Kirkus Review
Striking social commentary underscores the action in two dark, previously unpublished stories from the late sci-fi master.In the opening novella,A Necessary Being, Tahneh rules the Rohkohn, a small desert tribe facing a severe drought. Tahneh is a Hao, a rare, blue-skinned being prized for their fighting ability and political cunning in the fictional world's stark, allegorical caste system based on skin color in which all people are yellow, green or blue. Traditionally, tribes fight to capture, hobble and force a Hao to lead them. Tahneh's father endured this at the hands of the Rohkohn, yet Tahneh avoided hobbling by being born into the tribe.After her tribe peacefully captures a young male Hao named Diut, she knows that because she is growing old and has not given birth to an heir in her intercaste liaisons with her people, they will soon hobble Diut and force him to succeed her. The sharp prose that Hugo and Nebula awards winner Butler (Fledgling, 2005, etc.) is known for isnt as honed here. But she generates immense tension and shows the loneliness behind Tahnehs maneuvering as the central power struggle unfolds between the two Hao and their tribes, structured tightly around a moving scene of seduction, a fight and an uneasy pact, forcing Tahneh to strategize for her tribe while she considers if they or the Haoare her true people. In the bleak story Childfinder, a black woman named Barbara can read thoughts and find children with similar psionic ability. A confrontation with the select group of people with psi reveals that Barbara has struck out on her own to train black children and snuff out psi powers in white children, which may trigger a lethal race war.A small but important addition to the oeuvre of a writer deeply concerned with issues of race and gender. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
This volume contains two previously unpublished early works by one of the greats of science fiction (Kindred, 1975; Parable of the Sower, 1993). One story was reportedly rejected and shelved, the other was originally intended for the unpublished anthology, The Last Dangerous Visions. "A Necessary Being" centers the dilemma faced by the leader of a rigidly hierarchical alien culture when another of her kind ventures into their territory. Despite a seemingly insurmountable initial problem, they arrive at an unexpectedly positive solution. "Childfinder" is a much bleaker story, about psionics and the consequences of systemic oppression; the victory the narrator hopes for is distant at best. These are both early Butler, but they are also timely and satisfying to read, with a masterful balance between pragmatic awareness of harsh realities and the idea that the worst case isn't quite inevitable. Nisi Shawl's foreword gives the reader a framework for the content; Merrilee Heifetz's afterword tells us the story of how lucky we are that these stories were found in Butler's archives.
Library Journal Review
Two previously unreleased stories from the late African American sf author (Parable of the Sower; Kindred), recently discovered by her agent, have been given new life in this ebook original. In the novella "A Necessary Being," Butler gives us a primitive alien society in which communities are hierarchically arranged in a system that prizes certain colors over all others. The Hao rule owing to purported greater strength and wisdom but also because of the pure blue coloring they alone possess. When a small desert community catches a traveling Hao in its territory, the female leader must find a way to keep him for her people without resorting to violence. The second shorter piece, "Childfinder," concerns a woman with the talent for identifying children who could develop psi abilities. She has chosen to leave the organization that controls those with psi powers to protect the underprivileged and vulnerable children of her poor neighborhood. Verdict Both stories deal in their own way with the issues of race and gender that informed much of Butler's work. While posthumous publications (Butler died in 2006) can be a mixed bag, these stories, with an introduction by Walter Mosley, will be a joy for Butler's many readers.-Megan M. McArdle, San Diego (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
