145 pages
English language
Published Sept. 1, 1995 by Four Walls Eight Windows.
From the back cover:
"Octavia E. Butler once gleefully described her eerie novella "Bloodchild", the title piece of Bloodchild and Other Stories, as her "pregnant man story". "Bloodchild" explores the paradoxes of power and inequality and starkly portrays the experience of a class who, like women throughout most of history, are valued chiefly for their reproductive capacities. After it appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, it won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. SF's highest honors.
"Speech Sounds." which also won the Hugo Award, and "Crossover", Butler's first published story, both describe women continuing to endure after their lives have become unbearable. "The Evening and the Morning and the Night" wrestles with the double-edged sword of illness and talent. "Near of Kin." Butler's only non-SF story, describes a young woman coming to terms with the death of the mother who abandoned her. Also included here are two autobiographical pieces …
From the back cover:
"Octavia E. Butler once gleefully described her eerie novella "Bloodchild", the title piece of Bloodchild and Other Stories, as her "pregnant man story". "Bloodchild" explores the paradoxes of power and inequality and starkly portrays the experience of a class who, like women throughout most of history, are valued chiefly for their reproductive capacities. After it appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, it won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. SF's highest honors.
"Speech Sounds." which also won the Hugo Award, and "Crossover", Butler's first published story, both describe women continuing to endure after their lives have become unbearable. "The Evening and the Morning and the Night" wrestles with the double-edged sword of illness and talent. "Near of Kin." Butler's only non-SF story, describes a young woman coming to terms with the death of the mother who abandoned her. Also included here are two autobiographical pieces by Butler on what she calls "the art, the craft, and the business of writing."
Bloodchild and Other Stories brings together for the first time Butler's entire output of shorter work."
I've only read the first three stories so far but even if the rest of the book is duds, I still recommend it. The stories are creepy - which I personally like but you might not -, but their thought-provoking and fascinating
I heard the amazing title story originally in a podcast version and so I wanted to listen to the entire collection. Each item collected here crackles with life and explores aspects of its subject that you wouldn't necessarily think about at first. Not all of them are science fiction and fantasy pieces and a couple of them aren't even fiction but they all have something that reveals the genius Octavia Butler commanded. When I got to the end I ready to have more, so I think I'll pick up some of her other works not too long from now.
The narration enhanced the experience for me. Sometimes the audio format makes it hard to follow complex plots or details about a character written in a few words, but the immediacy of the storytelling can more than make up for it as in this case.
