Unexpected Stories: Two Novellas

Written by Octavia E. Butler

Narrated by Robin Miles

This exciting collection presents two previously unpublished stories by SF legend Butler. "A Necessary Being" precedes the events of Survivor, Butler's third (famously disowned) installment in her Patternist series, and includes characters from it, focusing exclusively on the Kohn, aliens who build their social hierarchies on the blueness of their fur. In "Childfinder," a black woman with the gift of identifying children with latent psychic ability refuses to share her skill with an organization of white telepaths.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781980021834

Octavia E. Butler

Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) was a renowned African American author of several award-winning novels, including Parable of the Sower, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 1993, and Parable of the Talents, winner of the Nebula Award for the best science fiction novel in 1995. She received a MacArthur Genius Grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work and was acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future.

Reviews for Unexpected Stories

[Chelsea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Octavia Butler is creative and interesting as always. This one is a bit odd but enjoyable nonetheless.

[ErinNantais · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic stories! I enjoyed them so much that I wish they were longer.

[Maya · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very creative sci fi stories. Octavia Butler was a fantastic writer.

[jsabrina-219220 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

These stories make it clear that from her earliest days Octavia Butler had a gift for creating new types of characters -- some human, some not -- who were very alien but still approachable. As a novella and short story, these works don't have the richness of her novels, but they are still well worth reading.

[amanda4242_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An excellent pair of stories. The first story, "A Necessary Being," is a companion piece to the tragically out of print Survivor and explores complex power dynamics in the thought-provoking way I've come to expect from Butler's work. "Childfinder" is much darker and less hopeful, but creates a lasting impression. Highly recommended. Received via NetGalley.

[thomaspluck · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Her stories are always interesting, no exception here.

[liscarey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Octavia Butler was one of the leading lights of American science fiction until her early death in 2006, and one of the best-known African-American science fiction writers. The two stories in this book are early works, from the 1970s, and were previously unpublished.

One, 'Childfinder', was originally sold to Harlan Ellison for his much-anticipated, never-published anthology, The Last Dangerous Visions. It's very short, just a few pages, but reflects some of the themes Butler explored through much of her work: psi talents and the complexities of race relations. An organization of telepaths, mostly white, has formed for self-protection. Telepathy has not, unfortunately, led to universal love and happiness. On the contrary, they understand each other's resentments and hostilities all too well. Barbara, one of the few black women in the group, has broken with them, to recruit and train young black children whose talents are just beginning to manifest.

The longer story is 'A Necessary Being.' This one apparently made the rounds of various markets and never sold, for reasons that aren't apparent to me. It showcases Butler's ability to create believable alien beings, with their own biology, instincts, and culture. The Kohn people are organized by skin color into castes, with the important complication that skin color--ranging from yellow among the farmers and artisans, through green and blue for the hunters and the judges, with the deepest, purest blue marking the Hao, regarded as the wisest rulers and best fighters. A tribe without a Hao is considered deeply unfortunate and headed for rapid decline if they can't produce or find a Hao to rule them, enough so that the Hao are almost treated as luck pieces, and kidnapping is an acceptable way to get one. Tahneh, Hao of the Rohkohn, is a middle-aged woman who has not been able to produce an heir to succeed her. When a foreign Hao ventures into their territory with only a couple of companions, the Rohkohn are determined to solve their problem. Tahneh and Diut, the Tehkohn Hao, have to be clever, flexible, and worthy of the Hao reputation for wisdom and good government to achieve a solution they can live with.

This are both early Octavia Butler, when she was still learning and growing and not yet at the height of her powers. That makes them, I think, even more impressive.

Highly recommended.

I bought this book.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two never-before-published short stories from the late Butler available only as an ebook.These two stories are unexpected, and a great treat for fans of Butler's work who have already read through her published oeuvre. Even though both stories were written early in her career, they already demonstrate Butler's command of storytelling and her willingness to explore deep themes of identity, power and the human potential to evolve. The first and longest story, "A Necessary Being," is a fantasy set in a desert land where a person's position in society is immediately apparent by the tint of his or her skin, which ranges from green-yellow to purest blue, marking the leaders. It is a fully realized alien culture that still comments on how we view skin color in our own world. The second shorter story, "Childfinder," is about the nascent development of psychic powers in people. One woman has been finding and training psychic children, trying to build a resistance movement to the government's efforts to control the psychics. Both stories are absolutely readable, bursting with ideas, and far too short. Either one could have been the opening chapter to a novel that I would have loved to read.Read in 2015 for the SFFCat.

[cuentosalgernon · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“Unexpected stories” collects two early and unpublished short works by Octavia Butler, one novella and one short story. I must confess that although I read some of Butler’s novels years ago, I had not read anything else by her in over ten years, until now.I found these two pieces solid, original and interesting enough, although not as moving as they probably were meant to be. I liked better the novella, “A Necessary Being”, a sort of meditation about the loneliness of those in power and the excessive people’s faith and dependency on their ruling classes.I think Butler’s fans will find this book of great interest, but although this is a quick read, enjoyable and worth-reading for any science fiction fan, I would recommend most of the people interested in Butler’s work to start with one her best known novels and leave these stories for later.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Free review copy. Two previously unpublished Butler stories, one set in a familiar universe (biological castes in a not-very-technologically-advanced species expressed in skin color, blue/green/yellow) and one that might or might not have been (telepaths emerging from a largely nontelepathic population and setting about to control/change the world). They both evidenced Butler’s consistent themes of exploring the interaction of difference and dominance, and the biological foundations of power. I don’t have anything critically interesting to say about them, but getting even a fragment of previously unread material from Butler is welcome.

[bookmuse56 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As I am not a big fan of short forms of fiction - so of course I wanted more. :)But I am thankful to be able to read these stories.While reading them I could see Ms. Butler's mind - and could see how these stories flushed out in her novels. When you are done reading you will want to re-read all of your favorite Octavia Butler books.This book and a glass of wine was a wonderful treat on a stormy humid night.