As promised, today’s #spellbooksaturday feature highlights two absolutely incredible novels:
Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler 1
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
In the first novel, we are introduced to Lauren Olamina and witness the early development of her religion, Earthseed.
When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others’ emotions. Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of human destiny.
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While Parable of the Sower could function as a stand-alone novel, the second Earthseed novel adds greater depth and nuance to the series.
In 2032, Lauren Olamina has survived the destruction of her home and family, and realized her vision of a peaceful community in northern California based on her newly founded faith, Earthseed. The fledgling community provides refuge for outcasts facing persecution after the election of an ultra-conservative president who vows to “make America great again.” In an increasingly divided and dangerous nation, Lauren’s subversive colony— a minority religious faction led by a young black woman— becomes a target for President Jarret’s reign of terror and oppression. Years later, Asha Vere reads the journals of a mother she never knew, Lauren Olamina. As she searches for answers about her own past, she also struggles to reconcile with the legacy of a mother caught between her duty to her chosen family and her calling to lead humankind into a better future.
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I was blown away by Kindred, and after hearing repeated references to Parable of the Sower throughout the wildfires in southern California this winter, I was eager to read more of Octavia Butler’s work. As in the former, Butler’s writing is lean but evocative, and her world-building is methodical. However, in her Earthseed novels, Butler’s style is given more space to develop, and to great effect. I devoured them both, beginning Talents immediately upon finishing Sower, and I have hardly stopped thinking about them since. The parallels to current events are chilling, and more than once I found myself questioning if Butler was an oracle. (Or perhaps tr*mp may have looked to the fictional President Jarret for inspiration? This feels unlikely not because he possesses any moral compass to deter him, but simply because he seems to be functionally illiterate.)
Have you read Butler’s Earthseed novels? What were your thoughts? Share in the comments!
- Content warnings for both novels: sexual assault, infanticide, abuse & violence, enslavement, etc. ↩︎
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