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Clay's Ark
Clay's Ark
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Earth's first spaceship has returned... with the death of the entire planet as its cargo. The one crew member left alive is infected with a terrifying alien plague -- and, fight as he may, he is compelled by that plague to go out and infect others. — And so, in the desert of the American Southwest, a colony is growing of people who are not quite ...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780441110896
ISBN-10: 0441110894
Publication Date: 5/1985
Pages: 208
Edition: Reprint
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 15

3.9 stars, based on 15 ratings
Publisher: Ace Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 5
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
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reviewed Clay's Ark on + 15 more book reviews
Pretty cool story about folks infected with a disease attempting to separate themselves and contain the infection.
bjr711 avatar reviewed Clay's Ark on + 34 more book reviews
Clay's Ark begins in the past with the crash of a returning space ship. The lone survivor is infected with a plague he has picked up on a distant planet. The infected crew mamber was supposed to die with the other three survivors, but the organism he is infected with will not let him kill himself.
After escaping from the crash site he makes his way to an isolated farm. There he infects all of the others at the residence. Only the women survive. The organizm requires several things, food, water, and replication/reproduction in new victims.

Move to the present,the USA is a barren, dangerous place divided into sewers, and onclaves where people are safe from the human predators. Dr. Blake Maslin and daughters Rane and Keria are traveling across the barren desert in Arizona. The are driving to the girls grandparents as Keria is dying of leukemia and wants to see them one last time. During the drive they are stopped by a sand storm where they become new unsullied hosts for the virus.

The book describes the protagionists struggle to control his diease's demands with his own struggle to remain somewhat human and to keep the organism from spreading to the general population of the earth. It also describes Dr. Blake's struggle to protect his family and remain true to his profession and find a cure for the virus. The story moves back and forth between past and present giving the reader small glimpses into the story line and the lives of the characters both before and after they have the virus.

An interesting read, but sometimes the story is hard to follow and seems redundant in places. If you like plague and apocalyptic fiction this is a good read.


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