About this ebook
An NPR Books Great Read: Two never-before-published stories from the archives of one of science fiction’s all-time masters.
The novella “A Necessary Being” showcases Octavia E. Butler’s ability to create alien yet fully believable “others.” Tahneh’s father was a Hao, one of a dwindling race whose leadership abilities render them so valuable that their members are captured and forced to govern. When her father dies, Tahneh steps into his place, both chief and prisoner, and for twenty years has ruled without ever meeting another of her kind. She bears her loneliness privately until the day that a Hao youth is spotted wandering into her territory. As her warriors sharpen their weapons, Tahneh must choose between imprisoning the newcomer—and living the rest of her life alone.
The second story in this volume, “Childfinder,” was commissioned by Harlan Ellison for his legendary (and never-published) anthology The Last Dangerous Visions™. A disaffected telepath connects with a young girl in a desperate attempt to help her harness her growing powers. But in the richly evocative fiction of Octavia E. Butler, mentorship is a rocky path, and every lesson comes at a price.
The award-winning author of science fiction classics Parable of the Sower and Kindred bestows these compelling, long lost gems “like the miraculous discovery that the beloved book you’ve read a dozen times has an extra chapter” (Los Angeles Review of Books).
Harlan Ellison and Dangerous Visions are registered trademarks of the Kilimanjaro Corporation. All rights reserved.
The novella “A Necessary Being” showcases Octavia E. Butler’s ability to create alien yet fully believable “others.” Tahneh’s father was a Hao, one of a dwindling race whose leadership abilities render them so valuable that their members are captured and forced to govern. When her father dies, Tahneh steps into his place, both chief and prisoner, and for twenty years has ruled without ever meeting another of her kind. She bears her loneliness privately until the day that a Hao youth is spotted wandering into her territory. As her warriors sharpen their weapons, Tahneh must choose between imprisoning the newcomer—and living the rest of her life alone.
The second story in this volume, “Childfinder,” was commissioned by Harlan Ellison for his legendary (and never-published) anthology The Last Dangerous Visions™. A disaffected telepath connects with a young girl in a desperate attempt to help her harness her growing powers. But in the richly evocative fiction of Octavia E. Butler, mentorship is a rocky path, and every lesson comes at a price.
The award-winning author of science fiction classics Parable of the Sower and Kindred bestows these compelling, long lost gems “like the miraculous discovery that the beloved book you’ve read a dozen times has an extra chapter” (Los Angeles Review of Books).
Harlan Ellison and Dangerous Visions are registered trademarks of the Kilimanjaro Corporation. All rights reserved.
Ratings and reviews
4.5
37 reviews
Justin Price
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November 5, 2017
This collection of stories is my first foray into the work of Octavia Butler and I can safely say that it will not be my last from what I have read. Her writing style is captivating, in part due to its sheer frankness and sincerity. Her characters are dynamic: from their thoughts that conflict with one another to their actions that are often morally ambiguous, they feel like actual people. Not just characters being controlled by a story, but people that actually play a role in the outcome, having control over their own destiny. Furthermore, I like how she intertwines background information with the situation at hand, allowing one to digest the important aspect without drowning them in an info dump. If the rest of her body of work is at all similar to these two stories, then I can see why she was such a powerful author. There are two stories in the collection: Necessary Beings and Childfinder. Now while these two stories differ in widely in terms of theme and subject matter, they are similar in the terms of the theme of the perils of leadership. The main character of Necessary Beings find herself wanting to ensure the future of her tribe. But for her to do so, she must kidnap another being like her, a Hao, just like what happened to her father. In Childfinder, a psychic searching for others like her is discovered by a secret organization. An organization she escaped from. And they want her back into the fold. Both of these tales, are masterful and I would have liked to see their worlds explored more in a novel.
1 person found this review helpful
Dale Kelley
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August 16, 2015
I've never met Ms. Butler person, but I can't help but feel that she was a close friend. Her writing helped me to understand who I am, how to understand others and it let me know that I wasn't alone in the world. Her writing is very detailed, intimate and focused. Even in her early work you feel her passions and thoughts being broadcast as clear as day. She is also a talented storyteller. I didn't expect much to come from "A Necessary Being" but it surprised me. This book is an unexpected treat.
2 people found this review helpful
Angalifu Smith
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December 24, 2014
This brought out aspects of Ms Butler's writing that immediately sent me back to "Wild Seed!" It certainly lays a foundation for a later writings, giving me a better appreciation of where Ms Butler was coming from.
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) was a bestselling and award-winning author, considered one of the best science fiction writers of her generation. She received both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and in 1995 became the first author of science fiction to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. She was also awarded the prestigious PEN Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. Her first novel, Patternmaster (1976), was praised both for its imaginative vision and for Butler’s powerful prose, and spawned four prequels, beginning with Mind of My Mind (1977) and finishing with Clay’s Ark (1984).
Although the Patternist series established Butler among the science fiction elite, it was Kindred (1979), a story of a black woman who travels back in time to the antebellum South, that brought her mainstream success. In 1985, Butler won Nebula and Hugo awards for the novella “Bloodchild,” and in 1987 she published Dawn, the first novel of the Xenogenesis trilogy, about a race of aliens who visit earth to save humanity from itself. Fledgling (2005) was Butler’s final novel. She died at her home in 2006.
Although the Patternist series established Butler among the science fiction elite, it was Kindred (1979), a story of a black woman who travels back in time to the antebellum South, that brought her mainstream success. In 1985, Butler won Nebula and Hugo awards for the novella “Bloodchild,” and in 1987 she published Dawn, the first novel of the Xenogenesis trilogy, about a race of aliens who visit earth to save humanity from itself. Fledgling (2005) was Butler’s final novel. She died at her home in 2006.
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