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drbex's profile picture

drbex's review

4.5
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A little too close to home at points. Especially considering it's set in 2024-2027!

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whatthemel1's review

4.0
challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

“I think necessity drew me to the series” - John Jennings (265). Great adaptation of a brilliant author’s work. It has been interesting to reflect on graphic novels and the “narrative power of comics” (267) — the genre’s conventions that Duffy and Jennings used to bring Butler’s story to life in a new way. I do feel the graphic novel was not able to fully capture elements of Butler’s original work, but that would have been an impossibility. As an educator using this graphic novel in an undergraduate seminar, I am especially appreciative of the wonderful teaching resources at the conclusion of the book. I eagerly await reading the authors’ Parable of the Talents adaptation, to be released in April 2025.

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eugenegm's profile picture

eugenegm's review

5.0
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

 The Parable of the sower has become even more prophetic as time has moved on. Our world is more like Butler's world than ever before, and if we don't act now to make the changes we need to, we can all look forward to a world that is nothing but rape, torture, and endless enslavement to the rich. 

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zantoryu's profile picture

zantoryu's review

4.75
dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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jjvaldezbooks's profile picture

jjvaldezbooks's review

4.0
challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

slightly less my style of book than kindred. i feel like if I had more biblical knowledge I might have vibed with it more but I'm a long-lapsed Catholic 

devastating story of a young woman trying to survive the end of capitalism/her world. it's not quite hopeful, but god does it make you grit your teeth and want to do something about this shit

intrigued by the real world study of Earthseed as a religion that I've seen online, excited to go back and explore that

(I didn't like the art again. sorry.)

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la_reads_audiobooks's profile picture

la_reads_audiobooks's review

4.25
adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This is my third reading of "Parable of the Sower", but my first in this form. I think this adaptation is true to the original, and the art conveys the dystopian and intense mood of the story. 

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mahela's profile picture

mahela's review

4.0
adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I’m a huge fan of Octavia Butler’s science fiction, and I already read the novel that this comic is based on. It is interesting to see the comic version, but overall I definitely prefer the novel!

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librarymouse's profile picture

librarymouse's review

3.75
dark reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

There were some parts of this book I really liked and others I really didn't. The 39 year age gap between Lauren and her love interest who she first recognizes through associating him with her father is one of the major dislikes. I like both characters, but the situation is uncomfortable, especially when he is made out as a sympathetic, likable character. I'd had this book and the novel it was adapted from on my to read list for a while, and I'm glad I got around to reading this for school. It's really neat to see the roots of the literary solarpunk movement as it's rooted in afro futurism and the questioning of the continuing hegemony of colonial structures that are still being offered as solutions to the climate crisis today. It is weird to be reading this in 2024, though.

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I haven’t read Parable of the Sower, but I enjoyed this graphic novel adaptation. While keeping track of the characters was difficult at first, they were given page presence in a way that got easier to discern as I read more. Also, the accuracy of this “dystopian” story to reality is eerie. Personally, I’m always turned off by particularly religious narratives or talk about God, but from a philosophical perspective, the ideas Lauren presents are very compelling. Visually, I’m not a fan of how Lauren’s verses were presented among the illustrations.

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