Parable of the Sower

Although the theme that "God is change" is the foundation of this science fiction novel, pages and pages go by with nothing but the same old lootings and violence taking place in that science fiction staple, "the not-too-distant future." However, as protagonist Lauren Olamina develops the tenets of her Earthseed religion to address the anarchy, narrator Lynne Thigpen delivers a performance perfectly appropriate to the proceedings: solemn, thoughtful, and pointedly challenging to listeners' notions of society and religion. Although the material is less than engrossing, Thigpen makes intelligent artistic choices in the way she brings it to life. J.P.M. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

November 1, 1993
Hugo and Nebula Award-winner Butler's first novel since 1989's Imago offers an uncommonly sensitive rendering of a very common SF scenario: by 2025, global warming, pollution, racial and ethnic tensions and other ills have precipitated a worldwide decline. In the Los Angeles area, small beleaguered communities of the still-employed hide behind makeshift walls from hordes of desperate homeless scavengers and violent pyromaniac addicts known as ``paints'' who, with water and work growing scarcer, have become increasingly aggressive. Lauren Olamina, a young black woman, flees when the paints overrun her community, heading north with thousands of other refugees seeking a better life. Lauren suffers from `hyperempathy,'' a genetic condition that causes her to experience the pain of others as viscerally as her own--a heavy liability in this future world of cruelty and hunger. But she dreams of a better world, and with her philosophy/religion, Earthseed, she hopes to found an enclave which will weather the tough times and which may one day help carry humans to the stars. Butler tells her story with unusual warmth, sensitivity, honesty and grace; though science fiction readers will recognize this future Earth, Lauren Olamina and her vision make this novel stand out like a tree amid saplings.