One of Octavia Butler's popular novels is Kindred, which is my introductory into this amazing writer and sci-fi genre. A story of family, identity and race with some time travel. How does one wake up one day and is pulled into slavery-just to save an ancestor and a family tree?!

My least favorite Butler story in this collection is Fledgling. I couldn't get into this vampire story. It was slow moving and I forced myself to finish.

Overall, Octavia Butler is the Queen of afro-futurism where she explores social issues, racial conflict and gender roles. Everything she wrote gives meaning to the past, present, and future.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

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I definitely need to read more by Octavia E. Butler! Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to read his advanced copy of Kindred, Fledgling, and several collected stories. All I can say about Butler is she writes some weird stories and I like it!

Kindred was probably the least weird one and the one I enjoyed reading the most. It brought me to tears which I kind of expected. Kindred features our main character Dana who is an African-American woman living in California during the 70s. She is unexpectedly transported back to a Maryland plantation pre Civil War and meets her ancestors. This story tore my heart!

Fledgling unfortunately wasn’t a huge success for me, however, I can see why others would love it. It’s Butler’s original take on the vampire novel. Our main character is a 53 year old vampire in an 11 year old body with amnesia. She wakes up badly wounded and she has to come to terms with who she is and what has happened to her.

As far as the collected stories, they are all very interesting and different. I especially loved how she added an afterward after each story to explain the story and what mindset she was at when writing it. This interested me so much and I wish all short stories had this! I would go into more details about these stories, but I encourage all to go into these not knowing anything about them. They are truly odd and that’s what makes them enjoyable!

Thanks again to those making it possible for me to read this advanced e-arc and I plan to read more by Butler in the near future!

As stated in the title, this lengthy collections offers the reader a broad perspective of Butler's work. It includes her most renowned novel, Kindred, her final novel, Fledgling, eight short stories, and five essays. This is probably not a volume to be read in one sitting. The two novels are wholly different in tone, subject matter, and writing style. The short stories are all remarkably good, which is interesting because Butler did not enjoy the constraints of that medium. Finally, the essays are fairly short, intriguing, and includes lots of advice for budding science fiction writers.

“Kindred” was not Butler’s first novel, but is her most well-known novel. Kindred is a heartfelt, passionate novel that explores what happens when a modern African-American woman of 1976 is magically transported to Maryland of 1812, which apparently was actually a Slave state, not a free state, at that time.

What makes this time-travel historical fantasy work so well is that Butler has a character with modern sensibilities thrust into history, powerless to effect change, and condemned to personally experience slavery, not clinically removed as a reader of history, but experiencing it in the here and now. In doing so, Butler gives us real human characters on all sides of the plantation, not caricatures, people who are complex. Butler also shows how people are often so much products of their time and how difficult it is for them to break out of the paradigms of that time, both practically and intellectually.

First of all, though some may question whether this is science fiction, Butler’s mode of time travel is similar to the magical transportation that Edgar Rice Burroughs used to transport John Carter to Barsoom. Here, Dana starts to suddenly disappear and wakes in a different time. She returns when her life is in mortal danger.

A couple of interesting twists on time travel is that months in 1812 only are experienced as a loss of hours or days in 1976. Thus, every time Dana appears in 1812 or subsequent years, she has barely aged, although every one else has aged. The other thing is her time travel is intrinsically linked to danger to the life of her distant relative, Rufus, heir to a plantation-owning family. Her mission it seems is to save him from fate. At times, he seems to understand that slavery is wrong, but other times he turns about to be as hard and cruel as imaginable. The linkage between the two is an odd fixture of this novel and can lead one to wonder if it is was only just imagining rather than real time travel. The other interesting part of that is that Dana’s genetic past is linked through both sides of the equation: through Rufus, the slaver, and Alice, the slave. Thus, she bears both the scars of pain and the guilt of the oppressor.
Kindred is well-written and boldly crafted. Butler doesn’t shy away from anything in this novel and it’s power cannot be denied.

