Especially fascinating are the humans, and even though most of the human inhabitants of earth are still resistors, violent savage and dangerous (particularly the males), Jodahs knows that it will only be complete if it can find a pair of humans to mate with. Jodahs however, like all Ooloi wants to explore the life around it. For this reason some Oankali wish to return Jodahs to the orbiting ship where it could be controlled and confined. Ooloi however possess great power, and if Jodahs follows its human predilection for self-destructive violence, or indeed fails to master its own genetic abilities, it could kill with a touch, or accidently create deadly diseases. Through Nikanj’s subconscious longing for a same sex child, Jodahs will become the first human born construct Ooloi, neither male nor female, but the Oankali’s third gender, able to process perceive and store genetic material from other life forms, change its body at will, and mate with both male and female pairs of humans and Oankali. Drawn more to Nikanj than either of its male parents, and rapidly learning to perceive and taste the genetic heritage of those around it, Jodahs realises that it is becoming Ooloi. As the time of metamorphosis approaches however, Jodahs realises something is wrong. Like all of Lilith’s construct children, both those born to her and those born of Oankali, Jodahs has been created of genetic material from two humans, and two Oankali parents by Nikanj, Lilith’s Ooloi mate. However, hopefully I can explain the reasons why I feel as I do, and why this is likely one of the few negative reviews of the book you will find. In some ways, you could say I have been hoisted on my own petard, since I have admitted in the past my fondness for alien aliens and alternative perspectives, and to get a perspective so alternative that it feels uncomfortable to the point of disgust might just be a reflection of my own narrowness of perception. I did not expect Imago to leave me feeling as deeply disturbed as it has done, or that my reaction to the book would be this visceral.
I always expected the third in Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood trilogy to be a difficult book, as the first two were, which is why I took such a long time between Adulthood Rights and Imago.
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