Survivor

This is the first book I read by Octavia Butler and the day I bought it was the first time I met her as well. Butler blew my mind with the combination of her presence, her intellect, and her way with words. I became a lifelong fan after reading this book and the ones which followed.

Anyway, this book seemed to have been written with me in mind - a person of mixed heritage myself, it was incredibly exciting to read about someone facing similar challenges in my favorite genre by a writer with such understanding and compassion for her characters.

Just as importantly, she never glossed over the horrors her characters faced. Instead, she shone a light on them within a context which redefined them as such since many of the horrors her characters faced were not seen as problems by the societies in which her characters found themselves.

Ironically, Survivor is the one book Butler wrote which she wished had never been published. She really didn't think it lived up to her other work. I told her at one of those book signings that I'm glad she didn't get her wish because that book really meant a lot to me and so many others. I don't know if that made a difference or not. ;)