Kindred

Completely engaging. This is a marked divergence from the more fantastical Patternist series; here Butler uses time travel as a completely unexplained mechanic to provide a uniquely sci-fi perspective on first-person slave narrative. In doing so, I think she shows us things about slave America than a contemporary account would not necessarily be able to do.

For me, the most surprising realisation was that even though we're taught about the existence of slave stereotypes, having not read first-person slave narratives before it's startling to see the ways in which characters draw from or step outside of those stereotypes. Sarah is my favourite example of this. She talks Dana down from all sorts of foolhardy choices, so we begin to think of her in an Uncle Tom kind of role, but we learn that underneath she is simmering with more anger and resentment at the loss of her children than Dana, or I, could really understand.

Other interesting points come in the relationship of Dana and Rufus; she is his savior several times over and yet is not just unable to wrest Rufus from the mindset of a white man of his time, but he actively forces her into compliance with his wishes when he sends her to bring Alice to him. Despite her self-loathing, she does as bid (as does Alice), and it is not until she is pushed to killing him that she is freed.

Kevin and Dana's differing relationships to the period are also worth looking at. Dana thinks she should be able to wrest control of the situation, but instead ends up needing to ride it out, and even then she cannot return from the experience whole. Kevin thinks himself able to manage, and does in fact survive for five years and help slaves, but Butler shows us that he doesn't have the kind of awareness of the dynamics at play. His request of Dana to scribe is eerily similar to Rufus'.

Overall, Kindred is incredibly gripping. The pacing is fantastic, episodes slowly building up, the characterisation of the cast is extremely moving, down even to more minor characters like Nigel or Tess. I read this in basically one sitting! If you want to examine our modern relationship to historical slavery, why not literally place a modern character into slavery?