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teddytr19's review
4.0
The first story made me want to vomit—it was that descriptive. I just love butler’s writing because it brings an intersectional (and therefore realistic) worldview to her sci-fi that her white, male peers simply cannot match.
cabbage_patch's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
athan_kogaan's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
RIP Octavia Butler, you would have loved omegaverse.
angeybotas's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
shortney510's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
violet_scar97's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
kyleighb7's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
love love love love love
mishnah's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
As good of a short story collection as you'll find – only one real weak spot, and three all time greats.
thebookishapoth's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Reading through Octavia Butler's Bloodchild and Other Stories has left me with the feelings of elation and furor.
For me, this collection of short stories and essays have created a wave of emotions and realizations - what science fiction is or can be or means to me, the power in the words we use and the worlds we are able to create, where inspiration can come from and what it can transform into...
Butler's stories and introspections on writing provide a wide array of ideas and depictions of our current existence. I am grateful for the afterwords that followed each piece and allowed for another layer of understanding.
To me, Butler's writing feels simple, universal, relative, impactful, transformative, affective, and effective.
Your personal dreams and goals and the persistence you maintain in reaching them will ultimately determine and lead you to your utopia.
Be open to new, strange, and frightful things - and persist throughout it all.
A few key impressions I am left with from each piece:
Bloodchild - a classic I am glad to have read, weird, the experimentation and exploration of ones fear
The Evening and the Morning and the Night - what are we?, the feeling of being trapped within oneself, empowerment of the female being, the power of... or lack of power of ones genetics
Near of Kin - "a sympathetic story of incest", wild and thoughtful and wrong and reality and biblical fact
Speech Sounds - weariness and depression and sorrow leading to hope returned, the want to see human communication surpass the need for physical violence
Crossover - the oddities and vices hidden by other and their methods of distraction and conformity
Positive Obsession - "aiming yourself, your life, at your chosen target. Decide what you want. Aim high. Go for it."
Furor Scribendi - 1. Read 2. Write 3. Communicate 4. Revise 5. Submit 6. Forget: inspiration, talent, imagination >>> PERSIST.
Amnesty - Dr. Hen Ho Lee, "... my tormentors were my own people."
The Book of Martha - "my utopia story", to be truly free > to be able to exist in fear, think of the future and the present with lessons from the past. Dreams + self-respect.
For me, this collection of short stories and essays have created a wave of emotions and realizations - what science fiction is or can be or means to me, the power in the words we use and the worlds we are able to create, where inspiration can come from and what it can transform into...
Butler's stories and introspections on writing provide a wide array of ideas and depictions of our current existence. I am grateful for the afterwords that followed each piece and allowed for another layer of understanding.
To me, Butler's writing feels simple, universal, relative, impactful, transformative, affective, and effective.
Your personal dreams and goals and the persistence you maintain in reaching them will ultimately determine and lead you to your utopia.
Be open to new, strange, and frightful things - and persist throughout it all.
A few key impressions I am left with from each piece:
Bloodchild - a classic I am glad to have read, weird, the experimentation and exploration of ones fear
The Evening and the Morning and the Night - what are we?, the feeling of being trapped within oneself, empowerment of the female being, the power of... or lack of power of ones genetics
Near of Kin - "a sympathetic story of incest", wild and thoughtful and wrong and reality and biblical fact
Speech Sounds - weariness and depression and sorrow leading to hope returned, the want to see human communication surpass the need for physical violence
Crossover - the oddities and vices hidden by other and their methods of distraction and conformity
Positive Obsession - "aiming yourself, your life, at your chosen target. Decide what you want. Aim high. Go for it."
Furor Scribendi - 1. Read 2. Write 3. Communicate 4. Revise 5. Submit 6. Forget: inspiration, talent, imagination >>> PERSIST.
Amnesty - Dr. Hen Ho Lee, "... my tormentors were my own people."
The Book of Martha - "my utopia story", to be truly free > to be able to exist in fear, think of the future and the present with lessons from the past. Dreams + self-respect.
lusimusi's review
3.25
I didn't really cared for the short stories but the essays were fascinating. I think I just heard too many wonderful things about the author that I forgot I'm simply not a sci-fi girly.