Fascinating facts about Octavia E. Butler

Prescient and brilliant, you'll love her even if you're not a sci-fi fan

I have to admit that I’m not a science fiction reader, but I love Octavia E. Butler (1947 – 2006) and the few books I’ve read by her. What a unique writer and human being she was, and she left us all too soon. As a Black woman science fiction writer, she blazed a trail through the then-white male-dominated genre.

My favorite Octavia Butler book is Kindred (1976), which is more in the realm of speculative fiction than sci-fi. In fact, it’s a predecessor of Colson Whitehead’s award-winning Underground Railroad, and in my opinion, a better read (don’t tell him!).

** Before we go on, I’ll take a moment here to acknowledge the residents of the L.A. area. It’s so hard to know what to say or do; I have two nephews who live there; one had to evacuate and one didn’t. Many of us are only one or two degrees of separation from someone who has lost everything and/or had their lives upended. I donated to World Central Kitchen, an amazing organization that goes into any and every disaster zone to comfort people with good food.**

Today’s Sunday Literary Ladies Lite edition is a little less “lite” than usual, but here’s why I thought of Octavia Butler today:

Just the other day, I read an article in the New York Times in which the reporter aptly compared the unfolding catastrophe of the L.A. fires to the scene of Octavia’s 1993 novel, Parable of Sower (1993). When it begins, Lauren Olamina, a young Black woman, is navigating an apocalyptic Los Angeles (in the then-futuristic 2020s!) reeling from climate change. A fight for survival leads to her create a new faith called Earthseed, in hopes of repairing the world. There’s even a Trump-like leader in charge of the U.S. The prescience of this novel is terrifying!

In her New York Times obituary, Octavia was described as “an internationally acclaimed science fiction writer whose evocative, often troubling novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power, and ultimately, what it meant to be human.”

Octavia’s first novel was Patternmaster (1976). It was the first in what would become a four-volume series. Central to these novels are Patternists, people with telepathic powers.

Kindred (1979) was the book that put her on the literary map, though, as more in the genre of speculative fiction than sci-fi, it stood apart from her other works. It tells of a contemporary African-American woman who travels back in time to save an ancestor who happens to be a white slave owner. By saving him in his time, she ensures her own survival in the future.

Other books by Octavia Butler include the Xenogenesis trilogy — Dawn (1987), Adulthood Rites,(1988), and Imago (1989). The two-part Parable series — Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents are also among her best-known works.

Here are some things to know about this fascinating and unforgettable writer.