This collection is titled in honor of Black science fiction author Octavia E. Butler, whose work (as explained in the Introduction) “explored the intersections of identity and imagination, the gray areas of race, class, gender, sexuality, love, militarism, inequality, oppression, resistance, and – most important – hope”. What follows is twenty short stories that enlarge upon and are inspired by Butler’s ‘visionary fiction’, stories that explore the connection between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change. An essay at the end of the book gives an overview of Butler’s writing. I haven’t read any of Butler’s writings, but after having read this collection, which I picked up in a library sale, I surely will.
Story and Author | Tags/Hub Areas | Therapeutic Tags | Personal Rating |
Revolution Shuffle by Boa Phi | Zombie apocalypse, anti-arab anti-asian racism, government control, Octavia, Spartacus, slaves | Political consciousness, fighting oppression | *** |
The Token Superhero by David F Walker | Superheroes, chosen children, toy franchises, Octavia | Overcoming racism, inner strength, support, people power | *** |
The river by adrienne maree brown | Gentrification, Detroit, water spirit, magical realism, Octavia | Natural justice, equality, cooperative living | ***1/2 |
Evidence by Alexis Pauline Gumbs | The internet, post collapse society, archaeology, Octavia, capitalism critique, epistolatory | Survival, equality, communal ownership, support, shared community | ***1/2 |
Black Angel by Walidah Imarisha | Refugees, avenging angel, superhero, outcasts, Octavia, reluctant do-gooder | Fighting exploitation, oppression, racism, justice | **** |
The Long Memory by Morrigan Phillips | Fantasy, archipelagos, factional struggle, politics, torture, Octavia, inprisonment, hunger strike, Earthsea, ancestry memory magic, geneaology | Defiance, ancestor respect, pacifism | ** |
Small and Bright by Autumn Brown | Going underground, post apocalypse society, Octavia, THX1138, communal society, banishment, exile, skin pigment erasure | Escape, survival, tenacity, communal society | ***1/2 |
In Spite of Darkness by Alixa Garcia, with illustrations | Human invasion, pollution catastrophe, alien tribal culture, sun harvesters, war, exo-myths, new wave writing, outer planets, Kuiper belt, Octavia | Resistance, family, determination | ***1/2 |
Hollow by Mia Mingus | Disability exiles, teleportation, genocide, extermination, exodus, Octavia | Disabled rights, solidarity, resilience | *** |
Lalibela by Gabriel Toedros | Time travel, Ethiopia, Africa, lost utopia, messiah, dragons, beekeepers, Octavia | ****1/2 | |
Little Brown Mouse by Tunde Olaniran | Alternate realities, mental breakdown, autism?, car crash tragedy, Octavia | Illumination, guilt, coping with reality | ***1/2 |
Sanford and Sun by Dawolu Jabari Anderson | TV sitcom, Sun Ra, music and mysticism, spiritual space journey, Octavia | Liberation, equal rights, civil rights movement, self determination, discrimination, funky, spiritual practice, humour, puns | **** |
Runway Blackout by Tara Betts | Therianthropes, shapeshifters, runway models on strike, racism, fashion magazine industry, Octavia | Solidarity, black rights, BLM, tolerance, strike for rights, reactionary? | *** |
Kafka’s Last Laugh by Vagabond | Repressive state violence, protest, prisoners as slave labour, flaws in the system, surveillance drugs, Kafka, Octavai | The power of laughter, liberation, anti-capitalism, resistance | *** |
22XX: One-Shot by Jelani Wilson | Phobos, Mars, terraformed dome life, juveniles, academy, YA, escape, bio-weapons, military scifi, Ender, Octavia | Rebellion, anti-authoritarian, outwitting authority | *** |
Manhunters by Kalamu ya Salaam | Matriarchal tribal societies, infertility, Octavia, attempted escape, zero population growth, trial, pregnancy, amazonian, men as chattel | Forgiveness, steadfastness, respect | ***1/2 |
Aftermath (excerpt) by LeVar Burton | Scientists, Parkinson’s Disease, cancer cure, slaves, skin, organ harvesting, conspiracy, Octavia | Greed, contempt, brutality, empathy | ***1/2 |
Fire On the Mountain (excerpt) by Terry Bisson | Alternate history, war of independence 2, John Brown, Harriet Tubman, William Douglas, Mars, Socialist revolution, New Africa, civil war, Octavia | Socialism, equality, civil rights | **** |
Homing Instinct by Dani McClain | Global warming, population displacement, government control, Octavia | Human rights, freedom, resistance | *** |
Children Who Fly by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha | Nuclear war, aftermath, rape, Octavia, cooperative economics, weakened ozone shield, transformative justice healing circles, the spirit plane | Liberation, metamorphosis, survival | ***1/2 |