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- a fitting conclusion to the Patternist sequence
- Host to Millions
- Not Butler's Best
- A great book, unless compared with Butler's others
- Change happens
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Clay's Ark
Octavia E. Butler
Manufacturer: Aspect
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 Butler, Octavia E.
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Similar Items:
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Patternmaster
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Wild Seed
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Parable of the Talents
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Parable of the Sower
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Lilith's Brood
ASIN: 0446603708 |
Customer Reviews:
a fitting conclusion to the Patternist sequence.......2007-07-29
Clay's Ark is fittingly the final volume in Octavia Butler's Patternist series. While in the chronological order Clay's Ark would be third, its proper place in the reading order is that of the publication order: fifth. Some may find it preferable to read the Patternist novels chronologically, but this would be something of a mistake.
Patternmaster, the first published and last in the timeline, sets up our world as it will be in thousands of years. Technology has all but disappeared and there are telepaths ruling from households and controlling mutes, those humans without telepathic power. A third group are the clayarks, disease-ridden once humans who are disgustingly deformed and are feared and hunted. This brings us to Mind of My Mind where we see a world not too different than the one in which we now live, only the telepaths are only just beginning to take control. Next is the forgettable and all but disowned by Butler Survivor. The clayark disease has ravaged the Earth and one last group is permitted to settle a different planet. It ties into the Patternist world, but only from a tangent. Wild Seed gives us the origins of Doro, he who had the breeding program to develop the telepaths.
This brings us to the final novel in the Patternist sequence: Clay's Ark. Now, if we had not read Patternmaster we would have no idea what the clayarks are to become or what what the significance of the title Clay's Ark actually is. The title itself rewards readers of the series while it sets of warning bells about the content of the novel. If we are reading in publication order we know that the clayarks came from some sort of extra terrestrial virus / entity and that they overran the land. We know that something bad is coming and that this novel is likely to show us how it happened.
Clay's Ark tells two stories: Past and Present. Past features an initially unnamed man who is human, but is struggling against some alien nature. He came from a space ship which crashed back on Earth after being gone for years. The ship: Clay's Ark. The unnamed man has heightened senses which most humans never use and he feels an urgency to be near other humans, to touch them, to scratch them...to infect them. He knows it is wrong, he knows that it would be very, very bad, but the disease he has leaves him no choice.
Present tells a different story. A man (Dr. Blake Maslin) is driving across the southern California desert with his two daughters (the leukemia stricken Keira, and Rane) when they are all kidnapped while at a rest stop during a sandstorm. They are not killed, raped, ransomed, robbed, or tortured. They are brought to an isolated farm and forced to stay while Eli, the nominal leader of a gang of sickly looking men and women with super strength, explains about the disease they all share and why they had to take the Maslins. One guess as to what the disease is.
Clay's Ark is a bleak, brutal novel filled with tension and danger. Octavia Butler is doing nothing more than telling us a story in which the world is a dangerous place and about to get worse. Clay's Ark is a harrowing novel and except for several chapters at the farm, it feels like everyone is on the move trying to escape from something...from the disease, from the not yet named clayarks, from the regular humans who are just about as bad as the disease Eli's group carries. There is very little joy in Clay's Ark, but Butler's storytelling is such that we don't want to look away. Clay's Ark is one of the stronger novels in the Patternist sequence (up there with Mind of My Mind and Wild Seed). Clay's Ark is perhaps the perfect way to wrap up the Patternist sequence. As with all of of Butler's novels we are left with questions as to what happens after the last page, but Butler has filled in as much of this world as needs to be.
While only one of Butler's early novels (Kindred) holds up to her later work, the Patternist sequence is comprised of five reasonably short (200 page) novels which at their best are quite entertaining. Octavia Butler is an author not to be missed.
