Octavia E. Butler

Parable of the Talents celebrates the usual Butlerian themes of alienation and transcendence, violence and spirituality, slavery and freedom, and separation and community, to astonishing effect in the shockingly familiar, broken world of 2032.

A Novel

Parable of the Talents

Rachael Bahr

Consider, though: a brand-new form of life has been discovered on Mars, and it got less time on the news disk than the runaway Texas boy. We're becoming more and more isolated as a people. We're sliding into undirected negative change, and what's worse, we're getting used to it. All too often, we shape ourselves and our futures in such stupid ways.

it’s been a little while since i finished POTT, and although i wouldnt say that it was 

, it was certainly important. asha’s POV (also—asha is so much more fitting than larkin LMAO.. that and “acorn” really have me doubting lauren’s ability to name things) gave me a more complex view of lauren and earthseed as a whole, one that we didn’t get in POTS. at times i was definitely frustrated because of asha’s biases, but her flaws felt genuine and spread throughout the entirety of her character. 

i felt that earthseed itself didn’t have as much of an important role, which was a little disappointing. POTS and even POTT are books that help me imagine where america is headed &/or where we could go, what we could look like if we were liberated. so i was a little disheartened that so much of the book was about the consequences of lauren’s lack of forethought without any further discussion of that other than one time when asha was like “your god is change! how did you not see this coming??” because like REAL!! acorn’s whole shtick was that they required discussion and questioning, but it felt like while they were invited to do this of earthseed they could NOT do this of lauren’s leadership… i just kept wondering, what is the point of all of their suffering? did this have to happen? is there a point? could they have relied on earthseed more?

some of the characters were better than others too, like lauren and asha and what was that bitches name at the end? brie? clark? lily? the one who.. allie? sent her bc she knew she was struggling, they all felt real to me. but marc + bankole felt less real, and the whole CA + Jarrett stuff—although eerily and terrifyingly accurate to real life—also felt… fake? in some way. i don’t know, that was more of a vibe.

my only other issue w the book was how much octavia butler re-explained shit from the first book. this was my 

 pet peeve when reading scifi in middle school and you can bet it holds up today… LMAO

overall, though, it was a good sequel!! sequels often disappointing me and even if this one didnt completely awe and inspire me, it didn’t do that lol!! and i walked away w more questions & thought pieces. i intent to come back to this series over and over again. :)

madison w

it’s been a little while since i finished POTT, and although i wouldnt say that it was necessary, it was certainly important. asha’s POV (also—asha is so much more fitting than larkin LMAO.. that and “acorn” really have me doubting lauren’s ability to name things) gave me a more complex view of lauren and earthseed as a whole, one that we didn’t get in POTS. at times i was definitely frustrated because of asha’s biases, but her flaws felt genuine and spread throughout the entirety of her character. 

i felt that earthseed itself didn’t have as much of an important role, which was a little disappointing. POTS and even POTT are books that help me imagine where america is headed &/or where we could go, what we could look like if we were liberated. so i was a little disheartened that so much of the book was about the consequences of lauren’s lack of forethought without any further discussion of that other than one time when asha was like “your god is change! how did you not see this coming??” because like REAL!! acorn’s whole shtick was that they required discussion and questioning, but it felt like while they were invited to do this of earthseed they could NOT do this of lauren’s leadership… i just kept wondering, what is the point of all of their suffering? did this have to happen? is there a point? could they have relied on earthseed more?

some of the characters were better than others too, like lauren and asha and what was that bitches name at the end? brie? clark? lily? the one who.. allie? sent her bc she knew she was struggling, they all felt real to me. but marc + bankole felt less real, and the whole CA + Jarrett stuff—although eerily and terrifyingly accurate to real life—also felt… fake? in some way. i don’t know, that was more of a vibe.

my only other issue w the book was how much octavia butler re-explained shit from the first book. this was my biggest pet peeve when reading scifi in middle school and you can bet it holds up today… LMAO

overall, though, it was a good sequel!! sequels often disappointing me and even if this one didnt completely awe and inspire me, it didn’t do that lol!! and i walked away w more questions & thought pieces. i intent to come back to this series over and over again. :)



My criticisms of the first installment were twofold. Through no fault of its own, the climate-instigated apocalypse theme it pioneered had become something of a saturated trope. Also, the Earthseed-religion felt tacked on. None of both critiques apply to this second book. An undeniable classic.

Frederik De Bosschere

A.L.L.

Bittersweet ending. 

I highly recommend the audio book version with the three different readers narrating. It really brought this book to life for me. 

This book turns away from complete climate apocalypse and veers more towards themes of rebuilding and what comes next.

