Wild Seed is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by writer Octavia Butler. Although published in 1980 as the third book of the Patternist series

Patternist series

The Patternist series is a group of science fiction novels by Octavia E. Butler that detail a secret history continuing into from the Ancient Egyptian period to the far future that involves telepathic mind control and an extraterrestrial plague...

 it is the earliest book in the chronology of the Patternist world. The other books in the series are, in order placement within the Patternist chronology:Mind of My Mind (1977), Survivor

Survivor (Octavia Butler novel)

Survivor is a science fiction novel by Octavia Butler. First published in 1978 as part of Butler's "Patternist series," Survivor is the only one of Butler's early novels not to be reprinted after its initial editions...

(1978), Clay's Ark (1984), and Patternmaster (1976).

Reception

New York Times reviewer Gerald Jonas praised the novel as "a mesmerizing tale that combines traditions of African and African-American story-telling with a keen understanding of biological and evolutionary imperatives."

Reviews

• Books to Look For, By Orson Scott Card
  Orson Scott Card
  Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
  
  , Fantasy & Science Fiction February (1990)