Clay's Ark

Written by: Octavia Butler

First line: The ship had been destroyed.

Why you should read this book: An astronaut, infected with an alien parasite that offers superhuman strength and abilities to those who survive the initial infection, returns to earth with full knowledge of his disease but unable to defy the biological imperative that the disease presents: to infect as many people as possible and to procreate often. Part of Eli knows that, for the sake of humanity, he should die, but somehow he ends up infecting an entire family and creating a new species of human being, with the intention of containing the outbreak to a limited and isolated population. But the disease demands more hosts, some of whom are determined to escape captivity and seek medical treatment, which, as Eli knows, will mean that humanity stands little chance against this invasion.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Although this novel present a key story arc in the Patternist series, it completely leaves Doro's experiment and the Patternists behind as it explores this other evolutionary path.