Survivor by Octavia E. Butler (book review)
Octavia Butler wrote five ‘Patternist’ novels, the first three following the life of Doro. He was born human many centuries in the past and found he could transfer his consciousness into someone else’s body. If he was in a fight, he would win easily by just switching bodies. Anyway, he developed a breeding programme so he could have better bodies, except one of their number fought and beat him. The opening three books were superb, the fifth was far in the future and I’ve never read the fourth, ‘Survivor’, until now. Headline have re-released it, originally published in 1978. Headline are currently re-releasing a lot of Butler’s books and she was quite prolific.
Considering the start of ‘Survivor’ is on Earth and a feral child is taken in by Missionaries and named Alannah ‘Lannah’ Verrick and we see her act with them, you do have to wonder what this has to do with the Patternist reality? A few chapters in reveals that the telepaths on the Clay’s Ark lost their powers if they left Earth makes the connection. Now a bit more civilised, Alannah accompanies the Missionaries to Garkohn, a planet with its own species and not keen on them. We don’t really see what there ‘Missionaries’ actually do so the name is a bit of a misnomer. The Garkohns introduce them to the native fruit, meklad, which is instantly addictive. These native species are also warriors at heart and, after one battle, Alannah becomes a captive to be taught and brought into their tribe. She becomes the amour of Diut, initially for protection and then love. We then follow their lives from each of their viewpoints.
One of Butler’s strengths is writing believable characters. Here, she does the same with the complex Garkohn society and their social standing where connections are limited, just who are the warriors, especially the women, and who not to annoy. Alannah, having once been feral, adapts to this life as she is just as dangerous. The Garkohns are a hairy species with its changing colour revealing their status. Blue is cool, red is warrior class. As we see their society through Alannah and Diut’s eyes, you do develop an understanding of what they are.
The book also contains a novelette ‘A Necessary Being’, from 2014, was originally printed after her death. This story focuses on the Garkohns. The Rohkohn or land people spot three people travelling through their land. They are ordered by their judge leader Tahneh orders them captured but not too overtly as there is a need to find themselves a new Hao or leader. They turn out to be Tehkohn or mountain people, Diut and his companions, the married Jeh and Cheah. Diut finds he has to prove his worth as a combatant before he can work up to leadership.
I think Butler wanted to explore her aliens more again but from the inside. There are some parallels with some terrestrial primates but taken to more extremes with their colour of the fur changing to their honesty. I think I was thrown by their acceptance of fighting to the death without reprisals but these are warrior tribes or rather with specific members who are and judges or either sex making the decisions. Everything is extremely segregated based on age and position, assuming you live that long. It’s certainly a different take on the traditional alien society.
You can read this book as a standalone if you want a study in an alien life although you’d have to be pretty brave to want to live amongst them.
GF Willmetts
August 2026
(pub: Headline, 2026. 287 page hardback. Price: £20.00 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-03-544422-9)
check out website: www.headline.co.uk/titles/octavia-e-butler/survivor/9781035444229/
