This series is based on the highly acclaimed 1979 novel of the same name, by Octavia E. Butler. It's usually classified as science fiction, but in a 1991 interview with Randall Kenan in the journal Callaloo, Butler said, "Kindred is fantasy. I mean literally, it is fantasy. There's no science in Kindred. I mean, if I was told that something was science fiction I would expect to find something dealing with science in it. For instance, Wild Seed [a later novel] is more science fiction than most people realize. The main character is dealing with medical science, but she just doesn't know how to talk about it. With Kindred there's absolutely no science involved. Not even the time travel. I don't use a time machine or anything like that. Time travel is just a device for getting the character back to confront where she came from."