Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wild Seed | 1980 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 2 | Mind of My Mind | 1977 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 3 | Survivor | 1978 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 4 | Clay’s Ark | 1984 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 5 | Patternmaster | 1976 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 6 | Butler did not like the novel Survivor and she didn’t authorize it for reprinting after its initial run. | 1978 | Octavia E. Butler | N/A |
| 7 | Dawn | 1987 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 8 | Adulthood Rites | 1988 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 9 | Imago | 1989 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
The Patternist series was Octavia E. Butler’s first published sequence of novels, though the books were written and published out of internal chronological order. At its core, the series follows Doro — an ancient African man who can transfer his consciousness into any body he chooses, effectively making him immortal — and his multi-century project of breeding human beings for enhanced mental and physical abilities. The story that results spans from 18th-century Africa and colonial America to a far future where psychic humans compete with an alien-infected population for control of Earth.
Wild Seed (1980), though published fourth, works best as the starting point. It introduces Doro and his relationship with Anyanwu, an Igbo woman with the ability to reshape her own body. Their relationship across centuries — Doro exploitative, Anyanwu resistant — forms the emotional spine of the entire series. Mind of My Mind (1977) follows their descendants in modern-day California as psychic abilities come into sudden, dangerous bloom. Clay’s Ark (1984) introduces the alien infection that will reshape humanity’s future. Patternmaster (1976), the first novel Butler published, takes place at the far end of the timeline.
Butler later disowned the novel Survivor (1978) and refused to allow it to be reprinted, feeling that its portrayal of Africans was flawed. It remains out of print. The four remaining novels hold together well as a sequence and show Butler developing many of the concerns — power, bodies, inheritance, what humans owe each other — that she would return to throughout her career.