I like it a lot and taught both *Parable of the Sower* and the short story
"Bloodchild" last semester. Most of her work is not hard sci-fi.  She picks
a set of circumstances (biological anomalies, time anomalies, different
planetary settings, etc.) to explore primarily the ways that people treat
each other as they are pushed to what they thought was their limit.
"Bloodchild," for example, has humans inexplicably living as colonial
subjects to an intelligent insect-like species that needs humans for
reproduction.  The story tests ideas of compelled closeness and familial
responsibility.  Much of her work has black women at the center, which is
nice.  *Kindred* is the novel most often taught in schools.  Butler herself
insisted that it wasn't sci-fi at all.  The set-up is that the main
character, a black woman married to a white man in 1976 finds herself
transported to the pre-Civil War South where she has to contend with and
insufferable white boy/man and has to offer him care.

I hope that helps.  I wasn't sure exactly what you wanted to know.

Tracy

On Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 3:46 AM, George Arterberry <
[email protected]> wrote:

>
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> Noir,
>
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> Thoughts on her writings?
>
>
>  
>

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