La Boca cover artist surveys the newly rereleased “Survivor” from Octavia Butler and wears hoodie that displays another of the firm’s Butler covers (Photo – Kat Ruvalcaba)
It’s not often that an author gets a book launch party 20 years after her death. But for international science fiction star (and local literary legend) Octavia Butler, anything has long been possible.
By Melanie Hooks
In fact, the book’s first release in 1978 is one of the only works by Butler that publishers have not reprinted. After winning both the Hugo and Nebula awards, as well as becoming the first science fiction writer to secure a MacArthur “Genius” Grant, Butler’s writing career was assured of constant interest—one that continues today at nigh-worshipful levels.
Her papers reside at the Huntington Library in San Marino, and on Wednesday, September 5, the institution threw Butler a party. Celebrating the book’s return to print, thanks to Grand Central Publishing, Butler scholars Alaina Morgan, Alyssa Collins, and Phoenix Alexander shared the Rothenberg Hall stage to shed some light on why there had been such a long time between print runs.
Collins penned the introduction to the new edition, having been the institution’s first Octavia E. Butler Fellow. She pointed to Butler’s own disparagement of the work as the weaker book in the trilogy as one reason why it hasn’t been widely circulated, while Morgan noted that even the author’s famous mentor, Harlan Ellison, agreed that it never quite “worked.” Alexander noted that current undergraduate students bump against the prevalence of nonconsensual relationships between various species on the book’s alien planet. All agreed, however, that the book is well worth revisiting to gain insight into the famous author’s development as an artist. Since it sits among her earliest works, it’s succeeded by several of her most famous: Kindred and Parable of the Sower.
Part of the famous author’s “Patternist” series, Survivor stands in the timeline between its two companion books, Clay’s Ark and Patternmaster. Largely disconnected from the action of either, the protagonist Allana works to ensure the survival of her adopted people, the Missionaries, amid a global plague, resettlement to the planet of the Kohn, conflict among their various factions, and an effort to enslave some through purposeful addiction to an alien plant.
Many attendees filled the hall, eager to dive into a lesser-known work by the famous writer, and even the book’s cover artist from La Boca was on hand to celebrate the evening. Books are available for purchase at retailers everywhere, including the Huntington’s own bookstore.
(L-R) Butler scholars Alyssa Morgan (USC), Alyssa Collins (Huntington Butler Fellow) and panel moderator Phoenix Alexandar (UCR) (Photo – Melanie Hooks)
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