It didn't hit at close to home as the first one did for me, though there were still some very stark parallels (President Jarrett's "make America great again" slogan, and his extremist followers for example). Maybe because many of the evils we find in this book are already too well familiar. After all the scandals from various religions, all the religious schisms, inquisitions, crusades, etc. from recent and ancient histories, reading about more of the same just didn't punch me in the gut the same way as the societal and environmental breakdown from the first book. 

Like the first book, still so much material, so many ideas to gnaw on. I couldn't put it down. I raced through it so quickly that I am a little sad I didn't take it slower, savor it more.

Dweedle 

Exceptional in every way. This is a heavy read at times. The future she creates felt startlingly close to today at times. The protaganist(?) has a depth of character that is spectacular. I find myself thinking of both the first and second in this unfinished series for many days after I'd finished reading.

My thoughts feel like they're all in a jumble now that I've finished this book. On the one hand, I think this (and the first book) are must-reads. I think they paint a bleak, but all-too-familiar picture of where our future could be heading.

This might be a little spoiler-y: I thought the Earthseed verses in this book came off as way more preachy than they did in the first one. (Look, I'm not a religious person, and I'm the kind of person who believes that religion causes more harm than good on a global scale. So take that as you will.) I thought Earthseed supplemented the ideas of hope vs. despair in 

, but towards the end of this one, it felt very heavy-handed. At times, I wasn't the biggest fan of Lauren, our narrator - but maybe I'm not meant to feel sympathy for her, per se...I don't know.

) are hard to read at times. They are not a light read. I had to take breaks at time from all the brutality (tw: rape, suicide, sexual abuse). Butler paints a harsh picture of what the world would be like for women and minorities in the kind of world that's eroding due to climate change and falling into the hands of religious zealots. It's hard to believe this book was written in the 90's, because it hits a little too close to home.

My thoughts are all over the place. Do I recommend these books? 10000% yes. I think everyone should read these, but with that being said, they are not meant to be a fun, comforting, read. But they will leave you with a lot of thoughts (at least that's what they did for me) and will hopefully challenge you to look at the world we live in.

My thoughts feel like they're all in a jumble now that I've finished this book. On the one hand, I think this (and the first book) are must-reads. I think they paint a bleak, but all-too-familiar picture of where our future could be heading.

This might be a little spoiler-y: I thought the Earthseed verses in this book came off as way more preachy than they did in the first one. (Look, I'm not a religious person, and I'm the kind of person who believes that religion causes more harm than good on a global scale. So take that as you will.) I thought Earthseed supplemented the ideas of hope vs. despair in Parable of the Sower, but towards the end of this one, it felt very heavy-handed. At times, I wasn't the biggest fan of Lauren, our narrator - but maybe I'm not meant to feel sympathy for her, per se...I don't know.

These two books (Talents and Sower) are hard to read at times. They are not a light read. I had to take breaks at time from all the brutality (tw: rape, suicide, sexual abuse). Butler paints a harsh picture of what the world would be like for women and minorities in the kind of world that's eroding due to climate change and falling into the hands of religious zealots. It's hard to believe this book was written in the 90's, because it hits a little too close to home.

My thoughts are all over the place. Do I recommend these books? 10000% yes. I think everyone should read these, but with that being said, they are not meant to be a fun, comforting, read. But they will leave you with a lot of thoughts (at least that's what they did for me) and will hopefully challenge you to look at the world we live in.

Cindy Lieberman

I should re-read great books every decade or so. This book was written in 1988 but I found it chillingly relevant today (2020) during this critical US election year. From the novel:

“Once he’s made everyone who isn’t like him sound evil, then he can blame them for problems he knows they didn’t cause. That’s easier than trying to fix the problems.“ - Parable of the Talents by Octavia E Butler

If you heard about the recent presidential debate, and the small crowd that gathered outside Walter Reed Hospital while Trump was hospitalized with the COVID-19 virus, you’ll understand why parts of this book were so disturbing. For example this quote [with my 2020 references in brackets]:

“Mark may be able to convince himself that the crusaders [proud boys, white supremacists] are outcast extremists. But I know better. ...What does Jared [Trump] really think about the crusaders [proud boys]? Does he control them? If he doesn’t like what they’re doing, he should make some effort to stop them. He shouldn’t want them to make their insanity part of his political image. On the other hand, one way to make people afraid of you is to have a crazy side. A side of yourself or your organization that’s dangerous and unpredictable. Willing to do any damn thing.”

This dystopian novel is distressing yet hopeful at its heart. I only wish Octavia Butler were still alive to write more in this excellent two-book series. In its current state the ending / epilogue feels a bit rushed. Or perhaps that’s just because I had reached the end but was not ready to leave the world she created.

Vitor Augusto Dal Molin 

“In order to rise
From its own ashes
A phoenix
First
Must
Burn.”

I cant, this isn't just a scifi book, it's a truly work of art.

Parable of the Talents A Novel

Reviews

Highlights