Imago

Written by: Octavia E. Butler

First line: I slipped into my first metamorphosis so quietly that nobody noticed.

Why you should read this book: Although the Oankali have decided not to create any third-gender ooloi children until they can be certain about their stability, Johdas, one of Lilith's many children, is turning into a pleasure-bestowing, offspring-creating, DNA-storing ooloi anyway, and there's no way to stop its transformation. The Oankali want Johdas to go back to the ship, where they can watch over it, but Johdas feels that Earth is its home, and that it can never be complete without a pair of human mates. Like all its family, Johdas will take a journey that is sometimes lonely and painful, but sometimes joyful and crowded, showing humans, Oankali, and constructs, the future of the new species.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Not interested in ultimate pleasure.