Fledgling.

* Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler Seven Stories Press, October 2005 $24.95, ISBN 1-583-22690-7

Octavia E. Buffer has always given readers science fiction stories that are beautifully written and inclusive. Her novels, which include Pattern Master, Wild Seed and Parable of the Sower (all Aspect reprints, 1995, 1999 and 1995 respectively), are set in worlds that reflect much of our contemporary diversity and expand on it with the introduction of altered humans and separate species. Butler uses her fiction to explicate many of our social concerns about race, gender, class and sexuality.

Fledgling delves into many of those social issues as well. It is different in that the imagined species Buffer creates is a race of vampires that have created their own mutation. The fledgling referred to in the title is Shori, a young woman of startling abilities who must learn everything about her life and her people anew after losing her memory.

In Shori, Butler presents a black vampire and touches on the race issues humans face while making the fledgling's color one of the things that gives her added abilities. Mong the way, Buffer presents a tale with mystery, suspense and taut storytelling that also challenges assumptions about gender, sexuality and relationships between the powerful and the weak. As with most of her novels, the building and sustaining of community is a major element of the tale and shadows Shori's journey into the world of the Ina, the vampire portion of her heritage.

Butler's writing here is as gratifying as her other works and will be pleasing to fans of her science fiction, as well as vampire fans. Though she rejects and challenges many aspects of vampire lore. The novel, above all, is a literary gem and will be accessible to all readers.