Dawn: Book One of the Xenogenesis Series (1987)
By Octavia Butler
Adaptation; Evolution; Extinction; Genetic engineering; Mutations; Posthuman; Repopulation; Science fiction; Transgenics
An alien race rescues the survivors of nuclear war, reawakening them when Earth is once more habitable and offering them the chance to improve the human species by combining alien DNA with existing human genes.
After nuclear war eliminates most of humanity, Lilith Iyapo is rescued and held in suspended animation by the Oankali, an extraterrestrial species that survives by saving distressed planets and genetically merging with the survivors. After 250 years, Lilith is Awakened from her suspension by Jdhaya, and is immediately repulsed by his tentacle-like sensory receptors and cold, firm skin. Jdahya is assigned by the other Oankalis to ease Lilith into her new surroundings, as she has been chosen to Awaken other humans and prepare them to return to Earth. Lilith initially resists her assignment, sensing that genetic recombination with Oankali will produce alien offspring. Still, she begins to bond with Nikanj, an androgynous ooloi that promotes reproduction between its male and female mates. After Nikanj alters her biochemistry, and teaches her how to survive in a simulated Amazon forest, Lilith Awakens forty other humans and begins to teach them about the Oankali. The selected individuals divide into two groups: those who are skeptical but adaptable, and those who resort to violence against Lilith and the captors to assert the primacy of humanity. Eventually, the entire group turns against her, and as they are sent to repopulate Earth, Lilith remains behind to train another group of humans. She is also unwittingly impregnated by Nikanj with a child that combines Oankali and human genes, and she waits in horror to discover what sort of being she is carrying.
Human survival depends upon the genetic engineering and ultimate recombination with the Oankali, a move which effectively ends the known human and Oankali species in favor of a more adaptable hybrid. For the Oankali, the genetic engineering is necessary for the evolution of their species, yet Lilith can only regard it as the greatest violation imaginable. Here, the quality of humanity is called into question: if human genetic structures are altered, are the resultant beings still human? The dramatic alterations required to perpetuate humanity are viewed by all the humans as something grotesque, an event to be challenged even at the expense of their lives. Yet even the minor genetic modifications Lilith experiences are disturbing to herself and her trainees. Her genetic disposition towards cancer, for instance, is reconfigured to prevent further growths, but Lilith feels like a laboratory animal when she learns that the Oankali operated on her during her suspension. Moreover, her trainees treat her like one of the captors because of biochemical and genetic alterations that allow her to heal rapidly and employ extraordinary strength. Even genetic engineering which provides tactical advantage to the humans is resisted, indicating that resistance to mutation may be instinctual but counterproductive to beneficial evolutionary impulses.
Evaluation: This futuristic tale of human conflict arising from the strong impulse to protect our genetic composition reflects developments in genetics from Darwin’s first theories to modern debates about genetic modifications. This novel offers both the individual and communal turbulences that arise from potential genetic technologies.
– Natalie Champ