-Joe Sherry
Host to Millions.......2006-01-22
This might be the most suspenseful of the several novels I've read from Octavia Butler, but it comes up a little short on some of her key strengths. Granted, Butler's supremely unique imagination is still at play here, in the story of a space crew that comes back to Earth with an alien virus that uses human carriers like mere conduits for relentlessly propagating itself. Another mindbendingly creative concept from Butler, but unfortunately this novel comes out rather sour and ugly in the execution. The dysfunctional near-future society that is Butler's usual motif simply becomes a depressing mess here, with no redeeming humanity. We get almost uniformly violent and pitiless characters (except for the circle of protagonists) and a depressing, disturbing parade of human misery. Thus, the dystopian aspects of this tale are missing the elements that make similar settings so compelling in Butler's better novels – such as the African mythology backdrop to "Wild Seed" or the philosophical optimism of "Parable of the Sower." There is also a structural problem with this book, in that Butler alternates chapter-by-chapter between flashbacks and events in the present, and neither of these running narratives are told completely in chronological order. This is a non-linear technique that some writers have used successfully to reinforce their themes or the suspense of the story, but here it just slows down the effectiveness of Butler's ideas. I still enthusiastically recommend the works of Octavia Butler for all fans of thought-provoking and emotionally compelling speculative fiction, but this book doesn't quite stack up with her best. [~doomsdayer520~]
Not Butler's Best.......2003-11-18
I was so enthralled by "Dawn" and the subsequent books in that trilogy that I set out to read everything I could by Butler. Overall I find her novels to be exceptional sci-fi with some very thought provoking anthropology and history thrown into the mix. I was disappointed in Clay's Ark, and I think it was primarily because, compared to Butler's other novels, it was the leanest. While she comments on the bleak direction the future of the U.S. is headed in, this tale did not stay with me or terrify me the way the "Parable" books did. I didn't feel as attached to these characters as I did to their parallel counterparts in the Patternmaster. It's an interesting story, but not Butler at her best. If you're as obsesseive as I am about my favorite authors, read it anyway! If you're new to Butler, start with Parable of the Sower or Dawn.
A great book, unless compared with Butler's others.......2003-06-07
Compared to most other SF novels, Clay's Ark could be considered a great book. However, compared to other books by Butler, it falls short. Not because of craft. The book's pacing and plotting are near perfect; there are no wasted words. But while, it is extremely readable, the book suffers in it's characterisations. Here is where my initial remark comes into play. Compared to most SF, characters like Blake are extremely interesting, but compared to the characters Butler creates in her other Patternist novels 'Wild Seed' and 'Mind of my mind'.
The moral dilemmas facing the main characters are not as balanced as in Butler's other work. The survival instinct of the alien virus is so strong, that the characters are partially excused for their actions. In addition, the story builds magnificently, but wraps up abruptly.
Bottom line -- if you have never read an Octavia Butler novel start with 'Wild Seed' or 'Kindred', but if you are already a fan, there is enough in this book to make it enjoyable.
Change happens.......2002-08-22
The last novel in her Patternist series to be published, it shares a lot more in common with her Xenogenesis trilogy in tone and subject material. Of the Patternist novels that I have read, that group seems more oriented towards questions of power and dominance--basically, who is stronger, and what are the responsibilities of that role. The series actually begins with Wild Seed, which explains the character of Doro, who then sees a success in his human breeding program in Mind of My Mind. Clay's Ark is next in the timeline, but it only refers obliquely to the existence of a psionic pattern (late in the novel, it explains the macguffin for the faster than light drive used by the spaceship that returns to Earth), but it mainly concerns the alien organism that creates the Clayarks. The next book, Patternmaster, shows these two groups--the Patternists and the Clayarks--millennia later, both almost unrecognizable as human.
It is this evolution away from humanity that becomes the main theme of Xenogenesis, but it is in the forefront of Clay's Ark. The difference, however, is that this evolution is almost entirely negative here, whereas in Xenogenesis there's an ambiguity to it that makes it much more complex than just a good/bad issue. Change happens (to quote Butler's more recent work). Why is it negative here in Clay's Ark? Because of the mindlessness of the extraterrestrial interaction. As humans, thinking and feeling humans, we see ourselves as ratiocentric--that is, we value the power of logic and rational thought and discount the so-called "animal" urges of instinct and biological compulsion. This dichotomy makes up the conflict between the two groups in Patternmaster: the Patternists are pure thought, ruled by the power of the mind, whereas the Clayarks are all biological urges, roaming free, living life in the here and now. The human race has bifurcated, and although a "mute" semblance remains, humans are portrayed as beings where both mind and body are weak and dull. In Xenogenesis, Butler changes this, and the organism that is entirely mutable is portrayed as the strongest.
