Parable of the Talents

by Octavia E. Butler

paperback, 400 pages

Published Aug. 20, 2019 by Headline.

ISBN:: 978-1-4722-6365-0

(89 reviews)

Environmental devastation and economic chaos have turned America into a land of depravity. Taking advantage of the situation, a zealous bigot wins his way into the White House. Lauren Olamina leads a new faith group directly opposed to the new government. This is the story of the group's struggle to preserve its vision.

As the government turns a blind eye to the violent bigots who consider a black female leader a threat, Lauren Olamina must either sacrifice her child and her followers or forsake her religion. The plot contains profanity, sexual situations and violence,

15 editions

Jenny Jaybles reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

Somehow Hopeful with all it's darkness

5 stars

I was expecting to be way more triggered and upset by this book than I was but probably because all the trigger warnings about the book had adequately prepared me to emotionally handle it. It's a great book and I am a little sad she did not get to write the third one to complete the series but I am satisfied with the ending. The two books are really interesting, beautiful and contemplative. It is also really freaky the predictions she made about what she called Christan America but what has become the Far Right in our time. It is so frightening. She saw that shit for what it was and it is scary as hell. But she ends the book with so much hope and that is beautiful.

Geoff reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

Review of 'Parable of the Talents' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

It cuts between perspectives and timelines, sometimes from the protagonist of the first novel, and sometimes from her adult daughter many years later. This is a clever trick for an epistolary novel. The struggles of the mother carry more weight as we have information she does not, information about her own future.

Having finished the pair, it is obvious to me why these stories are on so many favorites lists. They are deeply though-provoking, deeply compassionate, and ultimately deeply hopeful. I really needed some of that right now.

I immediately followed The Parable of the Sower with this, its sequel and conclusion. This book is more cynical than Sower, perhaps in answer to criticism, or perhaps because it comes from the mind of an older author.

It cuts between perspectives and timelines, sometimes from the protagonist of the first novel, and sometimes from her adult daughter many years later. This is a clever trick for an epistolary novel. The struggles of the mother carry more weight as we have information she does not, information about her own future.

Having finished the pair, it is obvious to me why these stories are on so many favorites lists. They are deeply though-provoking, deeply compassionate, and ultimately deeply hopeful. I really needed some of that right now.

reading crustacean reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #2)

a book I won't forget very soon

4 stars

the writing is fantastic. also there is more... story than in parable of the sower, definitely more things happening and also more hope. somebody (I forgot the source) wrote about this "parable of the sower is about problems, while parable of the talents is about solutions" and yeah, this seems true. it is also still about horrible, horrible problems. some of these chapters were really hard to get through.

also everything seems so realistic - the characters and the choices they have to face, but also the USA/world politics.

the earthseed verses feel so much on point by now. they're definitely the thing I will remember most. as religions go, it's a good one.

EDIT: I wanted to add, if you want to read this book, check out the Octavia's Parables podcast by adrienne maree brown and Toshi Reagon. It is worth it for the songs from the opera "parable …

also everything seems so realistic - the characters and the choices they have to face, but also the USA/world politics.

the earthseed verses feel so much on point by now. they're definitely the thing I will remember most. as religions go, it's a good one.

EDIT: I wanted to add, if you want to read this book, check out the Octavia's Parables podcast by adrienne maree brown and Toshi Reagon. It is worth it for the songs from the opera "parable of the sower" alone!

Julien Martlet reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

Review of 'Parable of the Talents' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

3,75

Anuradha Reddy reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #2)

Fantastic read and too real!

5 stars

I loved the sequel as much as the first book. It's simultaneously tragic and utopian; I don't know how Butler (and other black women authors) does it!

outofrange reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed #2)

Feels like a history of a parallel universe

5 stars

Octavia Butler wrote with such iron-hard conviction and uncompromising vision, it's humbling and gripping to read. Her sense of human behavior on the individual and global scale is uncanny. I feel certain I've only gleaned a small portion of what her work has to offer.

capypokoymal reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed #2)

scientology origin story lol

3 stars

Content warning spoiler

i know im projecting, but i kept hoping that butler's sequels would have been different. instead, like in xenogenesis and many other scifi and fantasy sagas, the defeating of one enemy/the end of one conflict just meant the rising of a new one. and so the stories are always about death and rebirth and never about whatever comes after birth.

moreover, having earthseed being a religion drawn away even more of what could be the tiniest possibility of having a community-building/community-driven story. in fact, eventually, it was just about the rising of scientology. lol. for real.

on a personal note, i really dislikes asha vere. she got the chillest life ever compared to her moms and still was unable to show a hint of empathy towards her. olamina could have been as particular as you want, but giving her less than nothing while still grasping onto your uncle priest who abducted you was kind of grim.

finally, she was such a fucking good writer. like, literally, it's so hard to stop once you start reading anything of her. i wish she's happy and doing well, wherever she is. may her rest in power.

Martinza reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

Review of 'Parable of the Talents' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Follows a small community and mainly their leader how they try to survive and re-establish under religious oppression. Partly pretty brutal, but it shows how a kinder way tries to persist . I cried sometimes.

Kind of a How to establish an opposing cult under christian nationalism

Ginny Wood reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #2)

Review of 'Parable of the Talents' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Powerful

Powerful, and heartbreaking.

Also amazingly prescient. Butler died 10 years before Trump was elected but here he is in all his Christo-fascist glory.

Leaving_Marx@wyrmsign.org reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

Review of 'Parable of the talents' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Quick review. Really loved the first book and was happy to reconnect with the characters and hear what happens to them but this felt like it was enjoyable for wrapping up a story but didn't hit the same as the first book. I think sowers stands out as the strongest book in the series.

lijadora reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

Review of 'Parable of the talents' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

See review of part 1 (parable of the sower).

Jonathan Zacsh reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #2)

Review of 'Parable of the Talents' on 'GoodReads'

5 stars

This series is amazing. I wish I could read what Butler would've produced for Parable of the Trickster

Trey Hunner reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

Review of 'Parable of the talents' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

A dystopian future (2030's) plagued by a pandemic with a xenophobic president running on the slogan "make America great again", and the president's Christian extremist supporters aren't explicitly supported or admonished by then president. Slightly familiar.

I liked the different perspectives in this one. Unlike the first book, the variety of narrators in this sequel allowed the author to point out flaws (and perceived flaws) in the protagonist.

Author & Reader reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

Review of 'Parable of the Talents' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

While reading this it felt like a 4-star "really like it" book but considering I finished this book in 3 days I should just admit that "it was amazing" and give it the 5-stars it deserves. That 4-star feeling was my fault anyway.

One things that stood out to me in this second book of the series is just how fallible the protagonist, Olamina, is. She is incredibly strong, loving, smart, and thoughtful, but at times full of herself and doesn't shy away from manipulating people for her causes. Her obsessions brought both safety and harm to those around her. This all made for a very rich character that I loved.

Another thing I really enjoyed was just how mundane but powerful the sci-fi tech was and how the "super power" was depicted and used to explore humanity and its cruelties and strengths. I liked that the tech was not a huge part of the story but you could feel the insidious outcomes while still exploring tech as a force of change and sometimes even good.

I probably should have made this the last book I read in 2020 instead of the first in 2021, but you know this year is going to suck too, right? Butler's well known prescience tells us that the 2020s are going be really really hard. Just because Andrew Jarrett was voted out of the White house doesn't mean we won't meet in 2027 a few miles north of the state parks "filled with huge redwood trees and hoards of squatters" as we make our way to the great state of Alaska.