Book #132 of 2021:
Unexpected Stories by Octavia E. Butler
This posthumous collection by renowned African American science-fiction icon Octavia E. Butler is regrettably slim, but it lives up to its title, presenting two of her early works that had been previously unpublished. The novella A Necessary Being does not appear to have ever been submitted anywhere and was only discovered amongst her papers after death, while the short story “Childfinder” was the writer’s first sale, to a planned anthology from mentor Harlan Ellison which ran into difficulties and was famously never released. Only in this 2014 publication has either been made available to the public.
The longer piece is the more striking, depicting an alien species whose members can turn their naturally-blue fur a variety of different shades, from blindingly bright to nearly transparent, but who are sorted into a rigid caste system by the tint of each’s default hue, which is not entirely hereditary. There’s a storyline too about coercion and choice and how hierarchy restricts at all levels, yet as is often the case with Butler, the ideas seem likely to linger beyond the specific plot or characters. (The tale is also apparently connected with the novel Survivor from her loose Patternist series, although I haven’t read that one yet.)
The shorter entry is less immediately impressive, but it returns to some of the author’s regular preoccupations, like telepathic powers and earthbound racism, as it details a black woman’s efforts to shelter neighborhood children of psychic potential from the predominantly-white organization looking to abduct/recruit them. I don’t think this one is meant to tie in with any larger narrative, but it certainly feels of a similar vein to many other Butler stories. Together the paired halves of the book represent a strong reminder of the talent we lost when she passed, and are a fine addition to her existing body of writing.
★★★★☆
–Subscribe at https://patreon.com/lesserjoke to support these reviews and weigh in on what I read next!–
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
