Book Club: Afro-Futuristic Odyssey


I was introduced to Octavia E. Butler a few years ago while in undergrad. My favorite college English Professor, Dr. Gregory Hampton was such a Butler fanatic that he organized a conference with her as the keynote speaker, “New Frontier: Blacks in Science Fiction,”spring 2003 at Howard University,and between his "Can you dig it!" moments he shared his gift of Butler knowledge with the class.

My favorite book thus far is "Kindred" because "Bloodchild" gave me so many sleepless nights and a loss of appetite. The mere thought of insects disturbed me! Yet, as I have grown older and more knowledgeable of the craftsmanship and symbolism in Butler's work I am intrigued by every word she writes. So, I am going back to research all of her writings. I welcome you to join me on this Afro-futuristic odyssey. If you have any articles or other resources on Butler please feel free to send them my way. Check out Octavia E. Butler's books below in chronological order:

Patternist series:
Pattern Master (1976)
Mind of my Mind (1977)
Survivor (1978) [Butler later disowned this book as one that she regrets ever made it to print. It's currently out of print and sells for extremely high prices because of its rarity]
Wild Seed (1980)
Clay's Ark (1984)


Xenogenesis novels:

Dawn (1987)
Adulthood Rites (1988)
Imago (1989)
And the two collected versions of all three novels:

Xenogenesis (Hard cover, 1989)
Lilith's Brood (Trade Paperback, 2000)

Parable novels:

Parable of the Sower (1993)
Parable of the Talents (1998)


Stand Alone novels:

Kindred (1979)
Fledgling (2005)

Short fiction:

Bloodchild and Other Stories (1995)



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