Octavia Butler

Octavia E. Butler has become one of my favorite writers over the past two years. Her books, while often disturbing, have an element in them that touches you. Octavia Butler was an African American Science Fiction/feminist writer, which come few and far between. Well, maybe not science fiction but speculative fiction, but who really wants to split hairs about that sort of thing.

The first book I read by hear, Parable of the Sower was actually on accident. I was in Barnes and Noble, and I randomly came across the book which was in the wrong section. The cover was a really pretty blue and had a girl on it who seemed like she was about my age. I couldn't find a book that I wanted, so I gave this book a try. The book was about this girl whose city was ripped apart and had to voyage across the country with her new "tribe". The book was great... I wasn't quite sure what it was that I liked about it, but I figured I would give her another try, so I read the sequel, Parable of the Talents.

The third book I read was Kindred, which is about a black woman who is transported back to the times of slavery. Once again, when I finished this book, I wasn't sure why I liked it, but I did.

The fourth book I read was Bloodchild and other stories. It was with this book that I figured out what I liked about Octavia Butler's writing. She is able to convey human emotions better than anyone that I have ever read (and I have read a lot of books).

This was especially pertainent in the fifth book I read from her, Wild Seed. This book is about two immortal beings who basically can't get away from each other; one heals and the other kills. But because they are immortal... they can only have each other. It is actually kind of wierd because you end up rooting for the being that kills to give into the other being because she really loved him. It was just a rollercoaster of emotions that you are taken on with her books... and I acually like it.

I am now on Lilith's Brood, which is a complication of three books Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago. We'll see how I feel about these books later