Bloodchild - Octavia Butler

    Bloodchild tells the story of the extraordinary relationship between aliens known as Tlic and the humans of earth who are living there. The Tlic realize that humans make excellent host carriers for their eggs and each earthling is required to chose a child for implantation. The story is narrated by a male named Gan who is required to carry the eggs of one of the lead females of the Tlic. Since he can remember Gan has thought of being a host as an honor and a privilege, but when he witnesses the premature hatching of eggs in another male host, he has to participate in performing a cesarian surgery so that the Tlic grubs can be retrieved and so that Lomas, the other male carrier, will not be eaten alive from the inside out. 

    Gan begins to feel different about being a host and announces that he will commit suicide before he gets impregnated. He questions the relationship between the humans and aliens. Gan's sister is asked to be impregnated, but Gan does not let this happen and finally agrees to be impregnated. Gan's sister makes a promise to Gan that she will be loyal to him forever.

    I found the concept of this read to be very interesting, the idea of aliens and humans cross breeding. The fact that humans are able to be excellent host for the alien eggs brings up the question, are we the same species who have evolved on different worlds? This story reminds me of the movie, Alien, at least the idea of aliens bursting through humans! Another thing that stood out to me was the sense of honor and privilege that a host has. It seems like this could be a new religion in this universe. It is thought by some cultures and groups that aliens are what we think of as gods. The aliens in this seem to be more animalistic than intelligent.

    A medium I would make this story into is a short film in a spaceship. I would keep the characters the same for the most part, and give the alien's appearance a more human look with arms and legs that resemble that of humans. Also, I may consider making Gan's sister the one who volunteers to be impregnated for her brothers sake. One afro-futuristic aspect of this story is how technology can transport us to new worlds and connect use with life other than our own. In other words, it allows humans to liberate themselves and explore the broader universe and other life forms.