Adulthood Rites - Book Review

 Adulthood Rites, by Octavia E. Butler, is the second book in the Xenogenesis series.

The series is about a group of aliens that rescues the last human survivors after wars pretty much wiped out humankind and destroyed the biosphere. They don't work for free, though - any new humans will be designed by them to have genes from both species.

There is also a small matter of what they will be doing with Earth when done...

The last book talked about Lilith, a survivor that was used to train other humans, and that ended up being made pregnant against her will. This one starts later, and is about a new baby that mostly looks human, but is Oonkali, and very smart. 

Early in the story, it is kidnapped by humans, who don't want to be made pregnant by the Oonkali but still want human looking babies...

I think I liked this one better - there was less wallowing in the existential despair of the situation, and more action. The world building is pretty great, and there are extra explanations of the biotech and how the Oonkali works.

Overall, very nice, and I am very interested in seeing how the series ends.

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