Bloodchild and Other Stories [Paperback]

Each story is followed by a thoughtful afterword that provides analysis on her ideas. The two essays are on the craft of writing. The one essay titled 'Positive Obsession' is a small window into Butler's childhood, and the difficulties she had getting published. It clearly conveys the fears she had of never getting published. With the help of her mother she managed to persist in a most impressive way.

My favorite story was 'Speech Sounds' involving a woman in a post-apocalyptic America. The world is ravaged with a new disease that takes away speech for some survivors, and reading & writing skills for others. After losing her three children and husband a woman years later rediscovers love. What happens afterwards is devastating, yet she manages to move on and find a reason for living.

'Bloodchild' is the most popular of these stories, since it won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. This story involves an alien species that learns to co-exist with humans by using men to carry their newborn.

Another strong effort is 'The Evening and the Morning and the Night'. This is a very emotionally involving story. A young woman has lost both of her parents to a disease that she herself harbors. This hereditary illness doesn't reveal itself until middle age. Having to live with knowing that she will self-mutilate as she ages is almost too much for her to handle. Fortunately for her she meets someone who is also a carrier, and together they decide to visit his mom in a hospital.

The only downside to this collection is that I could not help wishing there were more stories to read, but what is there is of high enough quality to compensate.

Butler is still a relatively new voice in the world of writing. Rightly or wrongly, she is catogorised at science fiction, a genre which tends to tie up the loose literary ends of writers who don't exactly fit into any definite species. While at their barest what she writes about is science fiction, she inundates her writing with an artistically humane quality: Moreso than just writing about the ooh's and aah's of science, she writes about the complexities and values of humanity. Her writing is evenly paced, without being drawn out - she does not feed into flashy or gimmicky story lines, but rather baits the reader with beautiful (though not overly wordy) descriptions and portrayals of characters.

"Bloodchild," the opening story, tells of a young adult who is to undergo a "rite of passage," so to speak. In this story, an alien race is symbiotically related to humans: They provide comfort, warmth, and assistance. In exchange, humans house the eggs of these creatures, undergoing a horrendously painful "hatching" prcoess that does not kill them, but leaves them with horrific memories of pain. Butler tells this short story with first person narrative, imparting a sense of emotion and realism that could never be experienced outside of her authorship.

Despite her stylistic flow, Butler still manages to keep what she writes interesting. She tackles each story, however seemingly tired the concept may be, with a refreshing tone. She is able to deftly craft a story with as few brush strokes as possible, but still leave a dazzling landscape.

Bloodchild is definitely one of the most marvelous, beautiful workds of fiction that I have read in recent times. It is science fiction without ever being scientific, fiction without ever being imagined. Butler is talanted and creative, and undoubtedly one of the best contemporary writers I have encountered.