Paperback, 310 pages
English language
Published Aug. 7, 2007 by Warner Books.
Shori is a mystery. Found alone in the woods, she appears to be a little black girl with traumatic amnesia and near-fatal wounds. But Shori is a fifty-three-year-old vampire with a ravenous hunger for blood, the lost child of an ancient species of near-immortals who live in dark symbiosis with humanity. Genetically modified to be able to walk in daylight, Shori now becomes the target of a vast plot to destroy her and her kind. And in the final apocalyptic battle, her survival will depend on whether all humans are bigots-or all bigots are human.
Sadly this was my last Octavia Butler novel, but it did not disappoint. Her penetrating use of the supernatural to explore human power dynamics is riveting, uncomfortable, and diverse.
There is no denying that this was an ambitious novel. From the outset, Butler makes it clear that she has a powerful, unique interpretation of the vampire genre and intends to explore it in depth. And that aspect of it, the world building, is truly impressive. What’s more, in every chapter of the novel, the reader discovers more about that world and we are gradually given the impression of a rich and ancient culture living parallel to our own.
However, I almost feel that, such was the strength of Butler’s vision, that she allowed to take over to the detriment of everything else.
This isn’t quite the Silmarillion, but I found myself reading this book increasingly as I might an academic text rather than a work of fiction. In fact, it read as nothing quite so much as a philosophical thought experiment - and as one, it is fascinating: throughout …
There is no denying that this was an ambitious novel. From the outset, Butler makes it clear that she has a powerful, unique interpretation of the vampire genre and intends to explore it in depth. And that aspect of it, the world building, is truly impressive. What’s more, in every chapter of the novel, the reader discovers more about that world and we are gradually given the impression of a rich and ancient culture living parallel to our own.
However, I almost feel that, such was the strength of Butler’s vision, that she allowed to take over to the detriment of everything else.
This isn’t quite the Silmarillion, but I found myself reading this book increasingly as I might an academic text rather than a work of fiction. In fact, it read as nothing quite so much as a philosophical thought experiment - and as one, it is fascinating: throughout the novel it keeps raising and exploring ethical questions through the medium of the narrative. Every chapter, I came away wanting to discuss what I had read with someone else. But the story itself and the characters felt lacking. It seemed Butler would take some effort to introduce each character and then, job done, leave them as just another agent in the text. The only character given any opportunity to develop was the protagonist, and even her journey felt a bit stilted.
As a investigation into the vampire genre and into human morality, it is well worth a read. But as a novel, I was left a little cold.