Fledgling was Butler's final novel and it simply does not measure up to the talent Butler displays in Kindred and Parable. It's a fairly unique take on the vampire myth, but it just feels flat. There's no music here. The words don't have any melody, no texture, no rhythm. Renee/Shori is an amnesiac Ina or vampire who lives off the blood of humans in a symbiotic relationship. The enzymes she emits allow them to feel ecstatic for her bite and prolongs their lifespans. Like others of her species, she lives for centuries, not decades, and at 53 years, not fully mature, but appears like an eleven year old. Which brings us to the creepy aspect of this novel as Shori's bite is sensual and her connection with her symbionts is on a sensual level, a sort of unnecessary plot device. In the end, Fledgling is a disappointment, but perhaps worth a second look down the road.

Overall, quite a collection in one little volume.

Although my reading interests tend more towards fantasy, I do enjoy a lot of science fiction too. This collection of works by Octavia Butler is an excellent introduction to the writer. I've been hearing about Octavia Butler for the past decade or two but hadn't taken steps to finally read her work until this collection appeared. I certainly intend to read much more. The highlight is obviously Kindred, a novel that evokes quite a few different emotions in the reader, particularly about race. The Fledgling does so in different ways with a totally different sort of story that is part fantasy and part science fiction. These novels are the centerpiece with a selection of short stories and other writings to complete this volume. Again, it's a wonderful selection to get the reader into Butler's work.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Library of America for sharing an advanced reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

I rate this 4.5 stars.

I read this collection out of order, starting with the collected stories, then Fledgling, then Kindred. Butler is perhaps most well-known for Kindred, written in 1979. It is a story that is commonly considered sci fi and historical fiction, telling the story of a 26-year-old black woman who travels back in time to the 1820s. She sometimes makes some questionable decisions or says some things that make you go hmm, but she was trying to survive, which really meant letting things happen the way they would have.

Fledgling is a story of a young girl with amnesia. This story, more than any other I've read by her so far, accomplishes Butler's intent of making us uncomfortable. It's well-written and engaging, but there is an "ick" factor that I tried to forget as much as possible. This is probably my least favorite of the collection.

The rest of the collection consists of 8 short stories and 5 essays. They are all quite different. This was my favorite part of the collection, perhaps because there was commentary by Butler after each story. It was intriguing to see her thoughts and inspirations. I'm glad I started with the short stories, like an appetizer before the meatier meal.

While Kindred is considered a modern classic and should be on everyone's to-read list, the collection of short stories will appeal to many readers of science fiction and/or social commentary.

It is fantastic to see Butler's work having a resurgence, thanks to increased public interest in her prescient 1993 novel, The Parable of the Sower. The beautiful collection from Library of America contains two of her more accessible novels, time-traveling epic Kindred, and Fledgling, an interesting spin on the traditional vampire tale. This collection also contains short stories and essays by Butler, and some new research and notes from scholar Gerry Canavan.

Kindred is the incredible tale, of Dana, a Black woman who travels through time back to the pre-Civil War South. It seems that her time jump is triggered every time a white ancestor of Dana's, Rufus, is placed in mortal danger. The book successfully shares details of slavery, without being didactic. It is also absolutely brutal from the offset; the opening chapter immediately pulls you into the story.

I was not as impressed with Fledgling, a story of a young vampire-like girl, who awakes in a cave one day with no recollection of who, or what, she is. Slowly, she discovers the truth about herself, and finds her people, but things go terribly wrong incredibly quickly. I found Fledgling pretty slow moving, and didn't really engage with any of the characters. The relationship between a grown man and a seemingly pre-teen girl also made me a little uncomfortable.

I am so glad Butler is finally get the recognition she deserves as a writer, and I hope it continues. This is a gorgeous collection, and a vital addition to any sci-fi or fantasy reader's bookcase.

On the whole, a very strong collection of Octavia Butler's work. This compendium includes Kindred and Fledgling (her only two novels that were not, at the time of her death, part of a longer series); eight short stories with afterwards by the author (all seven of the stories collected in "Bloodchild and Other Stories" as well as one of the two stories in "Unexpected Stories"); and five essays (three from "Bloodchild" and two others). This manages to cover almost exactly the portion of Butler's oeuvre that I had not yet read before picking up this book, a feat of serendipity that I greatly appreciate. It also includes an introduction by Nisi Shawl - a thoughtful and fitting tribute to Butler's work and life - as well as a chronology of Butler's life and notes on texts at the end.

