Adulthood Rites - Novel by Octavia E. Butler

Adulthood Rites is the second novel in Octavia E. Butler’s groundbreaking Xenogenesis trilogy (also known as Lilith’s Brood), a visionary exploration of identity, survival, and what it means to be human in a radically altered future.

The story centers on Akin, the first male human-Oankali construct child—born of an Earth woman and an Oankali alien father. As a being who embodies both species, Akin becomes a living bridge between a devastated human race and their alien saviors (or colonizers), who seek to prevent human self-destruction through genetic merging.

But Akin’s existence is fraught with conflict. Taken from his family and raised among human resisters who reject the Oankali, he gains a deep understanding of humanity’s pain, pride, and desire for autonomy. As he matures, Akin must make an impossible choice: whether to support the Oankali’s vision of a hybrid future, or fight for a path that might preserve unaltered humanity—at great risk.

In Adulthood Rites, Butler blends science fiction with profound ethical and philosophical questions—about power, freedom, identity, and the costs of change. It’s a haunting, thought-provoking novel that continues her legacy of writing speculative fiction that’s as intellectually rigorous as it is emotionally resonant.