Conversations with Octavia Butler

Octavia Butler (1947-2006) is one of my favorite authors. Her work was unique and provided an afrocentric view of science fiction. I'm pleased to see that many of her interviews from 1980 until just before her sudden death in 2006 have been gathered together into a book, 'Conversations with Octavia Butler'.

I plan to read this book.




Are you a science fiction fan? If so, what are your views on Octavia Butler and her works?

Diversity Roll Call: Fantasy or Science Fiction

Our blog joins a new weekly meme created by the folks at Worducopia and Color Online. This meme, Diversity Roll Call, seeks to diversify our reading habits.

This week the focus is on science fiction and fantasy, two genres where people of color are often absent or sidekicks, but rarely the main character.

I am a science fiction fan. I read most of the books by Robert Heinlein and Larry Niven when I was a youngster. These were great stories about space, people, relationships and the future. Unfortunately, there were no African Americans in these stories.

So, I was blown away when I first began to read books by Octavia Butler. She had a vision for the future of our world that was often very bleak. However, she always have strong Black characters that are dealing with the elements, situations and issues like religion. Oddly, my favorite Octavia Butler story isn't about the future ... rather it is about the past. The book called, Kindred, tells the story of a modern-day Black woman transported into the American slavery era. It describes how a modern-day liberated sister would deal with life in a society that treats her as chattel rather than as a human being.

Another author that I like is Walter Mosley. This African American dabbled into science fiction with a book called Futureland: Nine Stories of an Imminent World. Mosley is best known for his series of novels featuring characters like Easy and Mouse. It is wonderful to see him demonstrate creative range with this science fiction work set a generation from now.

Your assignment: spotlight science fiction and fantasy titles where people of color are the leads, works by people of color in these genres or discuss your thoughts about race in these genres. Do you notice the absence of color? In what ways is race portrayed in fantasy and science fiction beyond using traditional racial terms like black and white? If the book covers prominently features people of color, does it affect your perception? Are we more comfortable with imaginary characters versus different race in these works?

Is Barack Obama a Geek?

Have you noticed how folks are trying to determine whether or not President-elect Barack Obama is a 'geek'?

GeekDad contributor Matt Blum, a software engineer in Reston, Va., defines geeks as having high intellects, embracing technology, “getting excited about things in the future especially, particularly fiction,” having a science viewpoint and being steeped in the geek culture of science fiction and fantasy.

I imagine that many of the folks that I know via organizations like BDPA as well as many entrepreneurs that I've worked with over the years are 'geeks'. Heck, there is even a blog called, 'Blacks Gone Geek'.

It turns out that as a youngster, Obama collected Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comic books. Personally, I was more of a DC-Comics fan as a kid. I enjoyed Teen Titans, Superman, Adventure and such. Unfortunately, my collection of comic books were lost when my childhood home was burned to the ground.

I also enjoy reading science fiction. In fact, I just finished reading book called, 'Glory Road' written by Robert Heinlein ... probably the second-best sci-fi writer in history (NOTE: Octavia Butler was #1 in my view).

Anyhow, I like the idea that a guy with high intellect and a knowledge of Star Trek is going to be our president. Don't you?