Schlobin Selections #5: Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

Published Feb 27, 2023 by
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Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

Over the next several weeks, we will be highlighting a select number of titles and authors from the James H. and Virginia Schlobin Literature of the Fantastic Collection. Established in 2004 by East Carolina University English Professor Roger C. Schlobin, the James H. and Virginia Schlobin Literature of the Fantastic Collection provides scholarly materials to researchers and students interested in Science Fiction and Fantasy literature. The collection consists of over 3,700 individual books, mostly primary literature in the form of novels, and collected short narratives with some additional secondary literature and scholarly criticism related to the various genres that are represented. The James H. and Virginia Schlobin Literature of the Fantastic Collection also has a related manuscripts collection which consists of nearly 5 cubic feet of materials which can be accessed here.

Title: Wild Seed
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Publisher: Pocket Books, New York
Publication Date: 1981
Page Count: 256
Call Number: PS3552.U827 W54 1981

Originally published in 1980, Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed is the fifth and final book in her five-part Patternist series. Despite Wild Seed being the final book published in the influential series, the story actually takes place before the other four books chronologically as it serves as an origin story for much of what takes place in the other four titles. Wild Seed tells the story of Doro and Anyanwu, two immortal Africans who become linked together due to their extraordinary powers. Doro is described as a spirit who has the ability to inhabit the bodies of others and will kill anyone or anything that gets in the way of his end goal with no remorse. On the other hand, Anyanwu is the main female character who has the ability to heal others and can shapeshift into any human or animal she desires. Upon meeting one another, Doro attempts to lure Anynwu to the New World so that he can add her to one of the “seed villages” he has created where he desires to breed humans with extraordinary abilities to inhabit the world. Doro is able to convince Anyanwu to join him in the New World by promising to give her children and that these children will never die. Unbeknownst to Anyanwu, Doro plans to not only impregnate her himself but he will also force her to have children with his son Issac, another super-powered human.

Upon arriving in the New World, Doro becomes fearful of the strength of Anyanwu’s powers, especially when she shapeshifts into an animal, and begins questioning whether he can actually control her as he desires. This is also the first time that Anyanwu sees Doro for who he really is as she witnesses his horrendous treatment and disregard for the lives that he claimed to be protecting. Despite this, Anyanwu is still married to Issac and told to bear his children, as well as the children of anyone else Doro orders her to. Eventually, fifty years pass, and Doro finally returns to his “seed village” to collect Anyanwu’s adult daughter Nweke who has reached the age where she is coming into her own extraordinary powers. Tragedy strikes, resulting in Issac being killed. Knowing that Issac was the only thing stopping Doro from killing her, Anyanwu flees in animal form. The story picks up again one hundred years later with Anyanwu now living on a plantation in Louisiana with her own colony of people she protects. Doro is eventually able to track her down once more and his arrival brings chaos and death to the peaceful colony. Realizing that she will never be able to escape Doro and the pain that he brings upon her, Anyanwu plans to end her own life. This results in a drastic change for Doro, who in a moment of desperation, agrees to change his ways in exchange for her life.

Octavia E. Butler signing a copy of her book Fledgling, 2015.

Touching on themes of gender roles, power struggles, eugenics, and patriarchy, Butler’s work was well received upon its initial release. Critics praised Butler’s ability to blend fantasy and reality, pointing to the historical backdrop that the story of Doro and Anyanwu progresses through during their story. It is also important to note that upon its release, Wild Seed was considered groundbreaking by many scholars because not only did it buck the trendy Second Wave “future utopia” that was dominating fantasy and science fiction works of the time, but it also was one of the first works to highlight the struggle that female characters must endure when living in a male-dominated society. Wild Seed would also be one of the first fantasy titles published that included an African viewpoint as well as African protagonists and antagonists. In 2019, it was announced that Butler’s Wild Seed would be adopted as a film for Amazon’s Prime Video service.

Read previous entries from Schlobin Selections here.

Sources:

  • Duchamp, L. Timmel, and Nisi Shawl. “Sun Woman’ or ‘Wild Seed’? How a Young Feminist Writer Found Alternatives to White Bourgeois Narrative Models in the Early Novels of Octavia Butler.” Essay. In Strange Matings: Science Fiction, Feminism, African American Voices, and Octavia E. Butler, edited by Rebecca J. Holden, 82–95. Seattle, WA: Anueduct Press, 2013.
  • Martinez, Hezra. “Octavia Butler’s ‘Wild Seed’ to Be Adapted for the Small Screen.” theportalist.com, April 3, 2019. https://theportalist.com/wild-seed-butler-adaptation.
  • Starosta, Stuart. “Wild Seed: Two African Immortals Battle for Supremacy in Early America.” Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews, n.d. https://fantasyliterature.com/reviews/wild-seed/.
  • “Wild Seed.” Maine Humanities Council, May 6, 2022. https://www.mainehumanities.org/books/wild-seed/.