et al., beyond the Clay Dana connection. Is this what we‘re supposed to understand was Doro‘s origin? If so, is that cleared up in Patternmaster???

I absolutely loved Book 2 (Mind of my Mind). Now on to Book 3 of the Patternist series #OctaviaButler

Dammit guys. I finished this in a day! I have no idea how the events of this book feed into the Patternist series but damn if I'm not ready to start this next book. An organism that can infect and control humans making them non humans and a small enclave of the infected trying to stop the infection from spreading while also trying to hold on to some of their humanity. Incredible and so damn original...

And here I am, on to the third novel of this series... I can't get enough...

Loved this book so much!!! The writing is easy to read but amazingly evocative. It's amazing what Butler can say in few words and create so much context and feeling. Also creates a very interesting picture of the future. Really awesome book!

I found these gems at the house of books. Octavia Butler books are so hard to find and I love the cover art on the paperbacks of older sci-fi novels. #octaviabutler #bookstore #books #scifi #scifibookcovers

My other three used book store finds from my post appointment bookstore adventure! Been meaning to check out one of the city's bookstores for a while, so happy to finally got to go today!