Kindred
Octavia E. Butler
May 2008 · Recorded Books · Narrated by Kim Staunton
4.8star
67 reviewsreport
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10 hr 55 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
The first science fiction written by a Black woman, Kindred has become a cornerstone of Black American literature. This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity. Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge she's been given: to protect this young slaveholder until he can father her own great-grandmother. Author Octavia E. Butler skillfully juxtaposes the serious issues of slavery, human rights, and racial prejudice with an exciting science fiction, romance, and historical adventure. Kim Staunton's narrative talent magically transforms the listener's earphones into an audio time machine.
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4.8
67 reviews
Casey Strong
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May 13, 2024
This is the best book I've ever read or heard. I've never been so completely encapsulated in a story that I both forget myself and become the protagonist, and forget my time and experience the world as I've never known it. I can not recommend this book enough.
Sandra Lindsey
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November 9, 2022
This was a really great book and the narrator did an excellent job at narrating to where you really feel like your there as well.
Kris Gee
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July 3, 2020
I loved Kindred. It's a fascinating story told in present and past times.
About the author
Science-fiction writer and novelist Octavia Estelle Butler was born in Pasadena, California, on June 22, 1947. She earned as Associate of Arts degree from Pasadena City College in 1968 and later attended California State University and the University of California. Her first novel, Patternmaster, was the first in a series about a society run by a group of telepaths who are mentally linked to one another. She explored the topics of race, poverty, politics, religion, and human nature in her works. She won a Hugo Award in 1984 for her short story Speech Sounds and a Hugo Award and Nebula Award in 1985 for her novella Bloodchild. She received a MacArthur Grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The award pays $295,000 over a five-year period to creative people who push the boundaries of their fields. She died in Lake Forest Park, Washington on February 24, 2006 at the age of 58.
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