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May 01, 2011

Aerin rated it:

Dispatch from page 137:

I always start out sort of liking Butler's books, but with only two exceptions so far (the Parable books, which I loved unreservedly), by the time I get a hundred pages or so in, that fondness has soured into vague squick and then visceral disgust. And then eventually I have to decide whether I want to - whether I CAN - finish the book.

And when I say disgust, I mean a very specific, almost physical reaction. It's not that I don't like the stories, More...

1 comment like (17 people liked it)

Nov 30, 2009

jo rated it:

*** this review has spoilers that will do irreversible damage to those who have not read the book, is long, and is, i'm afraid, rather academic in tone, because i just think that way. be warned. ***

Fledgling opens with a birth scene of sorts. a little girl (we don’t yet know that she’s a little girl, but find out soon enough) wakes up in a cave in tremendous physical pain. her body is badly injured, more, we gather from the description, than a human being woul More...

29 comments like (14 people liked it)

Sep 27, 2007

Schnaucl rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 20, 2009

Kiri rated it:

The most interesting thing about this book is its conception of "vampires" as a second intelligent species that lives in symbiosis with humans -- unable to "turn" them, naturally, since it's a species thing (as one character remarks, if a dog bites a man, no one expects the man to turn into a dog). The bite includes "venom" which has a strongly pleasurable (and addictive) effect on the person bitten.

The story revolves around Shori, a vampire who wakes u More...

9 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 11, 2010

Kasia rated it:

It wasn't an easy read, pushed me out of my comfort zone. Yet, I found it rather and surprisingly profound (in an odd way). It's not a typical vampire flick, more like a Sci-fi/anthropology hybrid...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2011

Vixenne rated it:

Firstly, I wish there was a way to give this novel TEN STARS because like every single book she's ever written, it is a masterpiece of surperb writing, compelling characters and thought-provoking themes like sex, race and class - issues seldom dealt with in even the finest speculative fiction.

Only in the hands of a skilled author could new life be breathed into the quickly becoming stale vampire genre, and Ms. Butler succeeds where so many others fail. Anyone looking for Anne Rice w More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 26, 2008

Ruth rated it:

Octavia Butler is dead (in 2006, actually), long live Octavia Butler. There are few authors who have taught me more about what it means to be human.

Her stories don't teach with luxurious literary language or complex psychological portraits. The earlier novels are a little bit wooden, with characters that sometimes seem like cardboard cut-outs. But rarely have I found stories so LOADED down with ideas that there's barely time to explore one before the next one bursts upon me. Her stor More...

5 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 22, 2009

Ceridwen rated it:

I was saddened to discover that Butler died in 2006, and that this was her last novel. I heard her read maybe ten years ago, and was profoundly impressed.

This is a vampire story, but in typical Butler fashion. she rearranges the vampire metaphors to speak strongly to race, sex, privilege and the like. It's a first person narrative, told from the perspective of a young vampire who's lost her memory in a terrible attack. The first person thing is tricky, because the narrator often doe More...

5 comments like (18 people liked it)

Feb 20, 2008

Sam rated it:

The librarian pushed it on me when they didn't have the Parable of the Sower on hand. Why not?

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Actually, I ended up deciding not to keep reading. Too much bad stuff for me to look past when I'm not totally hooked on the writing or the topics. Not enough for me to NOT recommend it, but not enough to keep me reading either.

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It turns out that this book - young chick vampires - falls squarely into a genre I tend to really like. That she writes it more like More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 16, 2010

Alex rated it:

FLEDGLING BY OCTAVIA E. BUTLER: In Fledgling, renowned science fiction author Octavia E. Butler, who sadly passed away last year, reinvents the idea of the vampire and their existence in history, putting her own original slant on it. While the book is complete in its rounded story, one is left wanting more of this very original creation on an archetype.

