Parable of the Sower

Pop Tart reviewed Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)

Did Octavia have a time machine?

5 stars

I can see how the author was able to take what was happening in America (esp. toward the black community) in the early 1990s and extrapolating it out into the near future. But damn, she really nailed it.

The story was thrilling and poses a powerful question - in a world where empathy deteriorates day by day, what is your response? How do we protect our sense of humanity when everyone is out for themselves?

alsothings reviewed Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)

How has it taken me so long to read this

5 stars

Excellent book, a classic really, and very relevant to the times we find ourselves in.

bgainor reviewed Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)

A hard read in 2025

5 stars

It was somewhat surreal to read a science fiction book set in the "future", and see a journal entry dated with today's date. The world of Parable of the Sower is in many ways worse than our current world, but there are also a lot of uncomfortable similarities. Ultimately, the book ends with a hopeful tone, but it makes it clear that a lot of hard work is required to get to the hopeful place.

swannodette reviewed Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)

Incredible

5 stars

So good, been meaning to read it for years, not sure why I waited so long.

Court reviewed Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)

Hard read

3 stars

Riveting and challenging. Possibly informative, but I didn't get the "aha" moments I was looking for. It was terribly sad and sometimes disgusting. I understand what she's going for, but the ending didn't work for me to make it worth it. I didn't enjoy it enough to go on to the sequel.

brenticus reviewed Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)

None

4 stars

This is a tricky one. On the one hand, it's eerily prescient. Sure, the climate and gang problems remain further south from California for the most part, and labour protections haven't rolled so far back that there are literal slaves, and the police usually don't outright rob people for reporting a crime.

But it's all a little familiar, isn't it?

There are some weird details. Pyro, as a drug, makes no sense. Olamina's hyperempathy rarely matters much, and she's usually able to deal with it well enough. Her daddy issues are, well, let's call it unresolved. And the whole thing seems to just sort of end a tad early and easily.

But it's still a brilliantly written dystopia, or apocalyptic story, or whatever it's best categorized as. It speaks to all sorts of dangers our world is facing, and how many of our plans to address them are insufficient or …

This is a tricky one. On the one hand, it's eerily prescient. Sure, the climate and gang problems remain further south from California for the most part, and labour protections haven't rolled so far back that there are literal slaves, and the police usually don't outright rob people for reporting a crime.

But it's all a little familiar, isn't it?

There are some weird details. Pyro, as a drug, makes no sense. Olamina's hyperempathy rarely matters much, and she's usually able to deal with it well enough. Her daddy issues are, well, let's call it unresolved. And the whole thing seems to just sort of end a tad early and easily.

But it's still a brilliantly written dystopia, or apocalyptic story, or whatever it's best categorized as. It speaks to all sorts of dangers our world is facing, and how many of our plans to address them are insufficient or will outright make things worse.

And it was written in the 90's, which just sort of adds to the uncomfortable feeling that we're not avoiding this book as well as we'd like.

Ikwezi reviewed Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)

Review of 'Parable of the Sower' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Really, really bothered by this near future dystopia, and that was even before the appearance of a presidential candidate promising to make America great again