Fledgling

I should have started with this book first. I loved how their vampirism is very different than the typical vampirism that we know. Sure, they have similar typical vampire traits. But the way these families are described is on a whole different level. A story about Shori is who wakes up left for dead with amnesia and has no idea of who or what she is, BUT she needs blood also. So she goes on this journey to find out. I would have LOVED if the ending described her physically "matured" and that all of her memories come back. Overall, I enjoyed this book

An uncommon, unexpected, and thrilling vampire story. There are none others like it.

Again examining themes of power, differences, race, and the nature of relationships, Fledgling has become one of my favorite Octavia Butler books. Ms. Butler wrote that she embarked on Fledgling as a "lighter" and less serious story after completing her devastatingly dystopian Parable of the Sower series. I don't know if she intended to make it a series - I only wish that she had lived long enough to have that option.

This narrator was fine, but I prefer the narration provided by Tracey Leigh in the Blackstone Audio version (available through some public libraries).

I'll always love the way Octavia can take a concept we all know and make a whole new world with it, I liked it but I'm in a reading slump and the book felt really long

This is a very odd book… and it’s really not remotely related to its description…
Spoiler free modification to the description… the vampire girl is NOT a government experiment.. there is ZERO government anything in the book.
The book is really 3 different parts that I’d rate as
Part 1: 1.5 stars
Part 2: 4 stars
Part 3: 1.5 stars
Word of advice, listen at 1.2 speed to minimize the creepy syrupy sexy child voice the narrator uses.
There is, as MANY reviewers mentioned, child pornography… as for those who said the point was to make the reader uncomfortable… it’s a 53yr old vampire child who looks like a 10yr old human (considered a child by her own kind) with a 23yr old human.. it’s a really odd and unnecessary detail the author definitely could’ve changed without affecting the story.
The child porn aspect does tone down.. and the story moves towards a much more interesting portion with character development and action in part two (approx chapter 7/8). Part 2 is the only reason I’m giving the book 2 stars.
Then the story changes gear again in the last 1/3rd.. and becomes a rather tedious trial.. and then ends abruptly.

Weird pedophilic stuff going on in here. Couldn't finish it

This was really good! I love learning alongside Shuri the in’s and outs of these vampires. The audiobook was also great!

Octavia Butler reimagines what it is to be a vampire, with a far more sensible, caring, symbiotic relationship than the average bite ‘em and leave ‘em plotline. While the frank sexuality is uncomfortable, I was fascinated by Shori’s need to set up a group what is essentially a group marriage in order to survive. I agree with the criticisms that her need to enslave her people is deeply disturbing, but I appreciate that Butler is exploring these themes with an eye to making her audience re-examine and question the parameters of deeply unequal relationships.

Oof. This one was a rough read despite Octavia Butler’s phenomenal writing. A prepubescent presenting vampire wakes up with massive physical trauma and amnesia (never a great combo). She must figure out who she is and who tried to kill her, all while having wild sex with those she…enthralls, I guess. That makes it slightly less consensual than it is depicted, but as with so much of Octavia’s stories the ideas of race, consent, and loving those who oppress you are on display. I love Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis series, but the sexualization of a character presented as a child was something I really could not get past. I’ve searched for interviews of Butler about this book, but have not been able to find anything to get more context of whether this was an exploration of children’s sexuality or a deconstruction and inversion of so many of the fetishaztion of vampires that was so prevalent around when this book was written. If you can get past the kinda-sorta-not-really-but-still-very-much pedophelia there is a fascinating story of vampire culture.

I wanted to like this, and some of it was good, but it felt like most of the vampire stuff didn't explore anything new until very late in the book, and it was largely slow and unclear until halfway through.I'm also not thrilled with the sex tie-ins and the main character looking like she's 10 or 11.

Once you get past the initial shocked you realize that this is quite the masterpiece. Give it a try. I promise you won’t feel like you’re reading Lolita. It’s not that type of book. She might be short and look young but she is an adult and behaves as such even if she looks 11. Don’t let others tell you what to think. Give this is a chance, push past the first few chapters and then form your own opinion. There’s a reason this author is so well acclaimed.

