8.2 /10 1 Votes8.2
Originally published 1977 Genre Speculative fiction | 4.1/5 Followed by Clay’s Ark | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Similar Works by Octavia E Butler, Patternist series books, Speculative fiction books |
Mind of My Mind (1977) is a science fiction novel by writer Octavia E. Butler. Mind of My Mind is the sequel to Butler's novel Patternmaster, and is the second novel in the Patternist series.
Contents
Plot
This second novel in the series recounts the story of how the Patternist society originated. The novel is set in Los Angeles, California in the 1970s. We learn that the leader of the telepathic humans that later became known as the Patternists, was a man originally from Africa named Doro. We find that Doro is 4,000 years old and immortal. Since Doro does not have physical immortality, he must move his essence to different bodies as time goes on for his continued survival. Doro tends to procreate with and breed people who are telepathically sensitive, in an effort to make a group of superhuman telepaths. The story is focused on one of Doro's daughters, named Mary, who is a young, poor mulatto woman. Doro's hope is that his daughter Mary will connect with other telepaths and ultimately become an exceptional telepath who is able to link with other telepathic people.
In the midst of Mary's status change from a "latent" to an "active" telepath, she makes the first ever Pattern as a result of her attaching mentally onto six other active telepathic people. Two years later, after Mary has added 1,500 people to her community of Patternists, Doro thinks she has acquired too much power and demands that she halts her acquiring of telepaths. This creates a conflict, as Mary will destroy herself and as a result all Patternists if she discontinues the expansion of her Patternist community. With support from her people, Mary gains the strength to fight and ultimately kill Doro. There are many Patternist casualties in the fight; however, Mary is ultimately able to continue to grow and protect the Patternist society she has created.