I had previously read Kindred, and did not re-read it in this collection. Suffice to say that it is an incredible work - one of my favorite Butler novels, vying only with the combined Earthseed series for the top spot. This is an extraordinarily powerful work of literature. Five stars.

Fledgling was the only remaining Butler novel that I had not previously read, and unfortunately, it is also easily my least favorite of her books. While her writing is as engaging as ever, I found the story a bit tedious, occasionally overwhelmed by description and exposition. The juxtaposition of Shori's childlike appearance with her sexual encounters was too uncomfortable for me, even though Shori's voice never sounded childlike. Two stars.

However, although I didn't like Fledgling, I think that this novel, in combination with the other stories collected here, does give a good sense of Butler's writing style and themes that were of interest to her - namely power, morality, sexuality, communication and compromise across difference, the creation of community, choice and free will. I loved all but one of the short stories. They touch on all of the themes just mentioned, and do so with Butler's characteristic creativity and originality. Her stories include ideas that also appear in her novels, like aliens and telepathy. I think it was a good choice to end this section with "The Book of Martha", which combines cynicism and hope for a truly Butlerian utopia.

The third section of the book consists of five essays, including the preface to Bloodchild. These are all fairly short, but provide a nice way of rounding out the book. They express a little more explicitly some of the thoughts and experiences that underlie Butler's fiction and offer some insight into how she viewed herself and her work.

Finally, there is a chronology of Butler's life, some notes on the selection and presentation of the texts, and reference notes, which will be useful for anyone looking for more information about the author or the works included in this collection.

In sum: there isn't really anything new in this book, but it does a good job of gathering together several separate works and arranging them with a nice introduction and some informational closing material.

There's no better time than now to read Octavia Butler. Thanks to Library of America for this bumper omnibus collection that I will cherish forever.

I received a free e-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review - thanks NetGalley.

I've wanted to read Octavia Butler ever since I heard one of her stories on LeVar Burton's podcast, so when this came up on NetGalley I was thrilled. This is a compilation of two of her novels, I think her first and last published, and a fair few short stories.

The problem here is how can I review two very different books and a bunch of short stories? Particularly books that have been so thoroughly reviewed elsewhere?

I'm going to say that I can see why her novels are considered important - from a race and gender point of view. Similarly, her short stories are disturbing, but never without hope.

To summarise, as much as is possible with such diverse material - worth reading, although it's not obvious why these are compiled together.

Disclaimer: I received an e-Arc of this book from NetGalley and Library of America to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was not familiar with Octavia Butler or her body of work. When presented with the chance to read and review Octavia Butler: Kindred, Fledgling, and Collected Stories (Library of America edition #338), I couldn't pass it up. Little did I know when I started this mammoth edition of her works, I would find a new favorite author.

At 790 pages, this collection is a masterclass in the genius that was Octavia Butler. This includes 2 full novels, 8 short stories, and 5 essays that discuss her writing process and how her race affected her work. There is also a chronology detailing the significant events of her life, which is interesting to see in comparison to where she was in her writing process and how it may have influenced her work.

The first novel in the collection is one of Butler's best known works, "Kindred." This story is about a young black woman named Dana who is sent back in time from 1976 California to Maryland 1819 rescue her white ancestor, who is also the eventual owner of her black ancestors . When Dana finds herself in danger, she mysteriously returns to present day California with little to no time passing. The next time Rufus, Dana's white ancestor, finds himself in peril, Dana and her white husband Kevin come back to 1819 to save him with serious ramifications to their future.

The second novel in the collection was "Fledgling," which was the last novel Butler published before her death. The main character of the book is a 53 year old vampire named Shori, who appears and is mentioned repeatedly as looking to be ten years in age. Shori awakens after a fire and experiences amnesia . She is found by a young man named Wright walking down a highway at night, who brings her home with him and allows her to feed on him. They begin a symbiotic feeding/sexual relationship. While investigating her origins at the site of the fire, she is met by her father who explains that unlike other vampires, she is the creation of genetic modification and can move about in sunlight. Soon after, her father and his compound of vampires are destroyed in a fire much like the one that killed Shori's mother and siblings in the beginning of the story. She, Wright, and two symbiotes from her father's colony seek to find who is set to destroy Shori and bring them to justice.

