Patternmaster.

BUTLER, Octavia E.

Item Number: 126927

Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1976.

First edition of the first book in the Patternist series and the final in the series’ internal chronology. Octavo, original boards. Boldly signed by Octavia E. Butler on the title page. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket by Steve and Tim Quay.

The first book to be published in Butler's Patternist series but the last in its internal chronology, Patternmaster depicts a distant future where the human race has been sharply divided into the dominant Patternists, their enemies the "diseased" and animalistic Clayarks, and the enslaved human mutes. The Patternists, bred for intelligence and psychic abilities, are networked telepaths ruled by the most powerful telepath, known as the Patternmaster. The first book in the series tells the coming-of-age story of Teray, a young Patternist who learns he is a son of the Patternmaster and must fight for position within Patternist society and eventually for the role of Patternmaster.