I typically don't enjoy sci-fi that includes telepathy. It feels like a trope that is just so far from realistic that it takes me out of the immersion. Mind of My Mind by Octavia Butler is a novel where I didn't mind it and that got me excited to finish the Patternist/Patternmaster series.

I suspect the reason that telepaths don't bother me in this series (aside from it being the main premise of this book) is the depth to which Butler explores it. There's no cheesy explanations of the mechanisms of how it works but it's also not just a casual nod to "this person can read minds". Instead of explaining, she spends her time using it to tell the story she wants to tell and to dig into the themes she wants to explore. She tells the reader how it feels and what it means.

Those themes of free will and slavery and power and submission permeate the book (and the previous). Told from her lived experiences of systemic inequalities she manages to force the reader to examine these topics from a different perspective. In my literary experience, this series has been some of the best views into these ideas because they're so grounded in reality of life in America.

It's telling to me if I find myself wanting to spend my relaxation time in the evening finishing a book rather than working on puzzles or other activities. It means that the book captured me in some way and this one certainly did that. I wouldn't describe it as exciting or tense, but I was so fascinated I didn't want to put it down.