In addition to the novels, this volume also includes the following short stories and essays:

Childfinder
Crossover
Near of Kin
Speech Sounds
Bloodchild
The Evening and the Morning and the Night
Amnesty
The Book of Martha


Lost Races of Science Fiction
Positive Obsession
Furor Scribendi
The Monophobic Response

This collection was carefully curated to show the best of Ms. Butler's work and is a great opportunity to either start an Octavia Butler collection or to fill in the missing pieces in an existing collection.


#OctaviaEButlerKindredLibraryofAmerica #NetGalley

What a treat! This book should be recommended reading everywhere. It was an amazing read and a welcome surprise, because, even if I had heard of Butler, I had never read her before, and I entered the book without expectations.

The book includes two novels and some short stories, and also a couple of short essays at the end. The two novels are "Kindred" and "Fledgling", both of which touch on gender and, in particular, race issues. Those topics are also more or less relevant in the short stories.

"Kindred" is the best of the two novels. It is just astonishingly good. It tells the story of a woman who time travels to the past, without her having a say in it. She finds herself around 150 years in the past and soon discovers that her time travelling seems to be connected to her ancestor and that her mission is to save his life. The thing is that she is a black woman and this ancestor is the son of a slave owner. Butler does an amazing job in creating a really good time travel story that touches on very important topics in a very sensitive and intelligent way. It is a story that makes the reader think, wonder, keep guessing and is a conversation starter. It is really well written, with great rhythm and very well developed and well-rounded characters. You won't find caricatures here. Everyone feels like a real person, and Butler is able to set up some very smart and ambivalent moments that don't give easy answers.

"Fledgling" is also really good, but it is not as well rounded as "Kindred", in particular because the way Butler handles the topics of the story is way more heavy-handed. Here we have a little girl that we soon learn is a vampire (or kind of), with amnesia, alone and lost. The first part, with her lost and trying to make sense of the world that surrounds her is amazing, and Butler creates a world that is believable and an array of very interesting characters. The second part, though, falters, is a tad too long and the behavior of a couple of the characters seems out of a B-movie as if she was in a rush to finish the story. It is a pity because it takes a little from the story and from the impact it has on the reader.

The short stories are all of good quality, with original set-ups and a surprising focus on relationships and what makes beings connect and respect one another. A couple might be a tad too short, but that is a minor quibble. The essays are also short, but interesting, even though she seems to be criticizing herself in one of them (in regards to the way of introducing characters of color and women in the stories when you compare it with the heavy-handed way in which she does this in "Fledgling"). Of course, being decades old, some of those paths have been well trodden, but it is always interesting and important to revisit why sci-fi and fantasy were (are?) so male and white dominated and how, because of that, some ideas and messages became habit (or rule).

To summarize: one incredible novel, one really really good one, some very interesting short stories and a couple of essays that will make you think. What else can you ask about a book? Little more. So, go and grab a copy as soon as you can!

Excellent collection of Octavia Butler’s writings, comprising her novels Kindred and Fledgling, plus some short stories and essays. A wonderful way to become acquainted with this often over-looked writer who deserves a wider readership.

"The definitive edition of the complete works of the "grand dame" of American science fiction begins with this volume gathering two novels and her collected stories.

An original and eerily prophetic writer, Octavia E. Butler used the conventions of science fiction to explore the dangerous legacy of racism in America in harrowingly personal terms. She broke new ground with books that featured complex Black female protagonists - “I wrote myself in,” she would later recall - establishing herself as one of thepioneers of the Afrofuturist aesthetic. In 1995 she became the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, in recognition of her achievement in creating new aspirations for the genre and for American literature.

This first volume in the Library of America edition of Butler’s collected works opens with her masterpiece, Kindred, one of the landmark American novels of the last half century. Its heroine, Dana, a Black woman, is pulled back and forth between the present and the pre–Civil War past, where she finds herself enslaved on the plantation of a white ancestor whose life she must save to preserve her own. In Fledgling, an amnesiac discovers that she is a vampire, with a difference: she is a new, experimental birth with brown skin, giving her the fearful ability to go out in sunlight. Rounding out the volume are eight short stories and five essays - including two never before collected, plus a newly researched chronology of Butler’s life and career and helpful explanatory notes prepared by scholar Gerry Canavan. Butler’s friend, the writer and editor Nisi Shawl, provides an introduction."