The book opens with what can only be termed an uncomfortable situation, at the very least. From the viewpoint of the main characte More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 05, 2007

Johanna rated it:

The sad thing about this book is that it is very clearly supposed to be one in a series; unfortunately, Butler died after writing this book. That makes it hard to read because you immediately become attached to Shori, much like the people in the book become attached to her. This book is AMAZING. It introduces the Ina and by doing so, Butler created a new branch of vampire lore--vampires who are not evil, do not kill to feed, who live with families of several humans they feed on and who they love More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 15, 2007

helena rated it:

so i ordered two copies of this book in may of 2006 -- one for me, and one for my friend cyndi, who nurtures a guilty pleasure in science fiction and trashy vampire novels. i meant to give cyndi hers before she left for china, so she would have something to read on the plane. unfortunately, i forgot, so it will be a homecoming present for her when she returns later this week.

in may, i finally started reading my copy of 'fledgling,' which i consumed with the same voracious eagerness a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2009

Sara rated it:

I just barely made myself finish this. I thought the writing style was fairly dull, the social observations not nearly as interesting or original as the reviews I read had suggested, and at least the edition I read was really poorly edited for typos and punctuation. I did a lot of eye rolling at this one.

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2010

Marlan rated it:

While this book starts out strong, it quickly slips into long, drawn-out exposition on vampire politics, family history and mating habits. The writing, while clean, feels dry and flavorless. It was a struggle to get to the end.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 19, 2008

G (galen) rated it:

A truly amazing alternate look at vampires.

Like all of Butler's novels the themes in this book range deep and wide hitting on prejudice, genetic engineering, sexuality, political maneuvering, etc...

what if Vampires didn't just feed on humans... what if a symbiotic relationship between the two species was required and mutually beneficial?

(This was a much more satisfying re-interpretation of Vampire lore than Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series) More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2009

Hoby rated it:

I was impressed with her fresh fictionalized world, very convincing in its sci-fi plausibility. Her ideas are wonderful, as are the major plot points and head-on flirts with all kinds of taboo.

There were also many points where her situations became very tangible scenes in my mind.. where I could imagine action happening, me as the main character, feeling how Shori felt.. completely sucked in to the character.

It was though, an embarrassing work to read. The storytelling wa More...

0 comments like

Dec 21, 2008

Ryan rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Dec 05, 2011

Lucy rated it:

This was my first real introduction to Octavia Butler. I chose it not because I particularly wanted to read it, but because I'd particularly wanted to read Butler, and this was the only available option at the library. (That I could find her at all made me jump for joy!)

I was very pleasantly surprised to enjoy this book so much. I wasn't particularly in the mood for a vampire story, but I remembered how much I enjoyed Jewelle Gomez's vampire story and that was enough for me to give it More...

0 comments like

Aug 30, 2011

snowgray rated it:

VAMPIRES. Who doesn't love them? However, in Butler's mythology, vampires are a non-human species, called Ina. Ina live in groups with their same-sex relatives, and each Ina has several human symbionts, who voluntarily feed the Ina. Ina venom is pleasantly addictive, and extends the life of the humans who feed the Ina. The relationship between Ina and human is described in the book as "mutualistic symbiosis," with the humans gaining the advantage of extended life and protection du More...

0 comments like

Aug 01, 2011

dani-elle rated it:

a rather promising start to what should have been an awesome take on a genre of fiction that has recently been mass exploited (to some good and some very bad ends): vampires

as with most other Butler fiction it's rich with details; details and informative passages that not only tell the story but tell the whole history of the world that Butler carefully constructs for each of her alternate realities.

my only critique would really be that unlike the Lilith's Blood series where More...

0 comments like

Jun 07, 2011

Jacqie rated it:

I liked this one better than I feared I would, based on reading some other reviews. Shori, the amnesiac main character, is interesting. I wanted to know more about the Ina and their society, and the trial at the end was an interesting meditation on justice. I think that Butler may have explored this alien race more in other books, but it's been so long since I've read anything by her that I can't remember. In any case, the different social structure was interesting and I wanted more.

More...

