Staff Picks (November): Octavia Butler’s Kindred GN

Any science fiction aficionado will recognize Octavia Butler's name. She pioneered new “norms” in speculative fiction with her minority and female protagonists. Her concepts were groundbreaking and her writer's voice unparalleled both for complex world-building and individual characterization. Countless awards and a lifetime's work later, you and I, gentle readers, are about to see her work made available in a whole new format. After nearly four decades since its first prose publication, Kindred, Butler’s award-winning cross-generational science fiction odyssey, debuts this month as a graphic novel adaptation. Comic fans, we are so lucky!

Dana, an African-American woman of the modern era, repeatedly time-travels against her will to the plantation owned by her great-great-grandfather. Via these mysterious teleportations, Dana repeatedly rescues her white great-grandfather Rufus over the span of his life, always appearing when he needs her most. When he is a child, saving him is easy and gratifying, even if her method of travel is sudden and terrifying. As her ancestor ages, his troubles become more complex and his attitudes and assumptions are often hateful or degrading. Dana continues to save Rufus, knowing that until her own grandmother is conceived and born, she must keep her great-grandfather alive or she will cease to exist.

Butler's narrative casts a broad light on the evils of slavery to be sure, but more importantly, it brings out subtle shadows in the entirely human cast of characters both white and black. Further, and perhaps even more vividly, are the contrasts between historical and modern perspectives. Where these points of view meet and influence one another, the results yield understanding, healing, and hope.

— Sarah Martinez

Publisher: Abrams ComicArts
Item Code: NOV160997
Release Date:  1/11/17
SRP: $24.95