The time is millennia in the future. The place is unnamed.
(Although the flashy back cover of my copy proclaims ONCE THIS LAND WAS
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, it’s not explicit in the book, and I’m more comfortable
with the text’s assumption that our current geographic definitions are long
gone.
Homo sapiens have evolved into three species: Patternists,
mutes, and Clayarks. Patternists are the ruling elite, who possess powerful
telepathic abilities and constantly vie for power. Mutes are humans just like
you and me, who work hard, express themselves through ritual, and rely on their
Patternist masters for protection. Clayarks are savage, gun-wielding mutants
who constantly raid Patternist territory. Into this harsh world are united
Coransee and Teray, blood brothers and sons of the immensely powerful
Patternmaster whose power controls the whole civilized world. As the younger
and more naïve brother, Teray must use all his wits to retain his life and his
freedom from Coransee, who with all his being craves becoming the next
Patternmaster and will stop at nothing to destroy his younger brother if his
ambition becomes threatened.
From the very beginning, I appreciate Butler’s ability to
have us meet the book on its own terms. Although every fiber of the setting is
science fiction, the plot begins on page one and doesn’t stop for lengthy
explanations. Yet even the most outlandish concepts were not convoluted enough
to send me back to reread previous sections for illumination. This is one of
the most important goals when writing speculative fiction, and probably the
most difficult to achieve. It takes many skills, especially good pacing and
solid, intelligible creative concepts. All the core creative concepts of Patternmaster are contained my short
summary above; the rest is detail.
The story is somewhat more tortuous. Again, I don’t normally
judge a book by its cover, but the ‘70’s pulp sci-fi cover on my copy screams
out in illustration and capital letters that the main conflict will be between
Teray and Coransee. They meet as soon as enough exposition has happened, but
after some initial squabbling, their feud is left waiting just offstage for
many, many pages. This is a nice touch in that it kept me turning pages while
also surprising me with the emergence of smaller woes and struggles that befall
Teray for more or less the whole book.
Finally, of course, I have a word on the politics. Butler
speaks as a black woman in 1970’s California to me as a white man in 2010’s New
York about many issues which we bemoan continuing to live with, but which are
actually timeless. Consider the political structure of this Southern California:
a small, elite class controls a large, less powerful class, and the two live
together to protect themselves from a third, alien class. This skeletal
archetype, devoid of ideological context, is reflected all throughout human
history on many scales, and through Patternmaster
Butler presents that it will still be the basis for societal interaction
thousands of years hence.
I can’t help but compare Octavia Butler with Ursula K. Le
Guin, who was also writing paperback science fiction on the West Coast around the
same time, and whom I know much better. To Butler’s credit, she is worthy
company to Le Guin. Where a woman writes original science fiction about human
nature and society, you’ll find me on board.
