I liked Mind of My Mind by Octavia Butler – to me it was the most interesting part of the Patternmaster series so far. It explores how, within our society as it exists today, the Patternist community came to exist, and soon dominated life everywhere. It’s exactly the bit of backstory I was missing. That said, I didn’t feel particularly attached to any of the characters. I think this was due to the rushed feeling – by skipping large intervals of time, we get told about important character and group developments, instead of being shown, which is unfortunate: with more space and exploration, this would have made an outstanding book.
On re-read for my book club, I had the same feeling again: It’s a backstory book, so there’s a lack of tension and interest in the individual characters, which is a shame, especially with it concluding the character arcs from Wild Seed.
