Fledgling (novel)

Infobox Book |
name = Fledgling


image_caption =
author = Octavia Butler
cover_artist = Jon Gilbert
country = United States
language = English
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = Seven Stories Press
release_date = 8 September 2005
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 352 pp (hardcover first edition)
isbn = ISBN 1-58322-690-7 (hardcover first edition)

"Fledgling" is a science fiction novel by Octavia Butler

Plot summary

The novel tells the story of Shori, who appears to be a 10 or 11 year old African-American girl, but is actually a 53 year old vampire, or "Ina." The story opens as Shori awakens with no knowledge of who or where she is, in the wilderness, hungry and suffering from critical injuries. Although she is burned and apparently has major skull trauma, she kills and eats the first animal that approaches her. After she kills again and heals, it becomes clear that she has complete amnesia, no memory at all of her former life. After discovering a burned village that feels familiar but of which she has no memory, a construction worker named Wright picks her up on the side of the road, and they begin a symbiotic relationship in which he receives great pleasure from her biting him and drinking his blood. The novel follows her exploration to discover who she is, who the people are who were burned and killed in the village, and why the people who killed them want her dead as well.

Major themes

*Vampires
*Race and Racism
*Sexual Ambiguity
*Community
*Group Marriage