Fledgling

Shori Matthews is a 53-year-old vampire encased in what is seemingly the body of a preteen child. She has awakened from a healing sleep...broken, burned, and with no memory of the harm that has befallen her. She also has a voracious hunger...caused by the fuel that her body has used in its efforts to heal itself. Wandering through what appears to be a village that has been burned to the ground, Shori is picked up by a stranger who simply sees a child wandering the roads alone. It doesn't take long for Shori to discover her desire for blood....and the stranger, Wright, becomes her symbiont. Returning to the village hoping to find some clue about who she is, Shori eventually encounters a man who claims to be her father. He informs her that she is indeed a vampire, part of a proud race of people called Ina. The Ina are all vampires...and are tall, blonde, and very pale; very unlike Shori herself. Shori is informed by her father that she is a feat of genetic engineering; a successful experiment performed by her family in which a male Ina sired a child with an African-American woman...hoping that the darker pigmentation will make their offspring less susceptible to the harmful rays of the sun. In addition, Shori is horrified to find out that the burned out village was actually the home of her mother, sisters, and extended female family (male and female Inas do not live together). Who would want to kill an entire village of women and children? Shori and Wright make plans to meet her father later and move to his village with him...he is thankful that Shori has survived the massacre. When Shori's father does not show up to meet them at the designated time, Shori and Wright set off to his village on their own...only to find that his village has met the same fate as that of her mother's, with only two lone survivors.The question is...who is killing her family, and why? It soon becomes clear that the killers are indeed Ina themselves, and that the motive for doing so lies in the color of Shori's skin......An amazing web of the supernatural and science fiction--coupled with a simple study of racism and prejudice even among a seemingly superior race of people, who to that point had been completely unaware of color. A wonderful book, that I could have seen with a sequel were it not for the author's untimely passing.DYB

If there is one thing, one phrase, one idea that I have come to dislike when it comes to discussing fiction it is that themes and allegories have to be subtle, especially when it comes to genre fiction like fantasy or science fiction. Part of my reasoning for the dislike stems from this phrasing often being used as justification by fans to avoid discussion about elements of media that they like that may make them uncomfortable and may make them dislike aforementioned media. It also tends to be use by creators as a kind of deflection to avoid critical analyses of their work. Now to be clear, I am not suggesting that having one's themes be more apparent automatically makes a terrible story better. Nor am I suggesting that stories in which the themes are not the main focus or serious automatically worse in my eyes. Yet I believe that part of my disenchantment with much of modern speculative fiction is in part due to many creators taken this maxim to heart, leading to stories that lack an identity, leading to cookie-cutter fabrications rather than stories with unique identities. Furthermore I think when people used the word subtle in that phrase, they really are referring more to nuance. Issues, like racism or xenophobia, are deceptive in their simplicity. And many creators tend to approach these issues with an often less than satisfactory approach, often breaching a theme and suggesting a position that is not supported by the story or actions of the main characters. This is why I can appreciate a book like Fledging, a book that can deftly handle these and other issues with insight and nuance while unequivocally taking a stance on said issues. With unique characters, ideas, plot, and themes that actually support one another, it makes for an interesting read.

