Here is one for all you sci-fi buffs. I am looking for a book. I don't
know the title or author. I'll tell you all I can remember. It turns
out that we blow up the world after all. Fortunately aliens happen to
be hovering near by. They pick up the survivors and put them in cold
storage. They wake us up one by one and that is when we meet our
heroine.

The aliens are all tentacles. They are so horrifying that the average
human goes into shock or attempts suicide at the site of these many
tentacle things. They have a talent for sensing genetic code. Their
mother ship has been genetically engineered. They go from doomed
planet to doomed planet picking up survivors or useful creatures and
change them to suit their needs. They are nice about it.

There are males, females and an intermediary that selectively combine
genetic code of the 2. They want to do this with humans too. They want
to combine the genetic code of us and them to create a new species.

They treat us humans like pets. Our heroine is unsure of her new
position. They want her to usher in their new creation. The genetic
gifts they give are intriguing but are they worth our humanity?

I want the Title or author.

Hello.

I believe that the book was "Dawn (Xenogenis)" by Octavia E. Butler. 
The book was originally published in 1987 and has been reprinted
several times.

From a reader review on Amazon.com:

"There's this woman who's been abducted by aliens with tentacle faces,
except now she's supposed to repopulate Earth with the few remaining
humans left after we've blown everything up in WWIII...""
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0446603775/


From a newsgroup post archived by Google Groups:

 "In the beginning of DAWN an african-american woman finds herself in
hands of an alien race. She finds out that the aliens have transported
all survivors from a global war (World War 3 or something) to their
ships and want now to breed the survivors of humankind with the
aliens' own people to produce a new race."
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&selm=ppeltone.809937116%40karl

--------
search strategy:
google groups:
rec.arts.sf.* aliens survivors humans

I hope this helps.

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 16 Oct 2004 13:31 PDT

Sorry for that typo in the first sentence:

"Dawn (Xenogenesis)"

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 16 Oct 2004 14:18 PDT

I should also mention that there are two sequels: Adulthood Rites and Imago.

The three novels are available in a single volume called "Lilith's Brood."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0446676101/

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