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A review by mediaevalmuse
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
4.0
This book has been sitting on my TBR list for a while, so I figured I'd pick it up. I'm a fan of Butler's other works, so I expected to like this one as well. Overall, there were a lot of things I appreciated about Fledgling; I appreciated Butler's meditation on race and consent, I enjoyed the new take on vampire lore, and I liked the quick pace of the story as a whole. What prevents me from giving this book a full 5 stars are primarily the infodumping and the uncomfortable sexuality between Shori and her symbionts. I'm not taking off more because I'm sure Butler made the sexual dynamic that way for a reason, though I realize it will put many readers off.
WRITING: Butler's writing is fairly direct. It's often described as blunt, and I think the term is applicable here. Butler doesn't spend a lot of time crafting figurative phrases or hedging around big emotions; she tells the reader exactly what's going on and what her characters are thinking. This style might appeal to a lot of readers, and for me, it works most of the time. The only time I didn't quite enjoy it was when there was a long string of sentences that all felt blunt and about the same length; it made the reading experience feel mechanical.
My biggest problem with the writing, however, was the amount of infodumping. Butler delivers a lot of lore by having characters just tell Shori things for pages and pages. While I was interested in the lore, I also think this style of worldbuilding takes up space that could have been spent on characters doing things.
PLOT: The plot of this book follows Shori Matthews, a vampire who awakens with amnesia following a deadly attack on her family. Shori learns that she is the product of genetic experimentation: part human and part Ina (a type of vampire that lives symbiotically with humans), and though she appears be about 11 or 12, she is actually 53. As she collects new symbionts to feed off of and learns more about her special abilities, she uncovers who killed her family and left her for dead.
The most interesting aspect of this plot was the way Butler used Shori to explore questions about race. Especially during the trial (later in the book), it's very apparent that Butler is thinking about how racial difference influences things like law and justice, and how Shori's race is seen as a threat to Ina superiority.
In addition, Butler also uses the symbiotic bond between Ina and their humans to explore questions of consent and power. As a long-lived being with superhuman abilities, Shori feels responsible for the people that she binds to her, and she also wrestles with the complexities of human beings consenting to live with her when they do so partly out of compulsion. It made for an interesting dynamic that was more complex than just vampires dominating humans, and it really made me think about whether the relationship was truly symbiotic.
But even with all the interesting things going on, there were still aspects of the plot that weren't my jam. For one, the level of infodumping meant that the narrative could get tedious at times, even though I was interested in the lore that was delivered. For two, Butler depicts the relationship between Shori and her first symbiont, Wright, as partly sexual, which will disturb a lot of readers. Shori is 53 years old, but looks 11 or 12 and is still technically a child by Ina standards. Though the Ina insist a sexual relationship is not problematic for someone Shori's age, I still felt like I was reading something pedophilic from time to time. The only reason why I didn't immediately DNF this book is because I think Butler writes this dynamic for a specific purpose; I'm still working out what that purpose might be (probably something about black girls and how they're often viewed as "adults" or have their agency taken away?).
CHARACTERS: Shori, our protagonist, is sympathetic in that she is extremely devoted to finding out who killed her family. It's easy to want her succeed for her own sake (her feelings of grief for not being able to remember her family and properly mourn them is touching), but because she also wants to keep her human symbionts safe, she also comes across as selfless. I liked that Shori seemed to genuinely care about both humans and Ina who were close to her, and I admired the seriousness with which she treated her responsibilities. I also liked that she had a temper and strong sense of justice; she doesn't passively sit back and let things happen to her, but sometimes puts herself at risk by letting her emotions threaten the conventions of the Ina.
Shori's symbionts were interesting in that they all had different feelings about being bound to her. Wright's feelings seemed to be the most complicated, at once recognizing that he had little choice but still not leaving when he had the chance. His story more than the others made me think the most about power and consent, though the others had their moments. I do wish we had spent more time with Theodora, however, as I think doing so would have made her arc feel more emotionally impactful.
The Ina characters were also interesting in that they were these ancient, aloof families whose members were exclusively white and European (I think?). Because Shori is black and part human, the Ina display a range of reactions from being accepting (and even enthusiastic) regarding Shori's genetic possibilities to thinking Shori is not fully Ima and is a threat to their ancient bloodline. The range of reactions meant that race is examined from multiple angles in this book, and it made for some fairly frustrating (yet thematically significant) moments throughout the narrative.
