Bloodchild and other stories

[email protected] reviewed Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler

Alien stories were never more human

5 stars

Two stories in this book are about humans being dominated by nightmarish aliens. After reading Butler's time travel and slavery novel "Kindred", and knowing what a pioneer she was as a black woman in a field dominated by white men, it's hard to miss the influence her real life had on her fiction.

But there's a tremendous compassion and hope for reconciliation in her stories. Anger and outrage are built into the premise of a Butler story, but the future always contains love and optimism... more than the domineering aliens seem to deserve. Her stories have such clarity and simplicity, and I feel like I know her personally, or I WANT to know her, even as she's creating one her uniquely bizarre science fiction scenarios. Everything I've read by her makes me feel her loss. 58 is too young.

I take half a star off only because I thought the …

Two stories in this book are about humans being dominated by nightmarish aliens. After reading Butler's time travel and slavery novel "Kindred", and knowing what a pioneer she was as a black woman in a field dominated by white men, it's hard to miss the influence her real life had on her fiction.

But there's a tremendous compassion and hope for reconciliation in her stories. Anger and outrage are built into the premise of a Butler story, but the future always contains love and optimism... more than the domineering aliens seem to deserve. Her stories have such clarity and simplicity, and I feel like I know her personally, or I WANT to know her, even as she's creating one her uniquely bizarre science fiction scenarios. Everything I've read by her makes me feel her loss. 58 is too young.

I take half a star off only because I thought the story "Near of Kin" was distasteful. Maybe you need to have a different relationship with the Christian bible to get it, but I think it was a rare failure. It's probably the least significant of the stories in this little collection, and others refloated the book as I read on.

bnmng reviewed Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler

Creepy, Thought-Provoking, and Fascinating

No rating

I've only read the first three stories so far but even if the rest of the book is duds, I still recommend it. The stories are creepy - which I personally like but you might not -, but their thought-provoking and fascinating

nigini reviewed Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler

Review of 'Bloodchild and Other Stories' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Este livro contém a melhor seleção de estórias que já tive o prazer de ler. É um deleite sem tamanho se deparar com as perspectivas sobre o universo de Octavia E. Butler; perspectivas extremamante humanas (mesmo quando discute novas raças alienígenas), cuidadosamente complexas e profundas (como quando se dispõe a conversar com deus sobre mudanças a serem feitas na humanidade, ou quando quer discutir como seria se homens pudessem engravidar).

Considerando toda sua criatividade e qualidade de escrita, é também um pouco assustador perceber o quanto perdemos quando não damos voz à diversidade humana -- a autora teve muito trabalho para publicar sua ciência-ficção, não apenas por ser mulher e negra mas pelo tipo de discussão que apresenta. Espero que estajamos num caminho sem volta para uma literatura pró diversidade!