Cover of Parable of the Sower

Parable of the Sower

by Octavia E. Butler

Finished Oct 13, 2025

This acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from an award-winning author "pairs well with 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale" and includes a foreword by N. K. Jemisin (John Green, New York Times). When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others' emotions. Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of human destiny.

My posts about this book

📚 Parable of the Sower

Finished reading: Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler 📚

I’m a fan of post-apocalyptic stories and this one does not disappoint. Really enjoyed the story.

Lauren Olamina lives in an America ravaged by climate change, social collapse and extreme violence. When she loses her home and most of her family, she travels North with a small group of survivors looking for a new place to settle. Along the way she shares her new belief system, “Earthseed” which teaches that God is not something or someone but change itself. God is Change.

“All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change. God Is Change.”

An interesting twist is that Lauren has Hyperempathy. At times very much a curse living in such a violent world. I’ll let you read the book to find out more about Hyperempathy.

I may take a break and read something else then jump back to part two of the series, Parable of the Talents.