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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9781583226988
ISBN number: 1583226982
Label: Seven Stories Press
Manufacturer: Seven Stories Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 224
Printing Date: October 01, 2005
Publishing house: Seven Stories Press
Sale Popularity Level: 393476
Studio: Seven Stories Press
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'An outstanding short story collection . . . [Butler] is an impressive writer whose work displays how science fiction readily transcends the perceived stylistic limitations of the genre.'-St. Petersburg Times
'Bloodchild is a compelling and horrifying novella . . . [by an] exceptionally talented writer.'-Publishing houses Weekly
'The title story is justly famous . . . splendid pieces, set forth in calm, lucid prose with never a word wasted.'-Kirkus Reviews
'Butler graces new mansions of thought with her eloquent, distinguished, and poignant prose. Although this book is little in size, its ideas and aims are splendidly large.'-Booklist
This New York Times Notable Book of the Year includes the Hugo and Nebula awards-winner Bloodchild and the Hugo Award-winner Speech Sounds.
Octavia E. Butler is the author of 11 novels, including Kindred, Dawn, and Parable of the Sower. Recipient of a MacArthur Foundation 'genius' grant, the Nebula Award, the Hugo Award, and numerous other literary awards, she has been acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations that range from the distant past to the far future.
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Rated by buyers 
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"What good is science fiction to Black people?" If you have ever wondered this, or if you've ever thought that the future was limited to shiny, cybernetic miracles, you need to read Bloodchild and Other Stories. A collection of five short stories and two wonderfully spare essays on the art of writing, this book serves as a fine introduction to the works of Octavia Butler.
Butler's novels have won the most prestigious awards in the science fiction world, even though they often deal with questions of race and culture that have not always captured the attention of science fiction writers, or the interest of science fiction readers. Her protagonists are frequently strong Black women - think Celie by way of Ellen Ripley. The stories in this volume include everything from synthetic diseases that rob people of their basic humanity to the subtleties of interpersonal relations in difficult circumstances. The title story is an SF exploration of the relationship between two unequal species that stands as a mind-bending discourse on slavery and human bondage. There are no laser swords or starships here - only a series of meditations on the possibilities of being human.
Rated by buyers 
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Besides her exceptional novels, Octavia Butler has published a collection of her short fiction entitled Bloodchild and Other Stories. The opening story in the collection is her Hugo and Nebula award winning story, the title story, "Bloodchild". This is what she has called her "male pregnancy story" and it features an Earth which has been taken over by some sort of alien creatures who form symbiotic relationships with humans, but who also use humans to breed their young and usually males because impregnating females means fewer humans will be born which means fewer young of their own kind. It was an interesting story.
My favorite of the collection, however, is her Hugo winning story "Speech Sounds". Some sort of cataclysm has hit our planet, one which has robbed humanity of the ability to speak and in some cases regressed the mental development of humanity to a more base level. Set in Los Angeles, "Speech Sounds" shows the loss of communication and what that does to society and we see it through the eyes of one woman who was on a bus when an incident occurred.
"The Evening and the Morning of the Night" is a story which sticks with the reader, though with me it was for the wrong reason I believe. This story features a hereditary disease which causes some people to lose their mind and try to dig their way out of their own skin and it is that image of people trying to do that to themselves that sickened me a bit, even though all that action occurred off camera, if you will. Interesting as a concept and well written, it is also one I would rather forget.
"Near of Kin" is Butler's one non-science fiction story and it is a story about family and perceived family. Quite good, but it would belong more in another collection than in a genre collection like this.
I did not remember "Crossover" two minutes after I finished.
Bloodchild and Other Stories also includes two essays on writing and being a writer and for all their brevity, they are interesting as a mini biography of Butler and also for the glimpse of her publishing career. The glimpse I was most struck by was that after selling two stories at Clarion, she then went five years before selling another piece of work. Five years! For an author of Butler's talent! This explains, of course, Butler's mantra of: Persist.
Each story or essay is followed by an Afterword written by Butler giving a little bit of context or explanation as needed to the piece of fiction (or non fiction).
The edition of Bloodchild and Other Stories I was able to read was not the expanded edition which featured two more short stories. This edition, succinct as it is, is worth reading for fans of the genre and especially for fans of Octavia Butler.
-Joe Sherry
Rated by buyers -
Once again, a great book. The one thing that always impesses me about Octavia...she really makes you think about things, and most of what she makes you think about has nothing to do with what she writes. It is HOW she writes.
Rated by buyers -
Octavia Butler died this year and it's a tremendous loss for all of us. Her writing is exquisite, cutting to the heart of both the beauty and the horror that makes us human.
The title story, Bloodchild, reveals the horror of what humans will endure for their own survival. Set as fugitive humans live on another world, where they act as birth carriers for an alien race. Scary and truthful.
The rest of the stories are equally compelling. This is a wonderful collection that all Sci-fi fans should read.
CV Rick
Rated by buyers -
I was unfamiliar with Octavia E. Butler until now. I am, now, a great admirer of her work. This is a story about humans trying to earn their keep living among aliens by trading themselves. The trade can be very gruesome and deadly. It tells of a un-nerving tale of a young boy into adulthood and adult choices. The other stories are as captivating. The book is powerful, entertaining, and contains short afterword that accompanies each piece where Butler describes her perspectives while writing it.Luckily there is more of her work I can start on.
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