I continue to love any work that was lucky enough to be penned by Octavia Butler. Since my whole vampire phase started, people have recommended Fledgling to me, and the library had it on audiobook! I love libraries.

Amnesia-riddled, Shori wakes up alone, in a cave, covered in blood. To survive, she must find who and what she is. The “what” is beyond expectation—though she looks like a ten year old black girl, she is a 50+ year old vampire and genetic experiment. The “who” is more up in the air, but no less fraught. With thrall-making saliva, near immortality, superior senses, and super strength/speed, she has a lot of advantages over the humans around her. Yet she needs these squishy humans to survive, and thrive, in her terrifying “new” world, where other vampires hate her existence.

It would be easier to throw up my hands and say, “It’s Octavia Butler! Everything is amazing! Read it!” However, I’ll try to detail the amazingness to better convince others to pick Fledgling up. Like with her Xenogenesis saga, the characters are older, which was a refreshing change of pace for me. Also like in Xenogenesis, the world-building and discovery is done mostly through logical and sensible conversations. While I like high drama as much as the next reader, sometimes I want adults to Be Adults. The clear communication lends a sense of humor to the work, and Shori experiences a repeated, hilarious bluntness when she explains her abilities. The humans know she’s a vampire and are over it, haha. The queerness is A+, with a special shout out to the love of MILFs and careful polyamory negotiations. The romance is done in heartrending simple language and had me swooning publicly on Twitter. Despite some quite tragic plot beats, the novel contains a sense of fun. I can see what Butler meant when she said Fledgling was a break from the Earthseed series. As someone from California, the setting and its descriptions provide additional entertainment. I know that reference!

Racism—both fantasy and the ordinary—plays a large part in the work. No character wants to be racist, but racism is insidious in how it permeates everything. The urge to not be seen as anything other than good can blind whole communities to the hatred in their midst. This sort of next-step, pivot-to-the-left conversations on race are rare for me in fiction. The only other book with it that I can think of is It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura. Shori’s first thrall, Wright, reminds that outsiders can provide unique insight to a culture and point out blind spots. One of the biggest sources of discomfort in the book is Shori’s youthful appearance. Butler constantly reminds that she looks like a child, but this child is welcoming adult intimacy. Towards the beginning, I worried that I’d have to tap out, because there’s a definite squick factor afoot. What helped me was reading Fledgling’s Wikipedia page. Reviewers noted that Shori’s situation commented on how black children, especially girls, aren’t allowed a childhood. I mean, look at court records. Black children are consistently tried as adults. Once I had this frame of reference, the discomfort lessoned enough I could finish the novel.

Overall, Fledgling is a treasure unto itself, which I could read over and over again. Butler is at her height. 

For reference, my review of Lilith’s Brood aka Xenogenesis Saga: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/7f7c5d36-106e-426b-b00a-2dbd534b9bc1

My review of It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/0ac0915a-7586-41fa-84ae-25add5184457