Parable of the Sower: 1 Paperback – 30 April 2019

Written back in the 90’s but set in the time we are living in now; this book is a sad and thought-provoking dystopian portrait of environmental and societal breakdown where many people today already are and where many more are headed. It is a beautifully written book. Totally absorbing. A little quirky in terms of some of Lauren’s ideas and philosophies but nevertheless a haunting and powerful read.

I came to this having read Kindred by the same author. That was a book grounded in slavery but with a time travel story, which I found a bit bolted on. Having said that, I did really enjoy it, which led me picking this up.Like Kindred this has a main story type, that of being a dystopia of sorts. Again, Butler uses a separate device to attempt to give the book some form of originality or greater substance; namely a religion called earthsea.Again, I found this plot device bolted on, and for me didn't really offer anything to the book, making this not particularly different to other books in the genre.However, I found this a really good read despite these issues. It has great characters, cracks along at a great pace and is told in a way that really resonates with me and the ideas in the story and the peril it exudes really hit home.Overall, this was another book by the author and I will be reading more, especially the next book in the series.

I am lost for words about this book.The fact it was written in the 90s , set here and now in 2024 to 2027 - the foresight is astounding.Take everything that's wrong in the world and times it by 10 and this is what you have. Although there are many real world issues if you examine it deeply enough . Such as drug addiction, homelessness, modern day slavery, having to pay for basic resources, economic and climate collapse, child abuse ,,food shortage. The list goes on. It is an extremely bleak, hard hitting story .Lauren is the 18 year old narrator, who is wise beyond her years. She is a balance between cold, harsh, doing what needs to be done and kind, compassionate when needed and has a vision for a better world. Her hyperempathy is such an unusual condition and it makes it seem empathy is a negative in this situation.There is a huge age gap romance , that made me super uncomfortable and gave me the ick. Badly.It has left me extremely thoughtful about whether or not we are already living this type of dystopian existence ? Please check triggers as mentioned above.Also R@pe ( graphic) , Canaballism , child abuse/ neglect and lots of graphic gore .

Post-apocalyptic literary scenarios have been a dime a dozen since well before Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and these days it takes something quite remarkable - like Cormack McCarthy's sublime The Road - to raise even a flicker of interest in this genre from all but the dullest sci-fi fanboy. Octavia Butler's essay on the same theme is now getting on for 20 years old, and stands up well - indeed, it so closely anticipates McCarthy's novel that you have to wonder whether he was aware of it. That is not to suggest plagiarism, however, for the similarities are general indeed: an un-described catastrophe has caused the total breakdown of society and forced a family unit on the road, where they fend for themselves against allcomers in vain hope of a promised land.While Butler employs a couple of nice devices - the P.K.Dick-eque hyperempathy condition is a neat literary device - much better in fact than the hokey "Earthseed" concept which gets unwarranted prominence in the story - but Butler doesn't do nearly enough with it to make it worthwhile. In other aspects, the novel is a little flat. There's not a much in the way of a plot arc - it's more linear: things sort of episodically muddle along to a fairly uninvolving conclusion - and nor do the characters get well fleshed out or developed. Like her protagonist Lauren, Butler throws quite a lot of "seed" about which then appears to fall on stony ground: Lauren's father disappears, presumed dead but unresolved - to no effect. Likewise, Lauren's original sweetheart is introduced, developed, and disposed with for no discernible plot-functional reason.My hunch is that Butler was more interested in developing a quasi-religion than writing a science fiction novel, yet 20 years later, the post-apocalyptic road story is the only part that really holds up. But, all the same, it pales in comparison with Cormack McCarthy's bleaker, more eloquent visualisation, and ultimately I couldn't recommend this novel over, or even really as a complement to, The Road.Olly Buxton

this book was written in the early 80's in the form of a diary. it is a very easy read, but of a harrowing vision of the future where clean drinking water has a value that can lead to murder in order to get it. It is a view of a future that has climate change at its centre and corruption at its core. it is a struggle for survival within a world that has become savage, a world where survival means having a gun and those without are powerless to those who have power. it is a corrupt world that is described. the second book in this series (written in the early 90's) has a US politician who seeks election to 'Make America Great Again'...

Quite an interesting dystopia. I have found Lauren's character interesting. She is trying to make sense of the world she is living in and hopes for a better world. She desperately wants to connect and belong to a community when society is at its worst.