A multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner’s powerful saga of survival and destiny in a near-future dystopian America. One of the world’s most respected authors of science fiction imagines an apocalyptic near-future Earth where a remarkable young woman discovers that her destiny calls her to try and change the world around her. Octavia E. Butler’s brilliant two-volume Earthseed saga offers a … Earthseed saga offers a startling vision of an all-too-possible tomorrow, in which walls offer no protection from a civilization gone mad.
Parable of the Sower: In the aftermath of worldwide ecological and economic apocalypse, minister’s daughter Lauren Oya Olamina escapes the slaughter that claims the lives of her family and nearly every other member of their gated California community. Heading north with two young companions through an American wasteland, the courageous young woman faces dangers at every turn while spreading the word of a remarkable new religion that embraces survival and change.
Parable of the Talents: Called to the new, hard truth of Earthseed, the small community of the dispossessed that now surrounds Lauren Olamina looks to her–their leader–for guidance. But when the evil that has grown out of the ashes of human society destroys all she has built, the prophet is forced to choose between preserving her faith or her family.
The Earthseed novels cement Butler’s reputation as “one of the finest voices in fiction–period” (TheWashington Post Book World). Stunningly prescient and breathtakingly relevant to our times, this dark vision of a future America is a masterwork of powerful speculation that ushers us into a broken, dangerously divided world of bigotry, social inequality, mob violence, and ultimately hope.
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All her writings are unique and compelling
Love this author!
Amazing that Octavia Butler imagined this world so long ago. See a lot of it in reality today. Very original storyline and easy to identify with the characters.
I loved the premise of this book and the writing. I could not wait to get back to reading it each day! It gave me much to consider.
Classic Butler – as I’ve come to recognise her style. Message-laden but still enjoyable and a deceptively simple style. From what I’ve read of her works, Butler is a reliable ‘soft’ SF writer dealing more with social and cultural commentary, typically in dystopian situations, rather than in ‘hard’ SF. And her commentary is always unflinching in dealing with racist and sexist issues. Very readable. In this one, Butler completes the story of the woman who founded the movement that propelled humanity to the stars via a religious, religion-denying movement. She became larger than life, messianic, to her followers, yet lost her own intimate relationships with her family. A familiar story in real life, but Butler tells it well and sympathetically and the reader can identify with all sides of the tale – no easy, clearcut answers in dealing with these situations and an insight into what makes a leader tick.
Earthseed is a marvellously unusual and strange story. A foreign race takes over other planets – in a nonviolent, peaceful manner – for the improvement of the planet’s society, such as the elimination of disease, violence, anger, ignorance, strife, etc. The species, which does so, is an odd-looking bunch, at least from our earth-bound perspective. And they have come to earth; we are being improved upon and we don’t particularly like it.
Olivia Butler, in subtle yet inspired science fiction, gives us the insider and outsider view of the colonized and the colonizer. She does this better than other SF writer that I am familiar with.
My one minor complaint is that as a trilogy, I would become attached to certain characters from Vol 1, only to find the second volume told the stories a few generations into the future with entirely new characters, and again the same was true in the transition from volume 2 to 3. In other words, she made her characters so compelling that I was disappointed when they did not continue into the next book.
Nobody writes like Octavia Butler. Read everthing she has written. What an awesome imagination. I love her stories. I think about the themes and ideas her stories communicate long after I have finished one of her books. Nobody writes like Octavia Butler…
This book was a complete unknown to me when I started reading but the author was not. Dystopian, but in a way that feels too close to possible in the current climate. Well written and fascinating, it pulls no punches but ends on a hopeful note.
Award winning novelist paints a dark, detailed and scary image– but also inspiring picture of a future USA that is not what we have now. She foreshadows of impacts of climate change, digital distractions of virtual reality and games, social media influence, inequalities and gated communities — and even our #45 president and world events. A classic in sci-fi and dystopian literature.
Solid and enjoyable psychological and social science fiction. Octavia Butler wrote well, intelligently, and created original unique and lovable characters.
I haven’t read a dystopian story with such a positive way out before. It was good writing in every way.
A great book: great writing, inspirational characters. once you start, you can not stop reading.
Octavia E. Butler is one of the finest authors I have ever read; her books are truly treasures.
Marvelous writing. Read it a long time ago. Among the classics of modern speculative literature.
This book gave me lots to think about. It contrasted radical church extremists with what many would consider a cult. It demonstrated what can develop if a goal is pursued. It illustrated the importance of being adaptable and accepting change. I very much enjoyed it and did have trouble putting it down.
If you’ve never read Octavia Butler, do yourself a favor and start now.
Well-written and intriguing look at what it means to be human.
It’s a classic for a reason. Interesting story, enjoyable storytelling, fascinating society. It definitely influenced my thinking for the better about how I choose to live in the world.