I have to confess; I both knew about and attended the Octavia Butler appearance at Elliott Bay Books last Thursday evening. I have no excuse for not posting a notice up on this page, except that I was torn. I wasn’t sure if a basic post filled with my excitement of seeing her would be as useful as a recap post. I ended up, obviously, deciding on the latter mainly because now I’ve finished her new book, Fledgling, AND because she’ll be back in town on November 7 at University Bookstore.

As you’re probably aware, Octavia Butler is the author of some 14 books who currently resides here in Seattle. She has been the winner of several prestigious awards including the Hugo, the Nebula and a MacArthur Grant (aka the Genius Award) and is one of the very few African-American women writing science fiction (or speculative fiction). Despite her recognition in the science fiction realm, Butler is not so easily categorized. When I was carrying my book around last Friday, a cashier at the lobby convenience store said, “I’ve heard of her, but she’s one of those feminist authors.” My lame retort was, “Sort of,” because he wasn’t entirely wrong, but at the same time, he was. She is so much more than that.

The talk and Q&A, as it happily ended up being as opposed to a pure reading, was packed and I think my friend was the only pure sci-fi geek present. The diversity of the audience being a testament to Butler’s aforementioned wide-ranging appeal. All of us were pretty dang excited and thus the line started early and was very long. How long was it? Well, the little reading room had to be opened up to the cafe to incorporate all the people who had come to see her. Butler gave a brief overview of her new novel but mostly spoke about her writing, specifically her influences and her recent dealings with writer’s block. She was funny, throwing in jokes about herself and W, and humble and a delight to listen to. I’d recommend it to new writers as well as Butler fans. In addition, one question of interest to fans was whether or not she planned a third book in the Parable series, to which she replied that she was hoping for not just one but perhaps two more in that series. That’s right people, you heard it here first! The evening, of course, ended with a signing where Butler was nice enough to spend a few minutes with each person. When it came my turn to have my book signed, I went into my usual shy/starstruck mode and said something meant to be very complimentary, but which I realized (and obsessed over) later could be taken as an insult. She, on the other hand, was friendly, wrote a nice inscription in my book and told my friend and I a funny anecdote about how her neighbor the NPR commentator had reached the breaking point with news.

To make up for my poor showing at the signing (or because I’m totally OCD), I started reading Fledgling that night. Fledgling is about Shori, a 53-year-old vampire with amnesia. Shori must find out who she is, where she is from, and who is trying to eliminate her. Much like Butler’s previous work, Fledgling is more than one novel. It’s a vampire novel in the sense that many of the characters are vampires and there’s a bit of romanticizing about blood sucking, it’s “sexy” as Butler says. It’s exciting and character driven and an interesting take on the mythical creatures. However, it’s also an Octavia Butler novel in the sense that power and control individually and in society are the central themes. The characters are unreal, but also very real. That is to say, they do fantastic things, but seem also so very “common man.” There’s also the very Butleresque vision on gender and race which to me is that some future grey, neuter being, while not perfect, is our best chance for a better society. I could be wrong though since Butler said, “Utopias annoy me.” in the talk. Overall, I liked the book. Butler’s style and vision always appeal to me and I like a book I can enjoy on a superficial level as well as talk to doomsday about.

Get yourself a copy and mark your calendars for the 7th when her tour boomerangs back to Seattle:

University Bookstore
4326 Unversity Way NE | Seattle, WA 98105 | 206-634-3400

*Outrageously swiped from Octavia Butler’s talk title.