Bloodchild and Other Stories

Octavia Butler has a way of telling a story that lets us see past our own pre-conceptions and prejudices. These are wonderful stories!

Some time ago I've read for the first time a book from Ms Butler. I was captivated by her amazing imagination and quality of her prose and became instantly a fan of the author.This first impression was corroborated as I read more of her writings.All her books showed a rich mixture of imagination, complex and interesting characters and conflictive situations to test their mettle.Here the reader is presented with Octavia's short stories. She proves to be as good as with her novels, even if she states she is not a "short story writer".There are five tales and two essays.The essays provide good hints for "would be writers".The multi-awarded "Bloodchild" is a typically Butler's product.She explores in depth, in a quite short text, the intricacies of symbiosis between human and alien specie.I think that from this story, Octavia has derived her amazing trilogy "Lilith's Brood". Both stories refer to symbiosis and how this affects human mind producing very different attitudes from rejection to uncensored adhesion.The other remarkable tale is "Speech Sounds" that shows a post apocalyptic world where humanity is deprived of speech or the ability of read and write.She focuses on the strain survivors suffer to adapt to these conditions. The inner suffering and the will to survive are shown without respite."The Evening and the Morning and the Night" reflects the anguish endured by a woman that knows she will be devastated by a new disease.This book is a very good introduction to Ms. Butler's universe.Reviewed by Max Yofre.

It's often said that reviews reflect more about the reviewer than the work itself. This review is no exception, and I won't attempt to mask it. My words are inherently shaped by my personal experiences and preferences. I am identified by others as a man and I'm not white; I enjoy science fiction, though I don't actively seek it out. I'm not an expert in the genre, having skipped over names like Isaac Asimov, primarily because he was so mainstream during my teenage years, and of course, I had to avoid the mainstream. I did like the works of other writers though, like Stanislav Lem and Doris LessingI've only recently discovered Octavia Butler through "Bloodchild," and I'm elated. It's a refreshing deviation from the usual tropes of superheroes, apocalypses, and moral preaching I see often in science fiction media. Octavia Butler presents intense human characters, distinctively vivid and real. In these stories, she introduces a recurrent theme—a disease or condition with no cure, suddenly appearing and affecting individuals, some of whom are resigned, yet acutely aware of their fate. This element reminded me of Saramago's 'Blindness', in both, disease is the way to expose a view on the human condition.It's disheartening, yet true, that a science fiction work from a black woman is still considered exotic. Discovering Octavia Butler, in a field saturated by white men, was a breath of fresh air. Her very presence is an act of defiance in a landscape overwhelmingly shaped by demographics.In "Bloodchild," Octavia Butler's lack of overt moralizing was a refreshing surprise. Her stories don't champion virtues or condemn vices, they explore human experiences and emotions under special circumstances, a domain where science fiction does the trick. Her protagonists are believable and deeply human, often black women, offering a welcome change from the norm.Octavia Butler offers honest insights into humanity throughout these stories, or perhaps it's what I choose to see through her words: 'The only difference…was that the so-called human beings knew when they were hurting me.' Her narrative bears a certain flavor, an acceptance of life as it is, reminiscent of Lucia Berlin's work. Both authors find meaning in the mundane and a sense of resignation with the present reality."Bloodchild" brought to mind other works I've enjoyed, notably "The Invincible" by Stanislav Lem when reading “Amnesty” where intelligent creatures are made of myriads of organisms; and "Zettelkasten" by Michael Ende when Octavia Butler talks about the creation process, which Ende also discuss in one of his essays and that is summarized in Picasso's oft-quoted notion: 'Inspiration does exist, but it has to find you working.'I'm glad to have discovered Octavia Butler, who I've now added to my favorite authors. I'm looking forward to reading more of her work.

I am repeatedly amazed by Octavia Butler's wit and wisdom. She is courageously tender. She is brilliantly timid. She is the best in her genre. And she just happens to be, sadly, dead. I never knew her but I miss her. I never even learned of her until she'd been dead for several years. I think to myself as I read her books, what an astronomical loss humanity has quietly experienced.Our tale begins with several short stories included in this small, black, red, and yellow-covered book. The first story is the well-studied title read, "Bloodchild." I LOVED IT!!! From the moment that I read it as a college requirement, I loved this story. It is a Sci-Fi love story and I won't give anything away. I will say that Butler introduces the dynamics of the altogether otherworldly yet vaguely familiar creations of her head with the brilliance of Michelangelo's best hewn marble. There is never a moment's rest - never a moment that doesn't have you drooling and begging for more. This story is amazing and I LOVED IT! Oh ... I said that already. OK, moving on.The next story is "The evening and the Morning and the Night." I wish I could just give you the first page so that you could get some sense of what this woman does when she puts pen to paper.After I'd read the one story that I'd purchased the book for, I planned on putting the anthology to the side. I happened to just glance at the pages of the next story and I never put the book down again until I had read all four of the remaining stories.If you enjoy science fiction, or utopian/dystopian reading, this is the book for you!There was a story that I didn't like in the book, I think because it was totally outside of what I was used to reading from Butler. See if you can determine what that was and then post a comment to this review.Enjoy this great read!!!

Definitely above average, though I didn't find the exact type of story I was looking for (to be read aloud before an audience). The stories didn't quite fit the style required by the director.

Love Octavia Butler as an authorare great. Glad I have a hardback .