I was always intrigued by Octavia E. Butler’s exploration of the posthuman. Something that makes ‘Bloodchild’ really great is the way that it doesn’t shy away from anatomical language and the intricacies of new species being made. I think Octavia’s writing is a master class in writing about the complications and potential of motherhood too.
First published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 1984. Collected in Bloodchild and Other Stories, Seven Stories Press 1995, and numerous anthologies
A Personal Anthology 