Reviews

La parábola del sembrador by Octavia E. Butler

murdalannd's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

leenaduwaik's review against another edition

Post apocalyptic world, dismal levels of protection, education, and safety. Death and destruction proceeds a young woman’s attempt to travel to safer lands.

Enjoyable backdrop. The perspective from a lady writing, founding, and preaching a self-discovered religion is weird. The religion has aspects of other religions with a mantra, God is Change, and whose goal for all of Humanity is interstellar travel.

stephe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 I’ve heard people call Parable of the Sower “prophetic.” By that they usually mean that Octavia Butler predicted a future of climate change disaster, a MAGA president, the revival of company towns, and severe social inequities. But I think that the term is more applicable in the sense of saying something incisive about the present in which it is said. The seeds of 2024 were sown long before the 1990s (when this book was published)—they had already grown and been producing bad fruit for a long time by then. Butler was just clearsighted about it in a way shocks anyone who comes to speculative fiction looking for escape. 

 

All the meta stuff aside, the book itself is great. Butler is a solid prose writer, but where she really shines, in my opinion, is her ability to structure and pace a story so well that it’s easy to lose track of time reading. That’s more of a rarity for me these days (I too often have my phone at my side, attuned to every buzz while I read), but it’s a true pleasure when it happens. The characters are all interesting, the world-building refreshingly simple (not onerous or obnoxious like so much SF), and the stakes are personalized and meaningful. 

 

It also seems to stand on its own fine. I haven’t read the sequel yet, and I know Butler intended to make it a trilogy, but this one works fully on its own. 

kennedien's review against another edition

4.0

Really good! 3.75 really, love the setting. I think I loved the setting and the situation more than the characters but the characters are great too. I do feel like the empathy thing could have been omitted.

thejadedhippy's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 stars for me. It was almost too much, too dark, too real for my sensitive ass but right when I thought I might have to give up the story shifted and it was easier. This is a heavy book, but an important one, all the more so now.

coppenh23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75

averylwc's review against another edition

Very good and I understand it’s importance, just not in the headspace to read this right now. Might never be

strange_abalone's review against another edition

I’m just not in the headspace to delve into a dark book where the emphasis is on religion. Will try again!

hildasmood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Lives up to all the hype! Absolutely adored this read. I’ve never resonated with a character as much as I resonate with Lauren Olamina.

mateyy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5