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Bloodchild and Other Stories
A perfect introduction for new readers and a must-have for avid fans, this New York Times Notable Book includes "Bloodchild," winner of both the Hugo and the Nebula awards and "Speech Sounds," winner of the Hugo Award. Appearing in print for the first time, "Amnesty" is a story of a woman named Noah who works to negotiate the tense and co-dependent relationship between humans and a species of invaders. Also new to this collection is "The Book of Martha" which asks: What would you do if God granted you the ability—and responsibility—to save humanity from itself?
Like all of Octavia Butler’s best writing, these works of the imagination are parables of the contemporary world. She proves constant in her vigil, an unblinking pessimist hoping to be proven wrong, and one of contemporary literature’s strongest voices.
Like all of Octavia Butler’s best writing, these works of the imagination are parables of the contemporary world. She proves constant in her vigil, an unblinking pessimist hoping to be proven wrong, and one of contemporary literature’s strongest voices.
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Community Reviews
I found this book a fascinating insight int Octavia Butler and her writing. The center of the book is several essays about how she did her writing. He main advice for writers was: persist. The stories are more speculative fiction than science fiction. Ways of thinking about and assessing the human condition.
As a reader, I wonder all the time what was going on in the author’s head while writing great fiction.
In this collection, Octavia Butler included a brief notice to the reader for each short story or nonfiction essay, a true treasure.
After the first story, which gives the collection its name, Butler talks about how she often writes to deal with topics and concepts that make her uncomfortable. She’ll write a story until she figures out a way that makes it feel comfortable, or at least allow for shades of grey. It’s so interesting then to look at her other works in that light, because she never shied away from the odd, the grotesque, the taboo, and the uncomfortable truth.
I would actually recommend this not as a primer to Octavia Butler’s works, but after reading a few of her novels. I feel like there’s a greater appreciation for her short work after also seeing what Butler can do with long form fiction. 8.5/10 recommend.
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