This adult science fiction trilogy is set in the aftermath of a nuclear war that has nearly destroyed humanity, following the survivors who are rescued by a highly advanced alien species — who offer to save the human race in exchange for a genetic merger that will permanently change what humans are. The trilogy is a challenging and profoundly unsettling work dealing with themes of autonomy, survival, the nature of humanity, and the ethics of survival at the cost of identity.
Lilith Iyapo wakes aboard an alien spacecraft centuries after nuclear war has destroyed Earth, held captive by the Oankali a species that survives by trading genes with other life forms who intend to return humanity to Earth with genetic modifications and the requirement of interspecies reproduction. Lilith must choose between survival and complicity in a process she finds deeply violating. A profoundly unsettling examination of bodily autonomy, consent, and the nature of humanity.