I'm always happy when an author whom I think needs to be included in the Library of America finally is. Also edited by Nisi Shawl! I've met her at WisCon!

I am happy to report that Library of America (LOA) is publishing a first volume of Octavia Butler's work this month. Volume 338 in LOAs collection contains Butler's most widely read novel, Kindred, as well as her last novel, Fledgling, and her collected stories and essays.

Kindred is a genre-bending historical fiction/time travel novel. It is significant in that it requires its protagonist, Dana (and thus its readers as well), to experience and grapple with the realities of slavery. Set in 1976, the main character, Dana, finds herself periodically drawn back in time and place to plantation life. There she is seen and treated as a slave and interacts with other slaves as well as one of her ancestors, a white slave owner.The novel explores the lives of slaves, their interactions, and the power dynamics between slaves and their white masters, and the costs to everyone involved. Butler wrote this novel, published in 1979, partly to help young African Americans understand the threat to life slavery posed, and the compromises blacks made to survive. She also hoped to depict African Americans, especially women, as active, not passive.

These aren't reasons to read it however. Read it because it's a fascinating story, one with complex, well-drawn characters, most of whom suffer real consequences for their choices, and a few of them emerge with more nuanced understandings of their personal history as well as the history of the United States of America.

I spent the most time with the stories and two essays, as I hadn't read these before. The standout stories for me were “Speech sounds,” (because I am a word person and can't imagine not being able to communicate with words) and “Bloodchild,” a story in which a young person must make a difficult choice. This one, as well as the novel Fledgling, depict the difficulties in relationships where one person has more power in a relationship than the other. Bloodchild comes at it from the weaker perspective, Fledgling from the stronger.

If your a Butler fan and don't already own the contents of this volume, buying this is a no brainer. If you're not a science fiction fan, I'd definitely give Kindred a try, and it is most likely available at a local library.

Octavia E. Butler is a foundational author of science fiction – yet I had never had the pleasure of reading her works. Not until very recently. Horrible of me, I know. When I saw Octavia E. Butler: Kindred, Fledgling, Collected Stories, I knew that this was my chance to finally correct that mistake.

Included in this collection are two full novels (Kindred and Fledgling), eight short stories (Childfinder, Crossover, Near of Kin, Speech Sounds, Bloodchild, The Evening and the Morning and the Night, Amnesty, and The Book of Martha), and several essays. Together, this collection gives a cohesive view at Octavia E. Butler's writing. Mind you – this is far from being a collection of everything she's written. That would make for a significantly larger and more unwieldy tomb.

Kindred
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Kindred is one of those foundational science fiction/time travel novels that I've been hearing about all of my life. Written by Octavia E. Butler, it's been a novel sitting on my TBR list for way too long. Time to correct that mistake.

Kindred is a blend of science fiction, and historical fiction, with strong time travel, fantasy, and memoir elements mixed in for added elements. It follows Dana, a woman with a strong connection to a dark time in America's history.

She is the descendant of slaves, a fact that is thrown into the forefront thanks to the unexpected ability to travel back in time. But only to one focus. Over the course of this novel, she learns about the causes for her trips, as well as the history – and horror – of her family's past.

“Repressive societies always seemed to understand the danger of "wrong" ideas.”

Honestly, I am so blown away by Kindred. I don't even know where to begin this review. I can already see why Octavia Butler is so highly talked about – and can't wait to continue reading through her works.

This novel is moving for a variety of reasons. The combination of fiction and fact makes for a raw and painful read – but it's also powerful and beautiful. It addresses many issues, but it does so through a specific lens, and I hope that this will make it more approachable. It certainly worked well in regards to increasing the impact. As this is a book that had me crying on more than one occasion.

“Like all good works of fiction, it lies like the truth.”

Kindred is a novel to read if you want to be fascinated, horrified, blow over, and more. It portrays a darker side of history, and humanity, all while raising many interesting points and questions. It'll shake you to your core, as it should.

