Rose’s Comments (group member since Feb 19, 2013)

Rose’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

Starting this book in the next day or two -- So far everything I've read by Guy Gavriel Kay is FIVE-STAR!

I nominate The Long Earth. It is described as SF, SFantasy and Alternate Reality. I'm really curious to see where it fits in. It's an award winner from 2012 co-authored by the wondrous Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter who first blew my mind with his Flood trilogy. Let's see what these two masters can create!

I nominate The Long Earth for SF. It is described as SF, Sc.Fantasy and Alternate Realty -- would love to see where it all fits. It's an award winner from 2012 written by Terry Pratchett who has long been a highly regarded author and a favourite SF author of mine, Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter who blew me away with his Flood series. Let's see what this combination of authors creates!

At present, I'm 1/3 through The Glass Hotel. I had to stop at that point until my group "meets" online to discuss that portion and then complete the book for another on-line meeting at the end of the month.

I AM engaged in some of the characters enough to wonder "what happens next?"

The Oankali are concerned about the "human conundrum"; the humans' fatal combination of intelligence and hierarchical tendencies and hold the opinion that the hierarchical tendencies led to the destruction of earth and that humanity is not able to survive long term without moderation -- i.e. genetic manipulation. Most certainly they do need to mingle genetically with other races, but the question is, will they leave any 100% human people fertile to continue the human species as well?

That is the ethical question of great interest. The more I read, the more difficult it becomes to answer. If you accept the existence and implication of the conundrum, then there is no need to save humanity. The next question is ... how can one race possibily be in a position to judge another and effectively terminate it?

This is the second book I've read by Oliva E. Butler and her originality and the questions she raises delight me AND keep my mind reeling.
Dawn certainly covers a lot of controversial subject matter. It starts with xenophobia -- I like that Lilith recognizes it for what it is.

"She was not up to taking another bowl from his hand. Daisy hand. Palm in the center, many fingers all the way around. The fingers had bones in them, at least; they weren’t tentacles. And there were only two hands, two feet. He could have been so much uglier than he was, so much less … human. Why couldn’t she just accept him? All he seemed to be asking was that she not panic at the sight of him or others like him. Why couldn’t she do that?

She tried to imagine herself surrounded by beings like him and was almost overwhelmed by panic. As though she had suddenly developed a phobia—something she had never before experienced. But what she felt was like what she had heard others describe. A true xenophobia—and apparently she was not alone in it."

The matter of non-consensual sex is another. It seems that the Ooloi withdraws genetic material that it later mixes with Oankali genetic material and combines that activity with a pleasurable neural stimulation. Is that sex? No question there is a taking and manipulation of genetic material without full consent. I'm not sure what labels to put on it all.

The Oankali don't seem to believe the human race is worthy to continue on without Oankali genetic manipulation. That is certainly alarming!

Do the ends expressed justify the means .... are the ends themselves even justifiable? Butler has created aliens that seem to have a benevolent purpose ... or do they?

I love the tension of the right and wrong of it all. Looking forward to more questions and perhaps some answers. Most interesting will be hearing the opinions of fellow readers.

Would I go along with an altered humanity? I think "yes" because I'm an adopter of change.

I have just started and am delighted with the world-building as well as the challenges faced by the two different races. This is the 2nd book I've read by Octavia E. Butler -- she certainly goes beyond what many other authors in the genre do.

Enjoying All Our Wrong Todays. While the title may sound a bit like a soap opera, the book is a sci-fi/alternate reality combo, with a little time travel thrown in, to get one to an alternate reality. If you start it, be patient through the character development in the first 20% of the book -- it is necessary to help one to understand the dilemma of our not-too-bright time and reality-hopping protagonist. I'm expecting I'm going to like him a lot more as I read, and perhaps not at all by the time I finish.