Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements

Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements is an interesting experiment undertaken by storytellers and authors of movements. As explained by the editors Walidah Imarisha and Adrienne Maree Brown, some of the short story writers had never thought to write a story before, much less for publication. These stories come out of a desire to rewrite the narrative of the sociocultural world in which we live. It is an admirable mission, one to which Octavia Butler certainly ascribed, and to whom the volume is dedicated, both in title and in spirit.

The stories demonstrate varying degrees of storyteller acumen, some more interesting and engaging than others. They have no particular common thread other than an attention to diversity and voice—penetrating from the boundaries of the marginalized and reorienting the self in a place of empowerment, a place where it matters. In that, each story is important. Often irreverent, undeniably daring, and matter-of-factly in your fact, these stories are audacious and set convention on its head. But, they are not inaccessible and they are not exclusive in that any fan of sci-fi can pick up this book and enjoy the worlds created inside. If you are attuned, the pervasive, life-changing enlightenment common to quality sci-fi will spark something of a revolution in the reader.