Dawn

By: Octavia E. Butler

Narrated by: Julienne Irons

Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

One woman is called upon to rebuild the future of humankind after a nuclear war, in this revelatory post-apocalyptic tale from the award-winning author of Parable of the Sower.

When Lilith lyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. She discovers that the Oankali—a seemingly benevolent alien race—intervened in the fate of the humanity hundreds of years ago, saving everyone who survived a nuclear war from a dying, ruined Earth and then putting them into a deep sleep. After learning all they could about Earth and its beings, the Oankali healed the planet, cured cancer, increased human strength, and they now want Lilith to lead her people back to Earth—but salvation comes at a price.

Hopeful and thought-provoking, this post-apocalyptic narrative deftly explores gender and race through the eyes of characters struggling to adapt during a pivotal time of crisis and change.

©1987 Octavia E. Butler (P)2023 Grand Central Publishing

Reader’s voice grates on my ears

The story is interesting however the reader’s weird whispery voice is hard to listen to in big doses. Her inflections are almost like AI to me. Like there’s no personality. This should’ve been a quick listen but took me several days to finish. Maybe she was trying to be soothing but it was not, at least not for me.

Right on Time

The legend, Octavia E. Butler, originally published this book the year I was born, yet it reads like plausible prophecy. This post-apocalyptic sci-fi will have you obsessed with the cycle of attraction and repulsion.

Narrator was easy to listen to even with multiple characters. Only took 2 days to finish-Can't wait to devour the next two!

Great book

Loved this book so imaginative! Such a great imagining great sci fi, and great narration!

Futuristic with a twist

Nice futuristic story line. Easy to get into and keeps your attention from beginning to end. It’s a page turner!

What a ride!!

Fourth book by this author and I deeply appreciate her sense of world building and making you feel like the characters in the story. They are all relatable and equally made to be as real and grounded and those in our reality. At the same time making me reflect on what I would do or how I would react in theses situations. What would I choose, who do I relate to more in those tense moments. 10/10

Brilliant sci fi

A completely original take on post-apocalyptic survival and rescue by an alien race of superior intellect 

Great premise!

This is a great story! And I’ll likely be finishing the trilogy. I just think the middle was pretty forgettable.

The narration I think was too whispery for my taste. And some diversity of character voices would’ve been beneficial. Alien, humans, men, women, neither. They all sound the same! Except for the one dude from New York 😂😂😂 laughed everyone he spoke

Great read! Hard to believe Dawn was written/published in 1987

Great Sci-Fi. Apart from a fleeting reference to the ISSR it is hard to believe Dawn was written/published in 1987. Not at all dated after 35 years and disturbing as Octavia Butler forces us to mull over the implications of genetic manipulation and what it means to be human.

Aged Well

This book took me on a intergalactic adventure, it was amazing! Character development was phenomenal.

I’m conflicted 😆

For the first 4 hrs of the book I was completely confused about what was going on. But after hour 4, things started to click into place and I was able to understand more of what is going on.

I’m conflicted because alien sex felt WEIRD to hear about and the relationship between the humans and aliens I still can’t comprehend. IT DEFINITELY makes you feel uncomfortable but also you relate to the need of human survival.

This book is just WEIRD. 😅 but now I’m invested in the story and this one ended on a cliff hangar and epiphany for the main character so I will read the second book.

This is a post-apocalyptic earth/alien invasion story. Humans have all but destroyed themselves and Earth with nuclear war when some alien life form swooped in to save whom they could and brought the surviving humans aboard their ship that hovers near Earth’s moon.

The aliens have placed the humans in suspended animation as they study their biology in their “claimed” attempt to save humanity. The suspended animation significantly slows the aging process and so far has lasted over 200 years. But why? Apparently these alien life forms have lost their galaxy and are looking for a way to save themselves too. In that process they have found themselves compatible with humans.

The rest of the book is exploring this conundrum of humans and aliens repopulating earth to save both species…Human morality and fear vs survival.

The narrator is awful, too much whisper talking, odd pauses and breathing. It felt overly dramatic in the first few hours of the book and I almost quit. It felt like the narration leveled out or maybe I just became accustomed to it. LOL the storyline saved the narration of this book.