A New York Times Notable Book: In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future. “A stunner.” —Flea, musician and actor, TheWall Street Journal Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a … defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others.
When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Octavia E. Butler including rare images from the author’s estate.
more
Although Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower takes place in 2025, she wrote it in 1998. The dystopian world she builds could almost have come out of today’s times with its references to conflicts including drugs, economics, racism, politics, religion, breakdown of society, social issues, etc. Her main character, Lauren Olamina, builds possible, …
I read this book right before COVID put us all on house arrest. It seemed to be an ominous sign of our future, though I hope it never gets that bad. I really enjoyed the spiritual insight of this book, though I didn’t agree with some of it, I could see the reason in most of it.
More prescient every day.
The dystopian epic that has inspired so many others becomes more frightening with age. An amazing, yet terrifying read.
This is scary because it takes place in the near future and while it was written in the nineties, it seems to be mirroring what we may be looking forward to soon!
The Parable of the Sower is the most recent book read in my local (virtual) Quarantine Book Club. The book takes us on a young lady’s journey and coming of age in a dystopian world. How she survives is what draws you into her world. Though overly descriptive in some parts, the story is engaging and compelling. There are many similarities to what …
Octavia Butler’s science fiction feels more important every day that passes. These books are important to black literature and science fiction literature.
I have read this book several times and each time I pick it up, I find it difficult to put down. It’s one of my absolute favorite books to read.
Octavia Butler is one of the sf greats. In this duololgy (along with PARABLE OF THE TALENTS) she foresaw a future that, unfortunately, looks a lot like our world right now. Read this book. Get your friends to read this book. And then do what you can to make sure that Butler’s vision does not come to pass.
A very prescient vision of a future US – which could be taking place now — and an interesting story.
AMAZING! Original.
This story is so current that it’s scary. Octavia had such a clear view of where the world was going. A lot of what she presents as dystopia is already happening. Observant, chilling, and so, so important!
The title pulled at my attention. The situation was sad. It’s hard to accept that civilization could degrade so quickly. Some of the situations were the stuff of nightmares. One mistake could destroy them all. I finished the book, but the story was not finished.
Wonderful post-apocalyptic tale. One young woman gives many hope for a better future. Though she is anti-religion or agnostic she may unknowingly be in the process of beginning a new religion.
This is a great book, as are all of Octavia E. Butler’s books.
I discovered Ms. Butler’s writings over the past 2 years. This book, plus the sequels paint a very vivid picture of a post-apocalyptic near future. The character development is done very well, and the story has a creative twist on the usual stories from this genre.
This is the best apocalyptic fiction I’ve had the pleasure to read. The darkness of the world is countered by the wisdom of the main character and her profound insight into psychology, human nature, and the the universe at large.
A teenage girl with a vision of a better world builds an ad hoc family in the midst of the apocalypse that we are hurtling toward now.
Believable and frightening look at a (barely) future U.S. You can imagine the one now leading to the one Butler describes so powerfully. Easy to read. Hard to put down.
Different perspective, written by a woman of color, instead of a white guy. Brings something new to the table