Because it contains a lot of adventure--there's kidnapping and close escapes and gunfire and more violence than a Fox Saturday night-- Clay's Ark hides a lot of this underlying thought. Only the struggle that Eli continues to endure breaks this action-orientation; the rest of the characters are driven either by the disease or their human nature to respond to the events. While not as hopeful or thoughtful as her later work, I liked this one tremendously.
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Clay's Ark
Octavia E. Butler
Manufacturer: St.Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NSM4WG |
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Clay=s Ark
Octavia E Butler
Manufacturer: St. Martin=s Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K8APFC |
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Clays Ark
Octavia E Butler
Manufacturer: UNSPECIFIED VENDOR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WU1HLO |
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Arkansas Confederate pension applications from Eastern Arkansas (Arkansas, Chicot, Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Desha, Greene, Lee, Mississippi, ... Phillips, Poinett, and St. Francis counties)
Desmond Walls Allen
Manufacturer: Arkansas Research
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 0941765571 |
Book Description
John Dominic Crossan's bestselling and critically acclaimed biography of the historical Jesus. "This is an outstanding book––both popular and intelligent. Accessible language and direct, dramatic narration . . . a compelling portrait of Jesus."
Customer Reviews:
An Important Perspective on the Historical Jesus, but only ONE side of the issue.......2007-05-14
I read this book for a class on the historical Jesus. This is an important book, but readers must keep in mind that the views Crossan expresses are largely his own interpretations, and there is a lot of controversy in the field about the right way to interpret the historical Jesus. But the fact that this book was "chosen" to represent an entire "side" within the scholarly debate on Jesus is a clue that it is a good book, based on sound scholarship.
This book bases its claims on anthropological (and contextual) research. It is readable and engaging. This, to a degree, actually made me suspicious of it; I thought it might be a sensationalist type, but my professor assured me that it's an established and respected work in the field.
Christians curious about scholarly work on the HISTORICAL Jesus will enjoy what this book has to offer. You will not read anything too disappointing (relatively speaking), and the message will be hopeful. Jews might be better off reading "The Historical Figure of Jesus" by E. P. Sanders: the best work representing the *other* side of the debate. (Although if you're particularly critically inclined and like to read views that oppose your conceptual tendencies, then you can swap these recommendations: Christians read Sanders, Jews read Crossan).
Hit and Miss.......2006-08-14
J.D. Crossan's conclusions are really hit or miss in this book. I found his work on the infancy narratives and Jesus' egalitarian philosophy to be generally on the mark but I have some major disagreements elsewhere.
First, he admits that he does not believe in miracles. I'm OK with such a sentiment as long as one explains the numerous miracle stories in the Gospels. Crossan fails to do so in a convincing manner.
Second, Crossan pretty much ignores Jesus' apocalyptic utterances, passing them off as later additions to the Jesus tradition. However, he provides little evidence to convince the reader of that conclusion.
Finally, his take on the resurrection stories is absurd. He wants us to believe that they weren't meant as historical narratives but as stories used to prop up the Twelve or Peter or the Beloved Disciple above the general community. To me, it seemed like eisegesis and not exegesis. I can't imagine the four evangelists had anything like that in mind.
Not his Best Work.......2006-06-01
John Dominic Crosson is generally regarded as a "Jesus scholar" but you can't tell from this rather pedestrian effort. There is very little new in this book that isn't covered in 100 similar books. While it is well written and has the virtue of being relatively well organized, there are no notes or footnotes nor any bibliography.
In addition, the book suffers from some common errors, that a man of Crosson's standing should not make, or if he makes them, at least he needs to acknowledge that these issues are contentious. For example...
- He claims that Jesus comes from Nazareth, when almost everyone knows that the only reason to place Jesus in Nazareth is Matthew's mistaken translation of Nazarite. Indeed, some scholars believe that Nazareth as a town did not exist until mid 1st Century.
- He accepts the common translation of tekton as "carpenter" while many scholars translate it differently (e.g., crafstman, general contractor, and scholar to name a few alternatives).
- Having labeled the family as carpenters, he assumes they are poor, while there are many indications that the family is not poor (e.g., Joseph goes to Jerusalem many times; they pay taxes; they look for a room at an Inn; the wedding at Cana, etc)
- He mistakenly ascribes comments by Tacitus to Jesus, when in fact Tacitus only refers to Christus which is a generic name and doesn't necessarily apply to Jesus as the Christ figure.
