BLOODCHILD : And Other Stories

I’m sad to say I have only just discovered Olivia Butler’s fiction. Some of these stories were astonishing, in that themes which are so familiar to us in 2022 were written so long ago, when these concepts were original. Her writing is beautifully lucid and her scientific foundations are well researched. Her aliens, alternative worlds and challenges to humanity are wonderfully imagined. On the whole, I much prefer these short stories to the novels, where I find the number of unfinished sub-plots frustrating. A great place to begin with this underrated author.

it was a gift. Recipient said it was very good.

I have read a couple of books by the author. She is fantastic. The kind if stories that make you reflect on things. I liked the fact that Ocatvia E Butler adds where she got the inspiration/idea for the story. I also loved the essays, particularly the one that she talks about how she wanted to become a writer.

Amazing

My absolute favourite short story.

I feel it is a terrible sin of omission on my part that until now I have never read any works by Octavia Butler. I mean, sure, everyone has their gaps in their reading history, where there's an author here or there who you've always meant to get round to reading but just haven't. But Butler has been a glaring hole in my reading - until now. She freely admits in her introduction to this short story collection that novels are where her heart truly belongs, but this is a good way to delve into her writing, a gentle starter with the main course ready and waiting to follow, if you will. There are seven stories and two essays in this collection, kicking off with the award-winning title story. Bloodchild is a complex story of interdependent relationships, with humans being used as hosts to nurse the infants of an alien species, but at a cost. There are questions of what one is willing to exchange in order to survive, issues of abusive relationships and personal sacrifice, all heady topics swirling within the confines of a short story. Award-winner that it is, though, personally I prefer another story in the collection, The Evening and the Morning and the Night. It's a story of a society where a drug created to cure ailments such as cancer has after-effects, with the descendants of those who took the drug affected by a condition which can cause them to "drift", losing touch with the society around them and slipping into dangerous psychosis. Told from the perspective of the children affected by this disorder, as they face a future which seems inevitably to slip towards madness and death, it's a deeply poignant tale of how society deals with those it cannot cope with, and what happens to those individuals themselves - whether they can carve out their own future in a world that offers them none. These two stories stand out above the others, but there's still plenty of great reading to be had in the collection. There's no binding theme - though a recurring focus is on issues of biology and illness. One nice feature is that each story has notes after it with the author detailing her thoughts on the tale. For example, she addresses the fact that many think Bloodchild is about slavery - it isn't, though talk in the story of selling people hints that way. It's more complex than that, though, and very much worth discovering if, like me, you've been lagging behind on exploring Butler's work.

A collection of excellent SF short stories and a couple of interesting essays about being a writer. The short stories, especially Bloodchild, are compelling and disturbing. This is partly because they are so deeply ambiguous - for instance in Bloodchild, humanity is enslaved, and it is loved, in the same way that a pet is enslaved and loved. She never comes down on one side or the other, and that's brilliant and unique. The explanations she gives after each story are also very interesting. I went on to buy the full-length trilogy Lillith's Brood by the same author. To be honest, I would recommend Bloodchild instead.

Science fiction can benefit from being a genre: writers get an almost guaranteed readership. The downside is that many readers will avoid it. How often do you hear people say they 'don't read science fiction'? If Jane Austen were filed under romance, James Joyce under pornography and William Golding under historical, how many readers would they lose? More pertinently, if Huxley and Orwell were hidden away on the science fiction shelves would they have had the great reputations they deserve? So, what I'm saying is don't let this happen to Octavia E. Butler. She was a magnificent writer and Blood Child is a great example of her work. The stories deal with prejudice and fear through classic s/f themes of aliens and telepathy but I never felt I was reading something silly or completely unrelated to life. The prose is fine and the stories are wise and fascinating. Her own reflections on her stories and writing career are honest and revealing.

Uszkodzony egzemplarz :(

Ms. Butler’s stories stand on the shoulders of the giants of 50s, 60s and 70s sci-fi, and adds incredible depth, sensitivity and a much-missed point of view. Terrific reading.

I absolutely loved this book of stories. Octavia Butler is an incredible writer and a master of sci-fi. Each story is followed by a few words from Butler, and it's amazing to be able to read her thoughts about the writing process right after taking it in. The book features 2 essays, "Positive Obsession" (1989) and "Furor Scribendi" (1993). As a writer, a reader, and a patron of the arts, these essays have been deeply motivating not only for my intellectual pursuits but also for my dedication to life and for honoring my goals. You won't regret picking this one up.

I adore this author. The stories are amazing in their inventiveness and yet maintain a very real sense of possibility. Included in this collection are a couple of essays she wrote about writing. If you are an aspiring writer those alone are worth it.

Un livre étonnant d’originalité, à laquelle je m’attendais pas., car l’auteur est peu connu. J’apprécie beaucoup aussi la qualité de la prose, inhabituelle dans le domaine de la science fiction; ce qui fait qu’on lâche difficilement une histoire une fois entamée. Bref, je recommande absolument!