What strikes me as truly alien are the plant rooms in Lilith’s Brood. I had trouble understanding what they are. Are they independently living organisms or are they part of another living creature? Do they think on their own? How will they play a more crucial role in the book? The section where Kahguyaht takes Lilith to see Sharad:
“An opening appeared where the arm had touched and Lilith expected to be led into one more corridor or room. Instead the wall seemed to form a sphincter and pass something. There was even a sour smell to enhance the image. One of the big semitransparent green oblongs slid into view, wet and sleek” (52).
When I read this passage, I thought the room was releases its own waste products, especially with the mention of words like “sphincter” and “sour.” This section kind of grossed me out.
What seems more disturbing is what these plants could do to their victims in the past. For instance the ooloi says, “The plants even passed some of their own substance through their prey to nourish the prey and keep it alive as long as possible. And the plants were enriched by the prey’s waste products” (53). The plants seem like they are the most tormenting type of species to have ever existed. However, Kahguyaht mentions how the victims do not feel the pain (54). And yet Kahguyaht also says, “[The plants] gave a very, very long death” (53). I had some mixed feelings about these plants. On one hand, how they feed on and sustain their prey is how they survive, and they may not have any other choice or think to have another choice. But the idea that they “gave a very, very long death” certainly disturbs me. And I felt a little nervous about Sharad being in the plants possession.
I think this idea of being absorbed into another species and this exchange of wastes could be the most alien thing about the book, but I still have a long way to go in the book.