Slow to start but once I got about 5 chapters in I couldn’t stop !!!!

Octavia Butler excels at creating new and different ways for human beings and intimate aliens to live, relate, and reveal themselves. I read this book in a day, staying up late to finish, and wished it were longer so I could find out more about what will happen to Renee/Shori and her household.

Well enough written to keep me engaged. Not a rereader. Thankfully, the vampires don't sparkle.

Phh. I don't like vampire stories, I think I got an overdose in my teen years and never really recovered. I did not enjoy this book and I can't explain my way around it. What made it worse was the reader of the audio book: Tracey Leigh fabricated a British accent for one of the characteres that was simply perplexing. It was a completely self-fabricated accent and painful to listen. I don't like overt empathising and use of different voices for characters, but this was so over the top it was ridiculous. I'll be avoiding her from now on.

Could have been an interesting story about these strange creatures except the gut cringing sex acts the main character has. This is why: she looks like an 11year old child and even if she is 35years she apparently is still a child according to her own race. Still she has sex with grown men. As it has no value to the story I don't understand why write it. If she human or not, I don't care. She is a child and her lust don't make it ok for grown men to use that as an excuse to act pitifull and follow.

Good story. Not great characters, like others of hers I have read.

Octavia Butler's last novel explores familiar themes: racism, minorities with unique abilities and unique liabilities, and loss of memory. The main characters are a mix of normal humans and a race of symbionts who require blood to survive. This is not your ordinary vampire novel, although once or twice I thought of the irony that Stephanie Meyer was writing the first "Twilight" novel at about the same time that Butler was writing Fledgling. Fledgling is not light reading, although there are something like romance themes in it. Butler's concerns are more serious than entertainment alone and, sadly , more relevant than ever. The only disappointing thing about Fledgling is that Butler died before writing any more to explore symbiosis and cultural differences between humans and her "vampires", and to wrestle with the ethics of power and relationships between people who may not be equals.

Again, I'm awed by Octavia's prose, the massive strength of her characters, and the compelling plotlines. This goes against many "traditional" vampire stories but creates a more realistic species that I truly wish we shared this planet with.

The story is well told in excellent Butler Style. A new interesting take on vampires, one that may hold interest even for those who don't enjoy vampire storiesMy one complaint is that the main character appears childlike yet she participates in sexual activity, which ruined the story for me. All I could think about while reading was pedophiles and the sexualization of children. I can see that this wasn't her intent, but still, the world doesn't need more pedophile culture. We have enough grooming of young girls into the pornographic world to be used by men. I didn't like the reminder of the toxic porn culture we live in. I wish I hadn't read this book. I still love Butler's style and recommend every other book of hers that I've read. But if you don't like porn or pedophilia, I don't recommend this book.

This is a very interesting and well thought out re-imagining of vampire lore. The humans, and their relationships with each other and vampires, are also well represented. There is enormous complexity to the world created, although this sometimes made it feel like an lesson in vampirology more than a story. The story itself is mostly a murder mystery, although many readers would categorise it as horror or sci-fi. The genres blend seamlessly, so calling it any of those is correct.

A young girl wakes up with no memory, serious burns, very serious skull injuries, an aversion to daylight, and some very strange needs and abilities. Gradually, she recovers some memory of how the world works and what she needs, but her memory of herself and her family is completely gone.

Shori is a 53-year-old vampire (still a young girl, by vampire standards), genetically modified to be able to wake and walk during daylight (but not enough to love it; she burns very easily), and the sole survivor of a vicious attack on her community, which consisted of her female relatives and their symbionts. With some help from a human man who stopped to pick up the lost little girl by the side of the road, she finds her father's family, and, after they're attacked, too, other vampires. Gradually she discovers both the reason for the attacks, and her own history and the history and culture of her people. As you'd expect of Butler, it's very well-written, and both logically worked out and emotionally compelling.

