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threemonkeysAnother day, another engrossing book. I could get used to this again. There is only one problem - the book is clearly meant to be the first in a series. Don't you hate that feeling when you know that you are going to have to wait until the next book comes out to continue the story. How much worse when you know that there will not be a next book. Fledgling was the last book written by Octavia Butler.
Butler's books were all about community and family. In many cases how such community and family can be formed after a catastrophe. As has been noted by others more clever than me, she also incorporated race, gender, politics, religion and sexuality into something that was also a well told story. This time she did it with vampires. Yes vampires, although inevitably, I guess, not the standard vampire lore. These vampires live in family clans in a symbiotic relationship with humans. What happens when a young vampire loses her family, her memory and her human symbiotes and has to rebuild her life. This is the story of Fledgling. The story was clearly meant to continue to more volumes but it is self contained enough to read without the added anguish of a cliff-hanger ending.
For those who have read Butler before, Fledgling is quite close to the nature and issues explored in the Xenogenesis trilogy* except that I think it is actually better. For those who have not read Butler then it is hard to describe just how good her work is. If you think that powerful, disturbing, thought provoking and entertaining are important adjectives to describe your taste in books then you really should try reading this book or any of her other work for that matter.
*I note that the Xenogenesis trilogy has just been re-released in a single volume edition.
Butler's books were all about community and family. In many cases how such community and family can be formed after a catastrophe. As has been noted by others more clever than me, she also incorporated race, gender, politics, religion and sexuality into something that was also a well told story. This time she did it with vampires. Yes vampires, although inevitably, I guess, not the standard vampire lore. These vampires live in family clans in a symbiotic relationship with humans. What happens when a young vampire loses her family, her memory and her human symbiotes and has to rebuild her life. This is the story of Fledgling. The story was clearly meant to continue to more volumes but it is self contained enough to read without the added anguish of a cliff-hanger ending.
For those who have read Butler before, Fledgling is quite close to the nature and issues explored in the Xenogenesis trilogy* except that I think it is actually better. For those who have not read Butler then it is hard to describe just how good her work is. If you think that powerful, disturbing, thought provoking and entertaining are important adjectives to describe your taste in books then you really should try reading this book or any of her other work for that matter.
*I note that the Xenogenesis trilogy has just been re-released in a single volume edition.