Author: Octavia E. Butler
Published by: Seven Stories Press
Pages: 214
Format: Paperback (Second edition with new stories)
My Rating ★★★★
Published by: Seven Stories Press
Pages: 214
Format: Paperback (Second edition with new stories)
My Rating ★★★★
Named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and now a supplemented with new stories, Bloodchild and Other Stories is renowned author Octavia E. Butler’s only collection of shorter work and features the Hugo and Nebula award-winning stories Bloodchild and Speech Sounds.
These works of imagination are parables of the contemporary world. Butler proves constant in her vigil, an unblinking pessimist hoping to be proven wrong, and one of contemporary literature’s strongest voices.
Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006) was the author of fourteen books, including the novels Kindred, Dawn, Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, and Fledgling. Recipient of a MacArthur Foundation ‘genius’ grant, the Hugo and Nebula Awards, a lifetime achievement award in writing from PEN, and numerous other literary awards, Butler is widely acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations that range from the distant past to the far future.
My thoughts:
I’ve been wanting to dive into Octavia E Butler’s work for a while now, and thought I’d start small to get a taste of her style. Although this book is little in size, its ideas are hugely imaginative. I’m not at all surprised by how the title story, Bloodchild, has become so famous.
Bloodchild tells the story of a group known as the Terrans who left Earth in search of a life free of persecution. Now they live alongside the Tlic, an alien race who face extinction; their only chance of survival is to plant their larvae inside the bodies of the humans. When Gan, a young, boy, is chosen as a carrier of Tlic eggs, he faces an impossible dilemma: can he really help the species he has grown up with, even if it means sacrificing his own life?
It’s a thought-provoking meditation on existence, love, power and facing tough choices. I found this story in particular incredibly weird and really quite creepy.
There are so many fantastic examples of quality short fiction in this collection, though I think my particular favourites were probably Bloodchild, Speech Sounds and Crossover. I found all the stories strangely haunting and much more emotional that I had expected. I found much of the storytelling pretty unsettling, and The Evening and the Morning and the Night even made me cry a little bit.
The individual afterwords for each piece added to the reading experience and I found it fascinating to learn a bit more about Butler and her writing/thought process when developing these wild science-fiction story ideas. The author clearly has an amazing imagination and this was a fantastic example of compelling short fiction.
I don’t think there was a single story I disliked. There were some that I liked more than others, of course, but at the end of the day, there was not one that I considered skipping or found dull.
This little book is quite simply a must read for any fan of science-fiction and fantasy. Octavia E. Butler is a wonderful author and her stories here are captivating. It even includes a couple of essays that were very interesting to read.
I’d recommend this to everyone who is even slightly interested in Butler, as it is a great place to begin reading her work or to get deeper into her narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed her short stories and this was my first introduction to her writing. I’m so glad I unexpectedly came across this book. Exceptionally weird, but in the best possible way.
Overall reaction:
I’ve been wanting to dive into Octavia E Butler’s work for a while now, and thought I’d start small to get a taste of her style. Although this book is little in size, its ideas are hugely imaginative. I’m not at all surprised by how the title story, Bloodchild, has become so famous.
Bloodchild tells the story of a group known as the Terrans who left Earth in search of a life free of persecution. Now they live alongside the Tlic, an alien race who face extinction; their only chance of survival is to plant their larvae inside the bodies of the humans. When Gan, a young, boy, is chosen as a carrier of Tlic eggs, he faces an impossible dilemma: can he really help the species he has grown up with, even if it means sacrificing his own life?
It’s a thought-provoking meditation on existence, love, power and facing tough choices. I found this story in particular incredibly weird and really quite creepy.
There are so many fantastic examples of quality short fiction in this collection, though I think my particular favourites were probably Bloodchild, Speech Sounds and Crossover. I found all the stories strangely haunting and much more emotional that I had expected. I found much of the storytelling pretty unsettling, and The Evening and the Morning and the Night even made me cry a little bit.
The individual afterwords for each piece added to the reading experience and I found it fascinating to learn a bit more about Butler and her writing/thought process when developing these wild science-fiction story ideas. The author clearly has an amazing imagination and this was a fantastic example of compelling short fiction.
I don’t think there was a single story I disliked. There were some that I liked more than others, of course, but at the end of the day, there was not one that I considered skipping or found dull.
This little book is quite simply a must read for any fan of science-fiction and fantasy. Octavia E. Butler is a wonderful author and her stories here are captivating. It even includes a couple of essays that were very interesting to read.
I’d recommend this to everyone who is even slightly interested in Butler, as it is a great place to begin reading her work or to get deeper into her narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed her short stories and this was my first introduction to her writing. I’m so glad I unexpectedly came across this book. Exceptionally weird, but in the best possible way.
Overall reaction:
