(Second reading.) Some years have passed since the end of book one in this trilogy. The central character now is one of Lilith's children, Akin, a member of the first generation of hybrid humans, or constructs, that have come from deliberate and skillful genetic mixing by the aliens, the Oankali. His story begins with his birth, and it shows us how the old humans ("resisters") and new hybrid communities live on a regenerated Earth, in small communities separated from one another. As a construct child, Akin is conscious and reasoning at birth (and even before), so we experience his early years from his point of view (although in the third person). We learn what it's like to have a mixed Human-Oankali biology.

It's fascinating to jump forward in time this way and see so many things about the new civilization that were not part of book one. The tension between the resister villages and the villages of hybrids frequently escalates to violence. The resisters generally are bitter and resentful of the co-opting of humanity by the Oankali; rendered infertile, they seem unable to find meaning in life now that their basic survival needs have been met. A continued theme from book one is the human tendency toward anger, brutal attacks and destruction. Another continued theme is family relationships, with a more detailed experience of how a purely Oankali female-male pair and a purely Human female-male pair are joined through a third-sex Oankali individual called an ooloi.

We stay with Akin through his metamorphosis to adulthood. His adolescence is especially interesting because of his unique fascination with the resisters, who are this point are markedly different from the Humans who have become part of Oankali family groups.

This book is even better than the first one, and it was especially nice to read it immediately after finishing book one.