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Book Title Kindred
Author Octavia Butler
Summary of the Book "Kindred" was first published in 1979. It is a work of fiction written in close first person PoV. Many readers classify the novel as “Science Fiction” or “Speculative Sci-Fi”. However, the author herself called it “a kind of grim fantasy.”
The story begins in 1976. Dana is a 26-year-old black woman who lives with her husband in Los Angeles. They are both writers. One day, Dana gets dizzy and vanishes from their apartment right in front of her husband.
She immediately reappears on a plantation in early 19th-century Maryland. Dana saves a boy named Rufus from drowning. Despite her heroism, she is not safe in this time or place. She vanishes and reappears in the apartment back in 1976.
Dana had been in the past about five minutes. Yet from her husband’s perspective, she was gone only a few seconds.
Dana will be pulled into the life of Rufus again and again. Each visit is longer and than the last - and more dangerous. She can’t control the time travel, but there appears to be a reason behind it. Her life may depend on finding out what that is.
What You Learned From It Pithy writing has power. Take a look at the first paragraph…
“I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm.”
We don’t know why Dana lost her left arm - or where she was when it happened. However, most of us would keep on reading to find out.
The minimalist approach doesn’t end with the hook. Throughout the novel, the writing is direct and matter-of-fact. There’s no purple prose to distract the reader.
Butler's worldbuilding is likewise utilitarian. She sets the stage with everything we need to know, and little else. If something more is needed to move a scene forward, she’ll drop it in later so readers aren't overwhelmed.
There is brutality in this world, and “Kindred” doesn’t shy away from it. Slavery in the US was a cruel business. Still, she conveys the humiliation and suffering of human bondage with an economy of words. There’s no need for intricate detail.
There’s also no need to explain why slavery is wrong. Butler trusts her readers enough not to lecture them.
The author falls into a common conceit of the era - chapter titles. However, she doesn’t abuse that conceit. Each title is short and to the point with neither wit nor irony. There are no spoilers, either. The meanings are clear upon finishing a respective chapter.
"Kindred" has both a prologue and an epilogue. Few books need one, and even fewer need both. However, this story demands both. There is nothing extraneous about their inclusion here. Unlike many novels, neither feels bolted on to the main narrative. The prologue hooks the reader while the epilogue provides the necessary denouement.
Not everyone agrees Kindred is Science Fiction. If it’s not, there's a lot here for a lot of Sci-Fi readers (including myself) to like. If it is Science Fiction, the characters and dialogue are much more realistic than most contemporary works.
Everything a writer needs to know about sparse and impactful prose can be found in "Kindred". Despite being written 45 years ago, it feels like a modern work. It’s at once Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Speculative, and even Literary.
Most importantly - this book remains relevant to readers and authors alike.
