Octavia Butler's final novel delivers in every way. Book Club check-in

This is KUOW's book club, and we just read through the first half of Octavia Butler's "Fledgling," the final novel the acclaimed author wrote before she passed away in 2006. I'm your club guide, Katie Campbell. Let's get into it.

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f "Fledgling" is your introduction to the work of Octavia Butler, reader, all I can say is, you're welcome.

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As her friend and fellow author Nisi Shawl writes in the introduction, "Learning Your Power," "Octavia's power is a bit like Shori's, come to think of it. And, yes, by the time of the writing of 'Fledgling,' Octavia had learned to use it."

Shori is the main character in "Fledgling," a vampire — or rather, an Ina — who has awoken in a cave, badly injured and without much of her memory. But she quickly regains strength and sets out to learn who she is and what has happened to her, guided by Butler's prose.

I first came to Butler through her "Patternist" series. Written in the 70s and 80s, these science fiction novels put Butler's ability to immerse readers in another reality on full display. They were rich with complex characters (now seeking other readers to talk s**t about Doro with) and a fantastical plot (in a nutshell: telepathic superbeings and an extraterrestrial plague). They're stellar reads, and I highly recommend them.

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But "Fledgling," written decades after the "Patternist" novels, is far and away Butler's superior work. Anyone who has read her earlier work can see how Butler learned to play to her strengths — strong character-building, her distinct tone that is sometimes cheeky and oftentimes sexy, and her ability to weave in social justice messages — while cutting the fat. I wouldn't say she ever had a penchant for meandering or indulgent digressions, but "Fledgling" is a masterclass in skipping tedium and keeping a story moving.

Consider Shori's relationship with the human Wright, a young man who finds her dirty and wandering along the side of the road a few days after she wakes up without her memories. Shori wastes practically no time before biting him and giving him the venom that makes him amenable to her. As fans of the vampire genre have certainly come to expect, the relationship quickly turns sexual. After all, Shori may appear to be a young girl, but she's really in her 50s. Consider this passage from her first time sleeping with Wright:

I'm highlighting this section because I want you to consider what Butler accomplishes here: Butler shows, rather than tells, us that Shori is older (this encounter comes several chapters before we meet her father, Iosif, and learn just how old Shori is) while giving us something exciting to chew on. It's a small but effective flourish.

Butler's writing is full of fun flourishes that carry a sharper point.

She gives us a sense of place as Shori learns there is "a nearby place called Seattle" where Wright attended "something called the University of Washington." She writes believable dialogue, complete with awkward conversations and dad jokes ("I suspect it means you should try out for the Olympic Games," Wright says to Shori on page 55, after informing her she'd been running 15 miles per hour as he followed in his car). And she acknowledges the overabundance of vampire books and movies, working in my favorite subtle slice of criticism:

I read that line as part of Butler's broader social justice and equity lens. Shori is Black, part of a genetic experiment the Ina species have embarked on to combat their natural weakness to sunlight. As in much of vampire lore, it seems most if not all of Shori's kind are pale. Shori's father, Iosif, insists racism does not exist among the Ina, and that Ina families all over the world were excited about Shori and what she represented for their species.

But if that was the extent of the story — vampire species succeeds in genetic experimentation and goes on to have happy existence — it wouldn't be much of a story at all.

Shori's family has been brutally destroyed. First, her mothers and sisters' community (Ina males and females live separately, as they are "sexually territorial" upon reaching maturity) was burned to the ground, their human "symbionts" along with them, and Shori was left for dead. Then, upon reuniting with Iosif, her family's male community is similarly wiped out, seemingly leaving no one alive.

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W

ith my analysis out of the way, let me share my prediction: I don't buy Iosif's story for a second! It's too convenient, y'all! I'm calling BS!

Ahem. Iosif allegedly dies along with the other males in his community, but I think Butler doth protest too much when she writes, "Iosif had certainly burned. ... He was definitely dead."

Those of you who have followed the Book Club newsletter and my other recommendations may have realized I am a big fan of horror. And if the genre has taught me anything, it's that no one is dead unless you see them die. I'm to believe that the pile of ashes that smells like Iosif in his bed is concrete evidence? No! I'm telling y'all it's sketchy.

As the first half of the book comes to a close — and Wright, Shori, and her two new symbionts, Brook and Celia — set out to get help from another Ina family, Wright helpfully sums up the possibilities:

Considering Butler's talent for addressing racism through a sci-fi lens (in the case of "Fledgling," speciesism is another proxy for racism), I'm guessing the latter option is at play. But I think Wright missed another possibility here: that Shori's own father has had second thoughts about the experiment, and that he is out to end it in brutal fashion.

I could be wrong, but we'll just have to keep reading to find out.

Before you go: I have a very exciting announcement about our October read (that's right, I'm revealing it early to those of you who read this far)! We'll be reading Timothy Egan's Pacific Northwest classic "The Good Rain" next month. And we'll be doing a live event at KUOW with Egan. Register here to join the live conversation on Thursday, Oct. 24. See you there!