Book Club: January Selection and February Poll

It hardly seems time already, but here we are on the first day of December, with the announcement for the January book club selection!

Drum roll please . . .

tenorDawn (1987)
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Discussion Date: 1/26/18

The premise:

An alien race calls on one woman to revive mankind after Earth’s apocalypse in this science fiction classic from the award-winning author of Parable of the Sower.
Lilith Iyapo has just lost her husband and son when atomic fire consumes Earth — the last stage of the planet’s final war. Hundreds of years later Lilith awakes, deep in the hold of a massive alien spacecraft piloted by the Oankali — who arrived just in time to save humanity from extinction. They have kept Lilith and other survivors asleep for centuries, as they learned whatever they could about Earth. Now it is time for Lilith to lead them back to her home world, but life among the Oankali on the newly resettled planet will be nothing like it was before.

The Oankali survive by genetically merging with primitive civilizations — whether their new hosts like it or not. For the first time since the nuclear holocaust, Earth will be inhabited. Grass will grow, animals will run, and people will learn to survive the planet’s untamed wilderness. But their children will not be human. Not exactly.

Featuring strong and compelling characters and exploring complex themes of gender and species, Octavia E. Butler presents a powerful, postapocalyptic interplanetary epic, as well as a ray of hope for humanity.

If, for whatever reason, your library doesn’t have Dawn, I’ve been informed that it is also available in the omnibus called Lilith’s Brood.


February is Black History Month, so I’ve decided to celebrate by offering three speculative fiction novels by Black authors for February’s book club. There’s a notable lack of Octavia Butler because of January’s selection, you’ll notice. The titles are a hot link to Amazon if you’re not familiar with the books!

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