Two of the most affecting stories, “Bloodchild” and “Amnesty,” deal directly with human beings being subordinated to an alien species in a manner that is not quite slavery.
It’s not just “humans confront aliens” but a deep reckoning of how the confrontation might progress, how the aliens and humans would interact, and what sacrifices humanity would have to make in order to continue existence. What she does better here than almost any other author I’ve ever read is to imagine truly alien scenarios.
It’s the most consistently enjoyable and the best marriage of brilliantly original premises with a compelling narrative. According to the introduction Octavia Butler considered herself a novelist and thought much less of her own short stories, but out of the five books I’ve read of hers I like this one the best.
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