Imago by Octavia E. Butler

From the award-winning author of Parable of the Sower comes a groundbreaking science fiction novel about identity, power, and survival. After nuclear war nearly destroyed humanity, the survivors rebuilt by interbreeding with the Oankali, an alien race capable of genetic manipulation and evolution. Now a human mother has given birth to something unprecedented: Jodahs, the first human-born ooloi—a member of the Oankali's third sex with extraordinary abilities to shapeshift, alter DNA, and control disease itself.

Jodahs's awakening to these powers marks a turning point. Struggling to understand an identity split between two worlds, this young hybrid must learn to harness abilities that could either save or destroy what remains of civilization. A profound exploration of transformation, belonging, and the price of survival, Imago challenges what it means to be human when humanity itself is being rewritten.