![]() ![]() The short stories were a nice addition but the jewels in this Butler collection were hearing her own reflections on the writing of and meaning of those stories. Survival literally depended on having several close relationships and on physically touching and being touched, not necessarily in a sexual way but in a way that lets others in, allows for casual, caring contact. In the isolation here of 2020, where human contact and connection is so reduced, I was particularly struck by the emphasis on a relationship structure where no person, no being, could survive on their own. I enjoyed Fledgling much more this time, finding more layers in the symbiotic relationship, the mutualism of the humans and vampires. ![]() I remember liking Fledgling when I first read it but also being somewhat disappointed, having hoped for another novel along the lines of the Earthseed series. Butler must have been an incredibly brave and resilient woman to take the journey she must have taken to write all those characters so sympathetically. The complexity of human relationships within the plantation slave economy on a day-to-day basis is vividly depicted. Reading Kindred nearly 20 years after I first read it, I recalled all over again what an education it was about life in the ante-bellum south. ![]() This collection is a necessary and meaningful recognition of Octavia Butler's brilliance as an author. ![]()
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