Fledgling
★ ★ ★
Before now, I've only read one other novel by Octavia Butler, and that was only recently. Still, I just knew that I had to read her take on vampires. Seriously, I had such high hopes, even before reading the description of this tale.

Fledgling begins with our girl waking up. She has no memories, she's hurting, and she's hungry. Slowly, her functions and her memories return. As does her understanding. Of the world, and of herself. She's a vampire, and she knows what that means. What she has to do to survive.

This is Octavia Butler's take on vampirism, blending common tropes and elements known to vampire lore together with her own unique take and twists on the matter. Despite the vampire elements, this is wholly a science fiction story, as further reading will reveal.

“When your rage is choking you, it is best to say nothing.”

I'll confess, Fledgling left me stumped. Mostly on how to review and rate it. On the one hand, I love that it surprised me. It has been a hot minute since I read a vampire novel that was more firmly set in science fiction rather than fantasy.

On the other hand, this novel made me fairly uncomfortable at times. And not for the reasons you might be assuming. I know that vampires can come in all ages and sizes – and that the way they look is not automatically representative of how old they actually are.

Still, it was off-putting to read about a young-bodied (read: child) vampire with an old soul and history. It's a theme I try to avoid when diving into vampire books, so this is not a dig aimed at Octavia Butler. I want to be clear on that count.

“Or it's happening because Shori is black, and racists—probably Ina racists—don't like the idea that a good part of the answer to your daytime problems is melanin.”

Thankfully, Butler's writing is still really amazing and impressive. Once again she managed to raise so many other elements and questions to the surface, and that made this read worth it. Even if I didn't enjoy the parts I already mentioned above.

Fledgling is probably not a vampire story for everyone. Still, it did make for an interesting and emotional read. Just not for the reasons that I had anticipated.

Childfinder
★ ★ ★ ★
Childfinder is a fascinating yet thought-provoking story. It is one that feels like it both begins and ends in the middle – yet that actually works in its favor. Though I don't think any reader would say no to learning more about this world, or the characters within.

Crossover
★ ★ ★ ★
Crossover is a short story that cuts to the quick, especially for anyone who has spent any time in a factory. The soul-crushing nature of the tale really does jump right out at the reader here, once again showcasing how talented of a writer Octavia Butler was.

Near of Kin
★ ★ ★ ★
Near of Kin is another heartbreaking and poignant short story. What I'm starting to get at here is, this is a collection everyone (especially science fiction fans) should be putting aside some time to read.

Also, as the afterward made a point of emphasizing – this short has absolutely nothing in common with Kindred. They do not share the same world, or anything else. It seemed obvious while reading, but now it feels important to clarify.

Speech Sounds
★ ★ ★
There are stories that break your heart, and then there's Speech Sounds. This entire short reads as being so very tired and worn out. It leaves a somber impression, which after reading the afterward, was at least partially the intent/mindset at the time.

Bloodchild
★ ★ ★ ★
Bloodchild, in many ways, felt like the heaviest science fiction short of the bunch (so far), something that must be appreciated. Honestly, this world and concept are really heavy, and yet it is so tempting to say that I want to see it explored further. It delves deep into a dark implication, and leaves the reader lost in thought.

The Evening and the Morning and the Night
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Oh god, I honestly think that The Evening and the Morning and the Night might just be my favorite short story out of this entire collection. Yes, it's dark. But it's also brilliant and so intense. I would have given anything to keep reading.

Amnesty
★ ★ ★ ★
Amnesty is inspired by the events surrounding Doctor Wen Ho Lee of Los Alamos (1990s). You can feel the weight of the words, and perhaps it's just me, but the connection to the real world felt so very strong in her writing here.

The Book of Martha
★ ★ ★ ★
The Book of Martha is the only Utopian story in this collection, and it is so different from many of the options floating out in the world. I really appreciated this unique view, including the twists of this particular conversation.

Lost Races of Science Fiction
Lost Races of Science Fiction is the first essay included in this collection. I've decided not to leave star ratings for these – but I do strongly urge them to be read as well. They're fascinating and insightful. Here, Octavia Butler speaks out about the treatment of minorities in fiction. Her personal experience, history, and observations. But also the impact, and the importance of their inclusion. It's a powerfully written essay.