0 comments like

Mar 21, 2011

Julia added it

I didn't like this book. It might have been my high expectations of Octavia Butler, which I think are totally justified if you've read Kindred, (What a fabulous book!) but Fledgling did nothing for me. I hated the main character and the relationships the characters form are just...ughhhh! Not for me. No, no.

The book is about a young vampire girl. I had high hopes that Butler could take the REALLY overdone vampire story and turn it into an interesting exploration. Well, I was right but More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 10, 2011

Lisa rated it:

what did i think? ok, so the story had a good premise and moved quickly for the first 2/3 of the book. but the hand of a good copy editor, or any copy editor at all for that matter, was nowhere in sight. characters were 2-dimensional, psychologies and motivations strained belief (that is, when they were addressed at all), dialogue was often stilted, and the overall style was amateur. an example was a lot of stage management of the eyes, eg 'i looked down', 'he looked away, then looked at me', More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 12, 2011

Lis rated it:

A young girl wakes up with no memory, serious burns, very serious skull injuries, an aversion to daylight, and some very strange needs and abilities. Gradually, she recovers some memory of how the world works and what she needs, but her memory of herself and her family is completely gone.

Shori is a 53-year-old vampire (still a young girl, by vampire standards), genetically modified to be able to wake and walk during daylight (but not enough to love it; she burns very easily), and the s More...

0 comments like

Dec 30, 2010

Karissa rated it:

I have never read anything by Octavia Butler, and as she is a prominent writer in the Sci-Fi genre, I though it would be interesting to read one of her books. This is also the last book she wrote before she died. Overall it was an interesting take on vampire communities; and discussed issue of racism, sexual freedom, and immortality. I listened to this on audio and the audio production was of excellent quality; my only complaint would be that the narrator's voice is very dispassionate which lend More...

0 comments like

Nov 16, 2010

Chuck rated it:

82 out of 100 for 2010

This novel is so good it makes me sad that butler is no longer in the world writing books.

It's an SF take on the vampire--rather than being dark beings, undead, or in anyway Satanic, vampires are a sentient species that live in symbiosis with humans. Where both are present, both prosper--humans live longer, are healthier, and are more fulfilled, and vampires, who can live on the flesh and blood of other animals, are healthier, happier, and more comple More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 27, 2010

Teresa rated it:

Octavia Butler s Fledgling opens with a young black woman waking up in alone in a cave with no memory and an insatiable craving for fresh meat and blood. After feeding on freshly killed meat, she finds a human man and takes his blood. The experience is physically and emotionally satisfying for them both, although they do not understand what is happening. Eventually, the woman learns that her name is Shori and that she is one of the Ina, a species that appears to be the source of our myths about More...

0 comments like

Aug 04, 2010

Bethany rated it:

Octavia Butler's books always tend to resonate perfectly for me in way that I find I have trouble explaining in any sort of objective or academic way. I mean, her use of language isn't particularly poetic and she's not terribly subtle. But those sorts of things don't really factor in when I'm reading one of her novels.

This book and all the rest by Ms. Butler pull me in from the first line and I spend the most of the time during the reading trying not to think about the fact that More...

0 comments like

Jul 19, 2010

Hester rated it:

I wish there were a possibility for 3.5 stars. I suppose that, as hundreds of people add their reviews, the rating will even out. Octavia Butler is one of the authors I admire most, and while she thought of this book as lightweight, it still asks provocative questions. The protagonist is an amnesiac vampire who, while middle aged by our standards, looks like a ten year girl. She is, however, sexually mature enough to have sex with humans. What does it say about the adults who choose to do s More...

0 comments like

Jun 18, 2010

Vanessa rated it:

if this book were a short series (2-3 books), i might have liked it better. as it was, there were way too many characters for me to know enough to care what happened to them. the vampire culture & family that was created could have been quite interesting if i could identify at all with it. again, i needed more time for that to happen. the author expected her readers to be far too accepting of new logics. maybe it's my own greeness to vampire lore and sci-fi that prevented me from surrendering to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)