Recommended.

My first Butler book.

I like the idea, and the exploration of it. I feel weirded out and curious about it at the same time, because it's got this total Mormon-polygamist/60's-commune feel to it that goes pretty much without question. Like, there are characters who think it's weird or are trying to come to terms with jealousy and giving up their Real World life for the commune, but that's mostly in the background. Mostly everybody is totally drinking the kool-aid and having a pretty good time with it. Still, vampires as a possible extraterrestrial species living in symbiosis with humans -- I like the idea. It's a much more science-fictiony take on the genre.

Making Shori physically appear as a young girl and then hooking her up right away with this adult, hairy male was very strange and squicked me. In fact, I think that's one of the main things that made me think of Mormon polygamists. I can't quite figure out why Butler decided to do that.

Making vampire society matriarchal and bringing race into the issue (particularly with black skin making vampires sun-resistant) were both very good decisions because they gave the story more dimensions.

And this is totally subjective, but I love that it takes place partially in the Pacific Northwest, because I'm a West Coast girl and I love having my little temperate rainforest written about. (I know Butler lived in Seattle. With her and Le Guin on our coast, we rock pretty hard with the feminist sci-fi!)

I'm interested to read Butler's other books, though, because this one seems so utilitarian in its descriptions. Characters and ideas and plot take precedence over aesthetics or setting. I like a little rumination and beauty in books. I really want to love Butler, though. I've heard this is not among her best books, so I'll be reading others hopefully sometime soon.

The premise of Fledgling seemed to be: imagine the least empowered, most beleaguered being in the world; now give her the strength and power of the wisest, most weathered of women. I was blown away by the opening; feeling irked and judgy about the extremely spare prose by the time I got to the middle; but could not get the characters or Shori's story out of my mind till I sat down and finished it. I think I was most profoundly affected by the utter clarity with which Butler built this world within our own - right down to a picnic of leftovers made into sandwiches, over which the main characters converse about vampire law and customs. How does such a simply told thriller penetrate my interest so thoroughly? I'll be thinking about Fledgling for a long time. I'll probably go back to it to try to figure out why the heck I enjoyed it so much.

FledglingBy Octavia E. Butler2005Seven Stories Press/NYA young girl, Shori, awakens in a cave, amnesiac and wounded. She reaches the startling conclusion that she is genetically modified 53-year-old vampire, and a species called Ina. The Ina are divided by gender and family; all males live together, but separately from all females, who also live together. With sensitive senses of vision, sound and touch they exist nocturnally and avoid crowds and cities, which are full of sensory stimuli.Shoris' quest is to find out about her stolen past, and to discover who wanted her dead ...and is continuing to hunt her....I enjoyed this, but parts were slow. Her storytelling and character development are excellent. This is suppose to be one of her lesser novels....I cant wait to read more of her work. Recommended....

A thoughtful, well-written take on the vampire mythos. While I admit I haven't read a whole lot of horror, what struck me most about "Fledgling" was the book's physicality. French literary theorists love to talk about "writing the body," but this might as well be this novel's mission statement: the book starts with a searing description of pain and hunger and more or less takes its cue from there. The book's vampires -- and its human characters, too, honestly -- are driven by a need for blood, food, touch, and sex. As Butler writes them, these needs can either beautifully, poetically sensuous or shockingly direct. Lots of readers and moviegoers see vampires as seductive creatures, but the author really brings that subtext forward here. This one's recommended to anyone who's interested in how the human form's portrayed in print. Many reviewers have also mentioned the book's racial angle, and while we're told that the main character of "Fledgling" is one of the world's first black vampires, I don't really think it's the book's focus. Butler's vampires, with a few exceptions, too far removed from human society to worry about that all that much. Shori's race might fit more easily into a discussion about genetic engineering than a discussion about race. Butler seems fascinated with the vampire society she's created here: they seem to live in groups that are half clans and half communes, which makes the book's West Coast setting all the more appropriate. They latch on to humans because they need to feed, but Butler always makes clear that the humans they adopt -- called "symbionts" -- get a great deal out of this potentially parasitic relationship, from a drug-like high to something like a family. "Fledgling" might be called a meditation on unconventional social structures or the various advantages and dangers of symbiosis. Butler's second focus might be said to be loss and her main character's courageous effort to overcome it. Shori, after all, is half-dead and an orphan when the book begins. A complete amnesiac, she can't even remember what it is she's lost. Over the course of the book, the reader witnesses her attempting both to rebuild her self and to rejoin the community she was once part of, which, even though Shori often comes off as an impossibly perfect heroine, is, in its own way, rather inspiring. Recommended.

