At the first of this month, I concluded my two month adventure with time travel by choosing to head off in a different direction with my reading. I decided to look at some of the writers that I'd read in those time travel days, and read some of their novels which are not related to time travel. The writers include - but are not limited to - Tim Powers, Octavia Butler, Kurt Vonnegut and Audrey Niffenegger.
Having finished reading Powers' Declare I continued on to Octavia Butler's science fiction vampire novel, Fledgling. I enjoyed Butler's time travel novel, Kindred so there was no question but that I'd be reading more of Butler's novels. The majority of Butler's novels are parts of multiple series. Although I will one day get around to reading Butler's Patternist, Xenogenesis and Parable series, I wanted to read a "standalone" novel this month and the only other novel, besides Kindred, that fits that category is her final novel, Fledgling.
The wikidedia description of the plot of the novel is much better than I could write :
The novel tells the story of Shori, a 53-year-old member of the Ina species, who appears to be a ten-year-old African-American girl. The Ina are nocturnal, long-lived, and derive sustenance by drinking human blood. Though they are physically superior to humans, both in strength and ability to heal from injury, the Ina depend on humans to survive. Therefore, their relationships are symbiotic, with the Ina's venom providing significant boost to their humans' immune systems and extending their lives up to 200 years. However, withdrawal from this venom will also lead to the human's death.
Butler had a unique take on the idea of vampires......I can't recall reading anything quite like this. It's very different from the standard Dracula legend.
Of course, other than the plot description posted above, I've no intention of providing "spoilers". Needless to say, I'm a huge fan of Octavia Butler, and I highly recommend Fledgling to those who enjoy Sci-Fi and Fantasy fiction.
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