It's been seven years since the publication of Butler's last book, but I guess it was worth the wait. Fledgling is Butler's take on vampires, which could be a very tired subject, though it's been resurrected by other authors as well, as in Robin McKinley's Sunshine.

It'd be hard to talk about too many plot points without spoiling the book, as the story starts with the main character having completely lost her memory, and much of the plot involves her discovering who and what she is. Of course, being a Butler novel, it includes political and sociological elements, and in fact I could easily see another novel exploring more of the ways in which the vampire society functions.

Another element that seems common to many of her novels is weird, disturbing sex, and this one is no exception, but fortunately it's not so much as too really freak me out (as opposed to some of her previous work, which made me really squirm).

I'd say that the Parable books remain her best works, but Fledgling is still a great book. I'm hopeful that she'll write another one before 2012.