![]() ‘The Evening and the Morning and the Night’ (1987) This story is all about the bond of human boy and his Tilc partner in forming a loving relationship despite the requisite pain and suffering. ‘Bloodchild’ never quite focuses on that, however. The hosts form close bonds with their Tilc partners, but the host process is violent, painful, gory, and can easily lead to the host’s death if they’re not careful. Humanity is conflicted about this - it is a sort of slavery, after all. This is an uncomfortable story, and infinitely imaginative. The ’83 and ’84 issues of Asimov’s Science Fiction featuring ‘Speech Sounds’ and ‘Bloodchild.’ Humanity is, coincidentally, an ideal host species for the Tilc’s larva human families live on vast preserves, and are free to live as long as they supply one child per family as an N’Tilc - a host of Tilc larvae. They’re benevolent, but still very clearly in charge. ‘Bloodchild’ is about a future where humanity has come under the control and protection of a space-faring species most akin to preying mantises and spiders. I should find the title story, ‘Bloodchild,’ cheesy, with its insect-like aliens and technological magic: It’s steeped in old-fashioned sci-fi cheese without ever getting drowned in the magic and wonder writers like Bradbury relied on. At just over 200 pages, it’s not many, and she herself admits to not being a writer or fan of short stories in her comments. This collection features every short story - and two essays - that Octavia Butler wrote between 19. Bloodchild and Other Stories was my introduction to Butler’s writing, and it reflects a masterful (and masterfully-thoughtful) writer.
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