Clay's Ark

Clay's Ark is the final volume in Octavia Butler's Patternist series, functioning as a prequel to the first novel, Patternmaster. Set in a grim near-future of enclaves, road violence, and social collapse, it traces the origins of the alien disease brought back by the crew of the starship Clay's Ark. This contagion will ultimately give rise to the Clayarks, the mutated race locked in future conflict with the Patternmasters. The story alternates between past and present timelines, following a doctor and his twin daughters after they are taken captive by infected survivors struggling to contain the spread while barely holding onto their humanity. Butler uses the premise to explore survival, forced adaptation, and the slow erosion of the boundary between human and other.

Signed review copy. Review copy with the publisher’s publicity sheet laid in, and also signed by Butler on the title page.

Hardcover. First Edition, First Printing. Octavo, cloth boards. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984. ISBN: 0312143214. #10773.
Fine in near fine dust jacket.