#I had not considered it quite so cheery as Butler's author's note implied she found it though | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mumblingsage · 3 days ago

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The first piece of writing by Octavia Butler I ever read was "Bloodchild." Followed by her author's note which - don't fully take my word for it, because I might be misremembering, but my prominent impression is that while the reader is reeling from the alien-reproduction-body-horror, Butler seems to have found this story quite pleasant and interesting (the Wikipedia article for Bloodchild and Other Stories backs me up a bit, with some whiplash between the story's background and critics' takeaways).

Then I devoured the rest of the collection, which also has some damn good stuff in it.

Anyway, if you have never read any Octavia Butler...I think you should also begin with "Bloodchild."

#some other people will probably recommend you work up to it #she has a VERY WIDE range frankly #including a range of stories in that collection!#but Bloodchild is phenomenal #(I don't consider myself a fan of body horror yet I am happy I read it)#(this is either a testament to its qualities as mind-blowing science fiction)#(or maybe a sign I *should* consider myself a body horror fan)#(or both)#I will say...I'd read enough bodice rippers before then that various aspects were not startling to me #like 'oh this is a new take on it. interesting.'#I had not considered it quite so cheery as Butler's author's note implied she found it though

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