This contains most of Octavia Butler's published short work, and it's a small book. Butler is talanted and creative, and undoubtedly one of the best contemporary writers I have encountered. It is science fiction without ever being scientific, fiction without ever being imagined. Bloodchild is definitely one of the most marvelous, beautiful workds of fiction that I have read in recent times. She is able to deftly craft a story with as few brush strokes as possible, but still leave a dazzling landscape. She tackles each story, however seemingly tired the concept may be, with a refreshing tone. 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. 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. In this story, an alien race is symbiotically related to humans: They provide comfort, warmth, and assistance. 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. 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. 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. Butler is still a relatively new voice in the world of writing. While in theory these concepts may be dated and arguably cliche, she writes so fluidly and in such a skilled manner that, litearlly, every word she pens is unique and original. "Bloodchild" is a collection of eight short stories, which essentially span from futuristic dystopias, to parasitic alien races, to strange diseases. Octavia Butler is one of the most talented, creative contemporary writers.
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