Parable of the Talents

a novel

by Octavia E. Butler

448 pages

English language

Published Nov. 5, 2001 by Warner Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-446-61038-4
OCLC Number:: 39478160

(91 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

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.

philipp reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

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

3 stars

good book, although I found the many bible and religious references kind of tiring...

ManyRoads reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

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

5 stars

A tour de force.... once again Octavia Butler's ability to read and predict details of the future are amazing. Her view of today's world politics from her writing perspective in the late 1990s astonishes me. As always, her characters and their lives are real, uncertain, painful, and touching.

Laura Lemay reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

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

3 stars

I loved Parable of the Sower, as grim as it was, and found Butler's prediction of a society in the middle of collapsing very disturbing. "Talents" has some very interesting time and point of view shifts, but is not as compelling as "Sower." It is more uneven: still very grim, much more violent, and ..kind of dull?

Canalien reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

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

3 stars

Octavia Butler is a master of writing, but it was still very hard for me to get through this book. Such a profoundly sad story.

loppear reviewed Parable of the talents by Octavia E. Butler

Review of 'Parable of the talents' on Goodreads

4 stars

Depressing, painful, but still carrying hope. "It Can't Happen Here" but written by a black woman all too familiar with American tyranny.

Jamie reviewed Parable of the talents by Octavia E. Butler

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

4 stars

Nothing on the cover led me to understand this was a sequel to another book, so I was a good chunk into the book before I entered it on this site. It doesn't seem to be lacking a predecessor - stands on its own alright. And it's a fine book as it is.

I'm guessing it works for me better now that I see parallels of authoritarianism and bigotry shaking up our country. So if you're wondering if Donald Trump has accomplished anything yet, he's made an old Octavia Butler book way more relevant that it ought to be.

Steen Christiansen reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

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

4 stars

While it starts of slower, it ends up equally as brutal as the first. Devastating.

Geekess reviewed Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

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

3 stars

Just when I thought Butler's works were all very repetative in story, I found this little gem of a series. Frankly, reading this during the US 2016 Election with a certain crazy xenophobic idiot as a candidate (and wínning) makes the reading of this book extra terrifying. To be honest, I'm having nightmares about this series, days after reading them.
The Parable of the Sower was quite good, but The Parable of the Talents is better.
I like that the viewpoints span different timeperiods and aren't parallel, as you would expect. I also like that there is no Happily Ever After, not in the way you would expect.
I love how the ending is done, almost anti-climactic, with grace and peace and elegance.
I like this book, even though it is no literary masterpiece, technically speaking. It is pure storytelling. And that makes it terrifyingly good in these uncertain times.