Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler will make you think about the undercurrents within society that drive us apart, the good and the bad sides of religion, and how much it would suck if society really did collapse.
Published in 1993
Brent: 4 stars. A realistic dystopian book chronicling what it would feel like if society was coming off the rails, told with wonderful characters and from the eyes of a very likable main character.
Cody: 4 stars. A compelling near-future drama that tells a realistic “post-apocalyptic” type story, one where climate change and economic unrest do not affect socio-economic classes equally.
Here's the setup:
It’s the year 2025, and The United States is descending into anarchy in the face of climate change and other disasters. We see the world through the diary entries of Lauren Olamina, a teenager living in a walled-in neighborhood in the exurbs of Los Angeles. Jobs are scarce, food and water are increasingly expensive, and armed gangs and drug addicts control the streets outside.
Lauren’s father, a pastor and professor at a local college, tries to keep their little community safe, but Lauren feels things going to pieces and is always preparing for things to get worse. When it all comes crashing down, will she be ready?
Hugonauts' Thoughts:
The essential thing that makes Butler’s world feel alive is that everything doesn't go to hell overnight - instead, people slowly lose trust in the system, and the more that happens, the more the decline accelerates. Everyone isn't transformed into some kind of hyper-violent murderer by the collapse - most people still want rules and safety. But when an armed gang shows up, or a bunch of people on a psychosis inducing drug come into town, those moments are incredibly tense, dangerous, and require a reaction.
It also has a really interesting internal philosophy / religion created by the main character (called Earthseed). It uses that philosophy as an extremely novel way to explore religion more generally and its positive and negative impacts on individuals and society.
The author, Octavia Butler, is also an extremely cool person. She was the first sci-fi writer to win a McArthur genius grant, the first black woman to win the Nebula award, and is widely credited as one of the primary progenitors of the Afrofuturism movement.
The sequel, Parable of the Talents, is also good - though it is much different than Parable. It is less concerned with propulsive plot and more concerned in exploring the philosophical, religious and social ideas set forth in Parable.
Related Books
If you loved this one, you might also like:
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
A surprisingly optimistic post-apocalyptic tale about a wandering troupe of musicians and actors roaming the American Midwest after a world-ending pandemic.
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang - Kate Wilhelm
Post-apocalypse, meet cloning! Two fun scifi ideas meshed together in the American South that take the reader on an emotional and thoughtful journey about individuality and survival.
The Water Knife - Paolo Bacigalupi
Bacigalupi's near-future conjecture about the Southwestern US after it runs out of water. A visceral and realistic look into how climate change will overly effect the poor, it is also a gripping thriller.
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