Positive Obsession
Originally titled “Birth of a Writer” (in Essence magazine), Positive Obsession is Octavia Butler's story of how she came to be a writer. From where and how she learned to read, to her driving passions as a child, and forward on as she kept up the battle.

Furor Scribendi
Furor Scribendi is probably the easiest essay to summarize: it's a condensed guide/speech for new writers. You can tell that this is something she probably had to repeat on several occasions over the years!

The Monophobic Response
This is an introspective essay. Just as much so for the readers as for the writer, as is surely intended. This one is absolutely worth reading, for the ways it will get you thinking.

One of my reading goals for 2021 is to read the remainder of Octavia E. Butler's work, as well as revisiting some of the classics that have already earned a place on my favourites shelf. And what better way to stick to a reading goal than to tell you lovely readers about it? With Lilith's Brood, Kindred and the Parable books all read in previous years, I decided my first read would be the initial volume of the Library of America's collection of her works, containing Kindred, Fledgling and Collected Stories. I didn't reread Kindred this time - though I consider it to be as close to essential reading as any single book can be (content warnings for its depictions of chattel slavery in the US South), but I devoured the other two thirds of this bind-up, with excellent results.



Fledgling is Butler's last completed novel, a story which stands well alone but in another world could have been the start of something much longer. It reimagines the vampire myth in a way that plays upon the psychological appeal vampires can exert on their prey, creating the Ina, a symbiont species which gathers a group of humans and forms a mutual bond with them, feeding on them in exchange for increased longevity and healing and a whole lot of mutual pleasure. The protagonist of Fledgling is Shori, a juvenile (though still super old in human terms) Ina who is the result of genetic experimentation by her mothers: unlike the rest of her species, Shori is able to control her sleep cycle and move around relatively freely during the day, rather than going to sleep or being severely burned by sunlight. As part of this genetic enhancement, Shori is Black - a fact we find out relatively far into the novel's own text, although like Kindred before it, the marketing is likely to have given this away before the reader encounters it in the story. She is also, when we encounter her, an amnesiac, and through the novel's opening chapters we piece together the fate of her family and the challenge that now faces her to re-establish her own safety and right to exist against uncertain forces determined to wipe her out.
Like Lilith's Brood, Fledgling immediately engages the reader in a world where humanity encounters a more powerful alien force, one which fundamentally challenges specific biological truths we build our self-identity and social structure around. Complicating that alien interaction is, of course, a big helping of human prejudice, and both race and gender (particularly masculinities) sit at the heart of Shori's experience, and the experiences of her symbionts. In Fledgling's opening scenes, Shori is picked up by Wright, a human man who becomes her first symbiont before she's entirely aware of her own power and what she's doing. Wright is shown as being a decent person with a basically sound moral compass before he comes under Shori's influence, but his relationship to her as a symbiont, and his acceptance of the other symbionts she brings into their "family", is clouded by his conception of his masculinity and the expectation that his sexual relationship with Shori includes an element of ownership, at least where other men are concerned. The powerlessness that comes with being a symbiont, biologically unable to challenge a structure that he's intellectually resistant to, makes for a lot of interesting tension as the novel progresses and Shori's relationships with her humans and other Ina become denser. And then there's the impact of Shori's Blackness, and the challenge it presents to those around her trying to understand the truth of her family's murder. Because the Ina have never previously had races, her extended family strongly resist the explanation that the violence done to her was a result of racism, brushing it off as a human affliction and not something they would entertain. Unsurprisingly, the truth turns out to be rather different, and the challenge which Shori presents just by existing is treated delicately but unflinchingly within the story.

Fledgling is a fairly slow narrative: it has its action sequences, but a lot of its story simply involves exploring the society of the Ina and their symbionts, and Shori's journey to rediscover her heritage and come to terms with what was done to her. It doesn't pack the same level of punch as Kindred or the Parable books - and it didn't make me ache for lost sequels in the same way that Parable of the Trickster does - but for the kind of story it's supposed to be, Fledgling deserves to stand among the best reimaginings of the vampire mythology, one that pushes the psychological elements of the myth to fascinating new levels.


