The story takes a look at a group of humans forced to leave Earth for reasons that are never made clear. They are taken in by an alien race that keeps them in a ‘Preserve’ then uses them, primarily the males, to incubate their young in a process very similar to pregnancy and childbirth. The central character in this story is Gan, a young man coming of age who has been promised to the alien ‘protector’ of his family. The story focuses on several things simultaneously.
On one hand, it is the author’s pregnant man’ story about a man choosing to carry children out of love in an unequal relationship. Gan chooses, in the end, to not kill himself or his protector but instead to allow her to, in an almost sexual scene, implant her eggs in him. He does partly to protect his family and partly because he can’t stand the thought of her being that intimate with someone else.
On the other hand, it is a story about power dynamics between two different races where one has the power to dictate the terms under which the other shall live. The humans live a life slightly better than that of livestock where they are denied access to weapons and anything else the aliens feel they shouldn’t have, can’t leave their ‘Preserve’ and have to give up their children to act as incubators for alien children. In the end it is a truly disturbing story. But overall, Bloodchild is a fantastic reading experience.
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