Kindred by Octavia E. Butler #BookReview #ScienceFiction #Classic #HistoricalFiction

Hey book lovers! I’m here with a book review for Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, known as the first sci-fi novel to be written by a black woman and considered an essential read for all science fiction fans.

About The Book 📚

Title: Kindred

Author: Octavia E. Butler

Publication Date: First published 1979. I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla.

Suggested Reader Age: Adult

Genre: Science Fiction, Historical Fiction

About The Author

“Octavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction writer, one of the best-known among the few African-American women in the field. She won both Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant.

After her father died, Butler was raised by her widowed mother. Extremely shy as a child, Octavia found an outlet at the library reading fantasy, and in writing. She began writing science fiction as a teenager. She attended community college during the Black Power movement, and while participating in a local writer’s workshop was encouraged to attend the Clarion Workshop, which focused on science fiction.

She soon sold her first stories and by the late 1970s had become sufficiently successful as an author that she was able to pursue writing full-time. Her books and short stories drew the favorable attention of the public and awards judges. She also taught writer’s workshops, and eventually relocated to Washington state. Butler died of a stroke at the age of 58. Her papers are held in the research collection of the Huntington Library.”

My Review

› kin·dred: /ˈkindrəd/

noun

one’s family and relations

› Kindred begins in California, 1976. Dana is a black woman married to a white man. One day, after she turns 26, she is suddenly launched back to Maryland in 1815. She saves a white boy, Rufus, from drowning and finds herself becoming employed as a slave. Dana travels back and forth in time, sucked to the past when Rufus is in danger and quickly figures out that they are related. She has no control over when it happens and has no idea how to stop it. Dana experiences a lot of violence, abuse, pain, and loss as she attempts to discover why this is happening and how she can get back to her present-day life.

“Someday Rufus would own the plantation. Someday, he would be the slaveholder, responsible in his own right for what happened to the people who lived in those half-hidden cabins. The boy was literally growing up as I watched—growing up because I watched and because I helped to keep him safe. I was the worst possible guardian for him—a black to watch over him in a society that considered blacks subhuman, a woman to watch over him in a society that considered women perennial children. I would have all I could do to look after myself. But I would help him as best I could. And I would try to keep friendship with him, maybe plant a few ideas in his mind that would help both me and the people who would be his slaves in the years to come.”

› Characters: 10
› Atmosphere: 7
I would have liked more world-building and had trouble connecting to the emotion at times.
› Writing Style: 8
The writing is incredible and feels modern. However, it is repetitive at times. The narrator, Kim Staunton, is excellent.
› Plot: 5
The beginning was great, the middle was muddy, the ending was a little messy. It lost the pacing along the way and the climax didn’t feel climatic. There is a lot of “fluff” (words that aren’t moving the plot forward or serving any purpose to character development, setting, etc…)
› Intrigue: 8
› Logic: 7
It was never explained why she went back in time, to begin with. And some of the rules of time travel didn’t quite make sense. Kevin went back in time with her because he was touching her, but then other times someone was touching her when she travelled and they didn’t follow.
› Enjoyment: 8

Average 7.6

1.1-2.2 = ★
2.3-4.5 = ★★
4.6-6.9 = ★★★
7-8.9 = ★★★★
9-10 = ★★★★★

My Rating ★★★★

› Final Thoughts
• I truly think this should be required reading. Racism and slavery are a part of our history whether we like it or not. We are related to the people who lived 200 hundred years ago, some of them were good people, some of them were not. We like to think we’ve made progress, but as we have seen over the past few years we have a long way to go. To be with Dana as she experienced this trauma was a heartbreaking experience. Highly recommend! Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1) is the next book I’d like to read by Octavia E. Butler.