Parable of the Talents
Books | Fiction / Science Fiction / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic
4.1
(644)
Octavia E. Butler
Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel: The powerful and compelling sequel to the dystopian classic Parable of the Sower Lauren Olamina was only eighteen when her family was killed, and anarchy encroached on her Southern California home. She fled the war zone for the hope of quiet and safety in the north. There she founded Acorn, a peaceful community based on a religion of her creation, called Earthseed, whose central tenet is that God is change. Five years later, Lauren has married a doctor and given birth to a daughter. Acorn is beginning to thrive. But outside the tranquil group’s walls, America is changing for the worse. Presidential candidate Andrew Steele Jarret wins national fame by preaching a return to the values of the American golden age. To his marauding followers, who are identified by their crosses and black robes, this is a call to arms to end religious tolerance and racial equality—a brutal doctrine they enforce by machine gun. And as this band of violent extremists sets its deadly sights on Earthseed, Acorn is plunged into a harrowing fight for its very survival. Taking its place alongside Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Butler’s eerily prophetic novel offers a terrifying vision of our potential future, but also one of hope. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Octavia E. Butler including rare images from the author’s estate.
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More Details:
Author
Octavia E. Butler
Pages
365
Publisher
Open Road Media
Published Date
2012-07-24
ISBN
1453263624 9781453263624
Community ReviewsSee all
"⭐️⭐️⭐️.5... This book just like the first one felt like the current times we are living in now. I enjoyed the first book more. This one lost me a few times and dragged a little. Still a great sifi book. A must read for sure. "
Lucy
"Octavia Butler does it again. This book broke me and put me back together in so many ways. What a poignant book, I have no words. Make sure if you do read this, you take breaks, it’s an emotional read. 100/10. Would highly recommend. "
Bea
"I was merely "whelmed" by [b:Parable of the Sower|52397|Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)|Octavia E. Butler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442169447l/52397._SY75_.jpg|59258], yet the sequel grew on me. After escaping the destruction of her Los Angeles home and the murders of her family, 18 year old Olamina establishes Acorn, a collaborative community of refugees to whom she has imparted her vision of Earthseed, a human destiny rooted in the stars. "God is change" is her mantra, and change does indeed come, in the form of roving gangs of extremist vigilantes, inspired by Jarrett, a terrifying political ideologue. Jarrett's plans for a fascist "Christian America" and his rallying cry to "Make America Great Again" will send cold shivers down the backs of Trump era readers.<br/><br/>While I enjoyed the story and became attached to many of the characters, the sharp detour it takes two thirds of the way through lost me, and I found myself far less engaged and simply waiting for it to end. Family members appear, disappear and re-appear so frequently that poignancy soon yields to irritation. <br/><br/>Butler was decades ahead of her time, predicting tech innovations like the internet; and the dangers religious fundamentalism, societal inequality and appeals to "stability" can pose to democracy. I don't find Olamina's Earthseed vision particularly compelling (or even interesting) yet the idea of this young Black woman creating and leading a powerful social/religious movement remains an inspiration."
Lesley Williams
"It's really too bad she died before she wrote the third and final book in the series because these two books (Sower was the first) were too ******* good. Amazing, now I have check our kindred (haven't watched the show; my friend lent me both parable of the Sower and talents and ****, man, what a ****** ride!"
John Cards
""God is Change" still sticks with me, even years after I've read it."
Tru Tru
"I'd give it one star because I hated it, but it gets two for creativity. Kudos to Butler for writing about how horrible humanity is, but it was so incredibly depressing, all the characters are assholes, and Butler is not a great writer. Did she even have an editor? There's so much unnecessary stuff that should have been taken out. I mostly have intentionally forgotten it, but there is one lengthy paragraph about a tree being on the other side of the house that stood out. Also, so much exposition and repetition of stuff from the first book (and this book). Pretty sure I'll never read Butler again.<br/><br/>Edit: Lauren is actually not an asshole. She's the one good main character in the story. Her ideas are solid, if presented too much like a cult."
Sarah Davis
"i’m so grateful for Octavia Butler for opening my eyes, mind and heart. a giant "
Isis