Ordinarily, when I find one of the four books I run through per week is the type that is written with tons of flashbacks and seen from more than one perspective at a time, I get a little itchy about it. Can I keep all the character's views straight? Will these flashbacks get in the way of the writing style and the true storytelling? Octavia Butler lets none of that happen. This author manages to take you all over time while keeping you firmly rooted in what she is trying to do. The flow and detail of the story is such that once you see where it is going, you just can not wait to get there. Butler uses the truest form of description and makes you feel like you are one of the characters. This book deserves to be passed on to that friend you know could use a good read. A professor handed it to me just before the holiday break, and I continue to thank her to this day. When you feel like writers just aren't "putting it out" like they used to, this book is there to restore your belief in the realism and care that should go into writing a novel.

I have just finished this book and all I can say is, it is wonderful! I highly recommend this book. In the past month I have read "The Time Travelers Wife", "The Hobbit", "The March", and now "Kindred", of all of these I have to say this was my favorite! I literally couldn't put this book down.

When I saw this was "Science Fiction" I wasn't thrilled, but I was hooked from the first chapter!!! I couldn't put it down, and when I did set it aside to tend to the kids I could't stop thinking about it. This is a book that you never forget. I read it for a college course last semester and I couldn't wait to get to class to talk about it. I can still picture the incidents Butler vividly illustrated.

Wow. This is one of the top time-travel stories I've read. Through the eyes of Dana we learn about the horrors of slavery. Through her skin we learn of the pain of being black in the early 19th century Maryland. Through the words of her husband, we learn of the temptation for a white man to slip into that life. Through the actions of a slave-owner, and not a 'bad' slave-owner we learn of the inhumanity of humans.