Adulthood rites
(Book)

"Lilith's Brood or Xenogenesis Series"--Page opposite title page.

"Originally published in hardcover in 1988"--Title page verso.

This edition includes a reading group guide with discussion questions (c2021) and an excerpt from Imago, the third book in the trilogy (pages 307-327).

"The three volumes of this science fiction series were previously collected in the now out-of-print volume Xenogenesis. The collection was first published under the current title of Lilith's Brood in 2000." -- wikipedia.

Lilith Iyapo has given birth to what looks like a normal human boy named Akin. But Akin actually has five parents: a male and female human, a male and female Oankali, and a sexless Ooloi. The Oankali and Ooloi are part of an alien race that rescued humanity from a devastating nuclear war, but the price they exact is a high one the aliens are compelled to genetically merge their species with other races, drastically altering both in the process. There are "pure" humans who choose to resist the aliens and the salvation they offer. These resisters are sterilized by the Ooloi so that they cannot reproduce the genetic defect that drives humanity to destroy itself, but otherwise they are left alone unless they become violent. When the resisters kidnap young Akin, the Oankali choose to leave the child with his captors, for he the most "human" of the Oankali children will decide whether the resisters should be given back their fertility and freedom, even though they will only destroy themselves again. -- adapted from Goodreads info.