Don't get me wrong. Crosson has lots of hidden gems in this brief book, including his discussion of John the Baptist, his analysis of the healings, his redaction of the passion story, etc. This isn't a bad book, but there are so many better books that you should look elsewhere, including some of Crosson's other books.
An intriguing collection of ideas about Jesus, based on circular reasoning.......2006-04-25
"If, by the way, our eyes or heads are now spinning, this is part of the process. We are persuaded of the validity of the argument by the sheer difficulty in taking it apart. It is almost easier just to listen and nod or read and agree that to analyze, explore, and disentangle." Although Crossan makes this comment (on page 150) about those who historicized prophecy by reading the texts of the past into the events of the present, it is just as readily applied to his arguments in this book. While I do not necessarily disagree with his conclusions, most of which boil down to the idea that Jesus threatened the fabric of the social order (both Jewish and Roman) by preaching and living a gospel of radical egalitarianism, I take umbrage with his incessant use of circular reasoning to make his points. For example, Crossan will read a passage from Josephus that explicitly makes a claim, he will assert that this explicit claim was added to Josephus by later Christian editors, and will then use his edited version of Josephus (minus the alleged addition) as evidence to support his thesis; interestingly, he assumes his thesis when editing out the explicit claim made in the first place. This sort of "argumentation" occurs so frequently in the book, which is otherwise very nicely written, that the reader can be forgiven if she begins to accept Crossan's assertions as arguments and facts.
One further problem that continues to plague me about Crossan's vision is why this illiterate peasant made such an impact on the world. I ask this question because, by Crossan's own admission, revolutionaries and sapiential teachers were quite common at the time. Crossan fails to adequately explain how the Jesus of history became the risen Christ of faith, and by extension how this illiterate Mediterranean peasant came to claim the hearts and minds of billions, which is a major hole in an otherwise interesting collection of ideas.
Jesus- A Revolutionary Biography.......2006-03-20
This book was an excellent source of information and insight about Jesus "the man" . His research made the New Testament more realistic and also increased my faith and showed what Jesus was really about and that is for all people. Not about what we consider today as righteousness. I would recommend this book to be read by all. Indeed Jesus was a revolutionary and his spirit is still very much alive today in those who are fighting for all people.
Book Description
Rarely has a book captured the attention of Christians of all ages as Jesus Freaks has with its stories of Christian martyrs. Jesus Freaks, Vol. II, features testimonies of revolutionaries who took a stand for Christ against the culture of their day, along with new stories of martyrs through the centuries. dc Talk again challenges readers to pray for the persecuted church around the world and openly stand for Jesus.
Customer Reviews:
True believers.......2007-01-16
Great book. My 10 year old son requested it. The stories are graphic and painful to read, but the courage and testimony of these martyrs is REAL and there are lessons for all of us, especially those of us who are Christian.
One of the Best Books I Have EVER Read.......2005-03-07
Ok. So normally I am an avid reader, but there are few nonfiction books that really grasp my interest and hold it. My sister bought this book for me as a Christmas/birthday gift and I devouered it (literally!). It has stories in it about Christians from the past 2000 years up until the present day who have been persecuted for their faith. It has really encouraged me to live the way that they do.
Fearing God Not Man.......2005-02-05
This book is so good!!! If you like bloody things you will like this book. If you like God a lot you will also love this book. If you like History than you will love this book.
GREAT.......2004-11-17
I'VE ONLY HAD THIS BOOK FOR ONE DAY AND I'M ALMOST DONE THE BOOK IS SHORT STORIES OF PEOPLE WHO STOOD BY THEIR FAITH NOT CARING WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE DON'T LIKE THAT THEIR CHRISTIANS. IN ONE STORY AN OLD MAN IS GETTING READY TO BE EXECUTED AND HE SAYS"IF I'M GOING TO DIE TODAY THEN I'M HERE TO DIE FOR THE LORD. IN ANOTHER STORY ONE MAN IS BEING THROWN IN JAIL FOR SAYING HE BELIEVES IN THE LORD ANOTHER MAN SEES THIS AND CLAIMS HE'S A CHRISTIAN ALSO AND HE GETS THROWN IN JAIL BEFORE THEIR EXECUTION THEY SAY THAT THEY APOLOGIZE TO THE LORD FOR NOT DOING ENOUGH AND DOES NOT APOLOGIZE TO THEIR KING.
