And most frightening is the thought that, in the 'stronger, sharper realities' of Rufus' time, Dana is 'losing my place here in my own time.' At one point Kevin and Dana lose one another (Kevin returns haggard, after five years working to help escaped slaves), but finally Dana, fighting off complete possession by Rufus, kills him and that past forever-but not the memories. As Rufus ages (the Maryland years amount to hours and days in 1976 time), the relationship between him and Dana takes on some terrifying dimensions: Rufus simply cannot show the humanity Dana tries to call forth Dana, drawn into the life of slaves with its humiliation and atrocities, treads carefully, trying to effect some changes, but too often she returns beaten and maimed to her own century. Dana has been 'called' by her white ancestor, Rufus-on her first visit, Rufus is a small child, son of a sour slaveowner-and she'll be transported back to Maryland (twice with her white husband Kevin) to rescue Rufus from death again and again. Suddenly I was outdoors on the ground beneath trees'.

And this time the appeal should reach far beyond a sci-fi audience-because the alien planet here is the antebellum South, as seen through the horrified eyes of Dana, a 20th-century black woman who time-travels in expeditious Butler fashion: 'The house, the books, everything vanished. Butler is one of those accomplished science-fiction writers ( Mind of My Mind, 1977 Survivor, 1978) who tap out their tales so fast and fine and clear that it's impossible to stop reading at any point.

Octavia butler kindred graphic novel