The short fiction in here is an intriguing mix (all of it originally published in the second edition of Bloodchild and Other Stories), and much of it also deals with the subject of humanity pushed beyond its biological "comfort zone" to a point where societies, or even survival, look very different. Sometimes, that's about contact with the alien: "Bloodchild", perhaps Butler's most famous piece of short fiction, is an alien symbiosis story in which humans are offered a home on the planet of the alien T'Lic, in return for carrying their eggs to gestation, while "Amnesty" posits an alien society of "Communities" which gain pleasure from contact with humans, and hold economic sway over earth. Both offer complex pictures of the choices their human protagonists make, though Xuan Hoa, in Bloodchild, is much younger and at a different stage of reckoning to Noah, the older and more resigned protagonist of Amnesty. In other stories - like the post-apocalyptic "Speech Sounds", or the story of a fictional degenerative disease and those who know they carry it that is told in "The Evening and the Morning and the Night" - the challenges are more internal, though no less overwhelming. The latter, in particular, stayed with me long after the curtain fell for its strange hopefulness in the face of the inevitable. Its protagonists, both sufferers of a disease that causes people to disassociate and compulsively self-harm in later life, bond and make plans for their future despite knowing it will end in violent, self-afflicted death; when it is discovered that there might be another alternative (one which relies on a well funded private healthcare institute of the kind unavailable to most sufferers), its a moment that opens doors without diminishing the impact of the disease on their autonomy and self-preservation. It's a weird effect, one which I struggle to put into words, but which really hit home for me and made this probably my favourite story of the collection. And while I had less luck with the non-alien stories, the non fiction pieces here are well worth reading for their insights into the life and challenges of a Black woman trying to push the boundaries of science fiction in a world that couldn't fathom someone like her doing so.
I'm excited to see where my Butler reading takes me from here: next stop, the world of the Patternist, beginning with chronologically-first Wild Seed. See you then!

Excellent book. Great combination of stories and novels that encompasses who she was as a writer. Will be recommending and potentially including in an upcoming Book Riot article.

Wonderful fiction compilation of the amazing Octavia Butler's novels and short stories. Would definitely buy!

A beautiful collection of stories and essays from one of the essential writers of our generation. Butler speaks to issues that we still sadly face today such as racism, sexism, the plight of refugees, bodily autonomy, etc. and does so with a cogent, urgent voice that I would consider timeless.

In Kindred we are introduced to an African American woman, Dana, from 1970s who is transported to beginning of 19th century in order to save the life of a son of a slaveowner and when her life is threatened she comes back to her own time. This keeps happening and she needs to find a way to survive in a world that doesn’t see her as a human being.

It is not an emotionally easy book to read. You are faced with the cruellest human behaviour imaginable. You are also faced with the characters that are too real at moments. And that is the beauty of her writing, in my opinion.

Fledgling follows the experiences of a young woman who wakes up in a cave in a forest with strange injuries – burns all over her body, her skull is cracked in several places and she has no memories. We see all this from her perspective. We see her try to wake up, attempt to regain strength, hunt and survive. Once she is feeling a little bit better she starts exploring her surroundings. She is saved by a young man and the two of them set out to explore what brought her there, where her family is, and most importantly who is she.

Butler succeeds in creating human beings, not characters right from the start in bother novels. I measure the success of an author at creating a hero/villain (?) by how much I want to just throw the book away and how often I catch myself yelling at the characters. And in these two novels and in the short stories I did that very often.

I see the reason why these two novels were included in the Library of America collection. They can be seen as two book ends of Butler's writing career. Kindred at the start of it and Fledgling at the end. Where Kindred talks about a woman who is aware of so much and is thrown among dangerous people in a dangerous time and she uses her knowledge to save herself, here we have a woman who is thrown into a dangerous situation with no memories. Two completely different characters who both need to find a way to survive, and survive they do. These books offer us a look into the psyche of a woman, a woman of colour in Kindred, and of an experiment, an experiment of colour in Fledgling. We also look at love connections, families, and the functioning of societies. All this in the guise of science fiction and fantasy. Wonderful reads and a writer I want to read more of.