This is the story of Shori, a 12-year old girl who wakes up and finds herself suffering from burns and a terrible hunger. She slakes her hunger by chasing down and killing a deer. Wait, what? As she heals herself she realizes she remembers nothing of how she was injured or her life before she woke. She emerges from her cave/lair and is picked up by a nice and decent man named Wright who becomes entranced by her and eventually becomes one of her symbionts, one she feeds from and takes care of. As she begins to relearn everything she had forgotten, she learns she is Ina, a different species who arrived on Earth from somewhere else, and that her entire family had been killed in suspicious fires. And now they are after her. She needs to find out who and why and needs to form alliances with other Ina families - and fast!Much of this book was dedicated to world building as we learn about the Ina and their relationships with each other and all of the symbionts and neighboring humans. It really picks up at the end with the council to determine the guilty parties and Shori finally feels secure in her place in the world.This was the last novel written by Butler before her death.

This is my first Octavia Butler book, but, I hope, not my last. Giving the main character amnesia lets the reader discover the author's world of vampires as part of the story; further stories could teach us even more.

This book was really good. The story is about a genetically-engineered vampire that is able to go out in daylight. Although the science of genetic-engineering is the entire basis for the conflicts in the book as well as what makes the main character, Shori, unique - there are few references to it. The story is more about morality and racism in the vampire community.
A word of warning though....although Shori is technically a 53 year-old vampire, due to their slow aging, she looks like a 10 year-old girl. Shori ends up in adult, sexual relationships with both men and women in the book which are difficult to read at times especially since Butler did such a good job with Shori's physical description.
I have picked up a couple of other books by Octavia Butler that are on my TBR pile - Parable of the Sower and Kindred.

Definitely well-written - a very compelling read, of the taking-a-long-lunch and staying-up-too-late cause I wanna know what happens variety!

The story works on the level of a vampire thriller, but it also has a bit more than that to it.
A (very) young woman wakes, alone in a cave, horribly injured and suffering from amnesia. Healing, she gradually learns that she is a vampire.
In Butler's novel, vampires are an age-old race that has lived alongside man since the dawn of human history. They have lived in a symbiosis with the humans they feed on. The vampires do hold their symbionts somewhat in 'thrall' - humans become physically dependent on them, and vampires are able to 'hypnotically' compel one who they've bitten to obey orders, keep secrets, or forget things... but in return they receive a long, healthy lifespan, sensual pleasure, and a stable, protected life.
Butler doesn't really clue the reader in to exactly what she thinks of this trade-off, but there's lots there to think about - implications of freedom vs. security, independence and free will vs. happiness?
Especially since right now (in the story) it's not the safest time to be a vampire symbiont. Our protagonist's whole family (both human and vampire) has been violently wiped out. Are the murderers human vampire hunters who have stumbled upon the secret? Or could the guilty party be vampire as well?

The ending of the book sort of turns into an extended "courtroom drama" - which in part seems an excuse for Butler to bring in a discussion of racism and xenophobia... but, even though I'm not really a fan of that sort of literary exposition, it's very well done, and didn't lose me at all.

It's also interesting how Butler challenges the reader with her portrayal of a character who is physically perceived as a child, but who behaves in an explicitly mature manner. It's never in poor taste - but it definitely makes the reader re-examine preconceptions!