Survivor

Survivor by Octavia Butler was published in 1978. The novel is considered part of the Patternist series, falling between Clay's Ark and Patternist in chronology. Butler refused to have it reprinted after a few early editions (it has been out of print since 1981), so it is not technically part of the series. The story focuses on Alanna, a young woman of color and the adopted daughter of 'Missionaries' fleeing the clay'sark plagued Earth. Alanna and her family find themselves on an alien planet, stuck between two warring Kohn tribes: the Garkohn and Tehkohn. Butler explained why she refused to have the novel reprinted: "When I was young, a lot of people wrote about going to another world and finding either little green men or little brown men, and they were always less in some way. They were a little sly, or a little like "the natives" in a very bad, old movie. And I thought, 'No way. Apart from all these human beings populating the galaxy, this is really offensive garbage.' People ask me why I don't like Survivor, my third novel. And it's because it feels a little bit like that. Some humans go up to another world, and immediately begin mating with the aliens and having children with them. I think of it as my Star Trek novel."

Read More: Identifying first editions of Survivor

(Log in or Create an Account first!)

The Book Zealot

The Book Zealot

About The Book Zealot