TL;DR: Fledgling is a compelling novel that uses vampire lore and symbiosis as vehicles for exploring questions of power, consent, and race. Though the sexual dynamics may make a lot of readers uncomfortable and some of the infodumping might be tedious, this book moves quickly and places power in the hands of a young black woman, encouraging readers to think about responsibility and justice.
WRITING: Butler's writing is fairly direct. It's often described as blunt, and I think the term is applicable here. Butler doesn't spend a lot of time crafting figurative phrases or hedging around big emotions; she tells the reader exactly what's going on and what her characters are thinking. This style might appeal to a lot of readers, and for me, it works most of the time. The only time I didn't quite enjoy it was when there was a long string of sentences that all felt blunt and about the same length; it made the reading experience feel mechanical.
My biggest problem with the writing, however, was the amount of infodumping. Butler delivers a lot of lore by having characters just tell Shori things for pages and pages. While I was interested in the lore, I also think this style of worldbuilding takes up space that could have been spent on characters doing things.
PLOT: The plot of this book follows Shori Matthews, a vampire who awakens with amnesia following a deadly attack on her family. Shori learns that she is the product of genetic experimentation: part human and part Ina (a type of vampire that lives symbiotically with humans), and though she appears be about 11 or 12, she is actually 53. As she collects new symbionts to feed off of and learns more about her special abilities, she uncovers who killed her family and left her for dead.
The most interesting aspect of this plot was the way Butler used Shori to explore questions about race. Especially during the trial (later in the book), it's very apparent that Butler is thinking about how racial difference influences things like law and justice, and how Shori's race is seen as a threat to Ina superiority.
In addition, Butler also uses the symbiotic bond between Ina and their humans to explore questions of consent and power. As a long-lived being with superhuman abilities, Shori feels responsible for the people that she binds to her, and she also wrestles with the complexities of human beings consenting to live with her when they do so partly out of compulsion. It made for an interesting dynamic that was more complex than just vampires dominating humans, and it really made me think about whether the relationship was truly symbiotic.
But even with all the interesting things going on, there were still aspects of the plot that weren't my jam. For one, the level of infodumping meant that the narrative could get tedious at times, even though I was interested in the lore that was delivered. For two, Butler depicts the relationship between Shori and her first symbiont, Wright, as partly sexual, which will disturb a lot of readers. Shori is 53 years old, but looks 11 or 12 and is still technically a child by Ina standards. Though the Ina insist a sexual relationship is not problematic for someone Shori's age, I still felt like I was reading something pedophilic from time to time. The only reason why I didn't immediately DNF this book is because I think Butler writes this dynamic for a specific purpose; I'm still working out what that purpose might be (probably something about black girls and how they're often viewed as "adults" or have their agency taken away?).
CHARACTERS: Shori, our protagonist, is sympathetic in that she is extremely devoted to finding out who killed her family. It's easy to want her succeed for her own sake (her feelings of grief for not being able to remember her family and properly mourn them is touching), but because she also wants to keep her human symbionts safe, she also comes across as selfless. I liked that Shori seemed to genuinely care about both humans and Ina who were close to her, and I admired the seriousness with which she treated her responsibilities. I also liked that she had a temper and strong sense of justice; she doesn't passively sit back and let things happen to her, but sometimes puts herself at risk by letting her emotions threaten the conventions of the Ina.
Shori's symbionts were interesting in that they all had different feelings about being bound to her. Wright's feelings seemed to be the most complicated, at once recognizing that he had little choice but still not leaving when he had the chance. His story more than the others made me think the most about power and consent, though the others had their moments. I do wish we had spent more time with Theodora, however, as I think doing so would have made her arc feel more emotionally impactful.
The Ina characters were also interesting in that they were these ancient, aloof families whose members were exclusively white and European (I think?). Because Shori is black and part human, the Ina display a range of reactions from being accepting (and even enthusiastic) regarding Shori's genetic possibilities to thinking Shori is not fully Ima and is a threat to their ancient bloodline. The range of reactions meant that race is examined from multiple angles in this book, and it made for some fairly frustrating (yet thematically significant) moments throughout the narrative.
TL;DR: Fledgling is a compelling novel that uses vampire lore and symbiosis as vehicles for exploring questions of power, consent, and race. Though the sexual dynamics may make a lot of readers uncomfortable and some of the infodumping might be tedious, this book moves quickly and places power in the hands of a young black woman, encouraging readers to think about responsibility and justice.