A review by quailtea
Clay's Ark by Octavia E. Butler

3.0

Wow- a wild ride. All of the trigger warnings for this one, particularly gun and sexual violence (especially child sexual assault). I've been grateful to read this series- although the connections to this book and the last two are scant, barely enough to show they take place in the same universe- because it shows all the seeds being planted and ideas being explored more richly, compellingly and meaningfully in Earthseed, Xenogenesis, and Kindred. Those latter books/series all have complex political notions that provide a foundation for both the enjoyable and the awful parts of the story. I just don't think that political statement is here clearly enough in this book, which means that it's well written, hard to put down, certainly fascinating, but the violence- in particular the sexual violence against young girls- is relentless and sort of meaningless. I will still finish this series but this has been a tough one.