I purchased this book because I started a new video series on my YouTube channel called Horror Around the World. This video series started off with Black Authors. I choose a handful that I wanted to read from a horror standpoint. I tend to read reviews first before I commit to a book. I look for clues to whether the person's opinions are near my own in the likes and dislikes department. However, in this case I didn't read any reviews until after I had read the book and was forming my own thoughts. This book is definitely more than I was bargaining for. In the synopsis, you read that "the story is of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly inhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire". I was looking for those boxes to be checked. Amnesia...check, vampire check, what I wasn't anticipating was 10 year old sex with adults, both men and women.Our main character Shori, wakes to find herself in a dark cave suffering from some severe injuries. She is in and out of wakefulness for a few days before she gets too hungry she has to find something to eat. Her instinct leads her to a deer that she captures and eats raw. At this point in the story we are assuming she isn't "normal" and since I went in knowing this book was about vampires, I knew why she was feasting on the animal. She needed it for strength and healing. What I was surprised about was that she was eating the entire animal, dragging it back to the cave like a big cat. In all the vampire stories I have read they only drink the blood.Days go by and Shori finally is well enough to search for answers on where she is and what has happened to her. This leads her to a burned down ruin that she has no memory of and then the highway, where she gets picked up by a 23 year old stranger by the name of Wright. This is when the book reveals itself to the type of book you will be reading because after a discussion that Shori is not excited about she bites Wright which causes him to reevaluate the situation and conclude that he has sexual feelings for this 10 year old girl. At this point in the book I was flabbergasted and then creeped out. Shori has no memory of who is is or what has taken place in the recent past. She does not know her name and so Wright calls her Renee, which means reborn. Wright takes her back to his cabin outside of Seattle and the two get it on.Here's the thing that is new to me: girl vampire protagonist. She is the one molesting and raping the adults in her life. She at first feeds off of them for sustenance and as the humans get aroused by her venom she then has sex with them. That of course doesn't make the situation better, it's just as bad. The venom is like being roofied and so even though the victims are enjoying themselves they didn't necessarily consent. Later, after the adults realize she isn't a ghost or a dream they consent. But, that is also a piece of the book that is talked about. Do the humans have any control over their emotions. Once you are bitten by a vampire do you have a conscious decision in staying with the vampire or are you compelled/sired to this being. Wright is given the option to leave Shori/Renee at the beginning. She will erase his memory of her if he wishes, but Wright believes that now it would kill him to be without her. He can already feel how the addiction is too great. Wright is aware of the situation, but can't or won't change it.There is another vampire book that I've read that did this. In the Vampire Academy series, a character searches for a vampire and when she finds him she allows herself to be consumed by his reality. She is in love with him and although she knows it's wrong to be with this vampire, that the "relationship" they are having at the moment isn't real....she wants so desperately for it to be true and lives this fantasy for a few weeks. Allowing the vampire to continually bite her. She lives in euphoria, but deep down she knows and decides to leave. According to the Fledgling world, that isn't a possibility. Once the human is bitten so many times leaving their vampire will kill them.Another way this book is like the Vampire Academy is that in this world vampires are born. You can not bite a human and turn them into a vampire. Humans are blood bags only. They are called symbionts. They are food companions. In the Vampire Academy human volunteers offer themselves as blood bags for the pleasure of the bites. The experience is addictive. What the symbionts get that the latter humans don't is an extended life. In Fledgling if you are a symbiont you will never get sick or get cancer and you will live for at least 200 years.With the lore of this story, not only is Shori getting a companion for their human lives and a continuous food source, but the companion is getting protection and a longer life. I guess that is an even trade. This book would be a perfect 5 star read IF Shori wasn't in the body of a 10 year old.Let's talk about the age difference. In vampire years Shori is 53. However she matures like baby Yoda. It takes her body a lot longer to develop. So even though her body is of a 10 year old child, her actual age is 53. The other vampires know this and the symbionts know this. But it's still is morally wrong in our society to have sexual relations with a child and so this book was definitely uncomfortable to read. Octavia never allows the reader to forget this age difference because she is always mentioning how the adults are always picking her up and putting her on their laps like a child. Her naivety of her past also pushes the child-like persona.Lastly, I want to talk about the racism in this book. We learn right away that Shori is a little black girl. With the people she encounters that is not an issue, but to certain vampire families she is an abomination. Not only because her DNA has been mixed with humans in order to walk in the sunlight, but because she is black. Milo Silk calls her a "clever dog". The racism isn't prominent in the book, it only takes place at the end when there is a family council or trail. What I don't understand is how can their be no other vampire races. That was the part that confused me. If the vampires are only born I guess I can see that, but its just difficult to comprehend in this fictional world so like our own.I read this book in 2 sittings because it is so engrossing. Yes it made me feel uncomfortable. Just as Lolita made me feel uncomfortable, but the plot kept me reading and the vampire lore was just so interesting. I'm definitely interested in reading Octavia again in the future. She is an excellent writer. The subject matter is taboo, but the story itself is very engaging. Highly recommend.

Excelente edición.

Amazing, absorbing, creative and tense. A great read - I couldn’t put it down.

I really liked the start of the story, but going on the story seems a bit straightforward and the plot twists are not really twists.Also, reading other reviews I had high expectations about the plot and the details of the characters, but i was a bit disappointed.Overall it is an easy book, take it without big expectations.

Buy all of Octavia Butler's books. She's so amazing!

Extremely enjoyable and original. Sadly there is no sequel as the author has passed on.