IN ANOTHER STORY SOME CHINESE ARE TRYING TO GET CHRISTIANITY LEGAL IN CHINA AND THEY GET BEAT THEY SHOWED THAT 200 PEOPLE IN CHINA THAT ARE CHRISTIANS GET BEAT UNTIL THEY ARE PERMANENTLY CRIPPLED AND OVER 20000 CHINESE BECOME CHRISTIANS A YEAR. THIS BOOK IS VERY MOVING AND VERY POWERFUL IF YOU ARE A JESUS FREAK YOU SHOULD BUY THIS.
Not as good.........2004-07-02
The first Jesus Freaks is so much better. I always hate doing this to my own brethren but don't read this second book.
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Jose Maria de Jesus Carvajal: The Life and Times of a Mexican Revolutionary
Joseph E. Chance
Manufacturer: Trinity University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1595340203 |
Book Description
Both a biography of the titular Mexican reformer and a study of the events that shaped the Mexican-U.S. border, this book examines the challenges faced by Carvajal during the turbulent decades of the early to mid-19th century. A key figure in the violent struggle against the conservative factions that controlled Mexico, Carvajal also played significant roles in the fight for Texas's independence and the ill-fated Republic of the Rio Grande. Carvajal’s life and exploits have been largely overlooked — here, he is restored to his rightful place among the visionaries who shaped modern Texas.
Customer Reviews:
The book I need to read about Jesus.......2007-07-04
After many confusing interpretations of the teachings of Jesus and dogmas from religions and false prophets making money and living a good material life under the umbrella of Christianity, this is a very simple to understand book, and it came into my hands at the right time. Wright explain life in times of Jesus and his teachings very clear and from a neutral point of view. I recommend it.
From the TV show.......2006-08-02
This book is a companion to a 1996 TV show. The first part (Jesus - Then and Now) consists of some modified versions of the original script, along with still photos from the show. It's well written, as you would expect a script to be, and the photos are great. Unfortunately there is nothing new here, although it is nicely packaged.
The second part (Reading the Gospels with Both Eyes Open) departs from the original show, but again, there is very little original thinking here. Wright discusses the discrepancies in gospel accounts, the Jesus seminar, the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating the gospels, the Jewish influences, etc.
There is no reference list nor any notes. The index is skimpy, but so too is the content.
Bottom line - this is a well written and nicely illustrated sketch of some aspects of Jesus' life. It will not appeal to scholars and is of limited interest to beginners who will find it too truncated.
In My Top Ten EVER!.......2005-11-12
This book is a MUST read. NO MATTER WHAT. PLEASE BUY THIS BOOK AND READ IT OVER AND OVER. Not only is it a tremendous intro to Tom Wright's academic works, The Original Jesus is a beautiful and refreshing book to fuel your tired search for Jesus Christ.
True scholarship in a user-friendly package.......2005-03-25
This is a brilliant, no-nonsense historical introduction to Jesus and the Gospels. The first half of the book is based on a BBC series on Jesus that the author was asked to write and produce. The second half goes into a bit more depth regarding the Gospels as sources of historical information about Jesus and his mission. The book is an easy read and is full of great photography and art that tie into its story line.
The author is widely respected by conservative and liberal theologians and historians alike, and I especially appreciate his even handed approach and deep understanding of the historical context in which Jesus lived and moved (though he really just scratches the surface in this work). This book is a popular-level treatment of material that he explores in much greater detail in "Jesus and the Victory of God" and other book in that series. Reading this book makes me eager to dig into those deeper texts.
nothing new under the sun.......2005-01-18
I regret that I coughed up mazuma for this here book. Unfortunately it doesn't consist any new views. What does the publication say ? "It is a true fact that Jesus has existed. How so ? Because the New Testament says so ! " This is the only proof the author gives. As far as the rest of his text goes, he just flags away the diskrepancies in the NT as unimportant. It is better to read the actual Gospels themselves, and make your own opinion of the Lamb.
Product Description
Get to know Jesus as he appeared in the flesh to his contemporaries. Using scientific research methods and historical criticism, the author invites the reader to take a good look at the historical Jesus.
Books:
- Coyote Frontier
- Coyote Sky
- Dies the Fire (Roc Science Fiction)
- Earthborn (Homecoming Saga)
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon
- Empire from the Ashes
- Eternity Road
- Footfall
- H. R. Giger's Necronomicon II
- Hammered
Books Index
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