Rating: 
Summary: worth the 4 year wait
Review: I feel the same way about Butler that others do. She is my favorite sf writer and one of my favorite fiction writers (why isn't her picture on her books, anybody know?). This book was worth the wait except I do think there was too big a jump in time at the end. I wonder if there will be another book in this series. What did Butler do with all of her genius money?
Rating: 
Summary: I'm waiting for her next one!!!
Review: I have read all of Octavia's books, except for Survivor, which is hasn't been in print for some time. I am glad to say that I have never been let down. Never knowing what to expect, I accept everything her characters and their lives have to offer. Parable of the Talents, as did Parable of the Sower, made me so mad and upset at times I didn't know what to do. It aslo made me think. By expanding on current societal and environmental conditions, Butler creates a very possible future in this book, which is very frightening. I sit anxiously waiting for her next piece of brilliance.
Rating:
Summary: Christian fascism takes over U.S. ...sound familiar?
Review: I love Octavia Butler's daring,caring and strong people who transform her bleak scenarios into hopeful tales of human potential. The theme of the unresolved oppression that continues to breed slavery is never far from her mind or pen. This book is striking to read because although Butler published it in the late 1990s, the danger of future of a U.S. run by Christian fascists led from the White House seems more more real than ever.
For a factual recent history of Christian theocrats in the U.S. read Esther Kaplan's recent book With God on Their Side, and for a trenchant analysis of the philosophy and social base behind this madness read Avakian's Preaching From a Pulpit of Bones, another prescient work from the 1990s.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating!
Review: I love this book. It shows all of human nature: the good, the bad, the chaos, the order-- and how one community can survive anything together. "Parable of the Talents," teaches a new religion called Earthseed. Lauren Olamina, the main character, preaches Earthseed, always saying GOD IS CHANGE. I'm not very religious, but i can relate to all of the verses. Most of them are very true verses, ones that i can relate to. This book is about the world after the Apocalypse. Slave collars are used to control people, sending them lashes mechanically. A provocative but fascinating book-- and long enough to enjoy all of its layers.
"Parable of the Talents" is a Science Fiction book-- but not the stereotypical robots and Martians kind of a book. It mostly feels like your reading about history-- even though there are some inventions our society doesn't have. Recommended highly from a person who hasn't liked reading much-- especially science fiction- until this book!
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating!
Review: I love this book. It shows all of human nature: the good, the bad, the chaos, the order-- and how one community can survive anything together. "Parable of the Talents," teaches a new religion called Earthseed. Lauren Olamina, the main character, preaches Earthseed, always saying GOD IS CHANGE. I'm not very religious, but i can relate to all of the verses. Most of them are very true verses, ones that i can relate to. This book is about the world after the Apocalypse. Slave collars are used to control people, sending them lashes mechanically. A provocative but fascinating book-- and long enough to enjoy all of its layers.
"Parable of the Talents" is a Science Fiction book-- but not the stereotypical robots and Martians kind of a book. It mostly feels like your reading about history-- even though there are some inventions our society doesn't have. Recommended highly from a person who hasn't liked reading much-- especially science fiction- until this book!
Rating:
Summary: Humanity at it's best
Review: I never read Sower, but I read alot of good things about this book so I gave it a try. Glad I did. Every chance I got, I picked up this book. I was impressed by Butler's views of the future as a collapse of society and how it turns on itself any chance it can take. And of the (maybe pagan) religion she creates. But mostly by the characters. She can impress on you the earnesty of Lauren and the fight in her dispite all the atrocities that she's seen and lived though. A nicely written, well thought out novel with good charactization, definitely worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Thought Provoking
Review: I read Parable of the Sower and I felt overwhelmed with thought and visions of the future and I didn't want it to end. I was so happy to follow up with Parable of the Talents. Wonderful book. Octavia Butler does an excellent job at forcing us to view our patterns and choices and the way we are currently dealing with human and social conditions. I strongly recommend this book to everyone but especially if you are looking for a read that will feed your mind and stimulate you intellectually..... One complaint since the main character Lauren was creating a new way of thinking via Earthseed at times I felt as if I were reading one of those "power for living type books" and it got to be a bit much at times.... Enjoy
Rating:
Summary: Grim, Hopeful, Redemptive
Review: I read this book in the week following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Switching between reading Butler's descriptions of "post-Pox (Apocalypse)" America and watching the country's fearful reaction to its exposed vulnerablity to faceless terrorism, I found her incredibly insightful. Her fascist Christian American Jarrett was reflected in the rabid anti-gay, anti-feminist and anti-choice "God turning back on America" finger pointing of Falwell and Robertson, and I found the unexpected concordance utterly chilling.
The teachings of Earthseed are believable and applicable to real life. "God is Change." It could be a guidebook to ethical living, to learn, teach, work, take care of one another, take an active stance in shaping your destiny, use kindness to ease change. A goal or vision beyond the gruntwork of every day to reach for, in this case, reaching for the stars, literally, a grander, greater goal akin to Kennedy's vision to put a man on the moon within a decade back there in the 60s. I think the tech IPO bust early in the new millenium has made us realize our concentration on material prosperity has fallen a little flat, and a little spiritual or visionary striving will do us some, or even a lot of good. Earthseed is much more palatable than the hateful exclusionary hallucinations of Falwell and his ilk.
Rating:
Summary: Great first two-thirds, but the end feels rushed.
Review: I received this book for Christmas, and finished it on 12/27. The first two-thirds were intense, gritty, detailed writing. However, I didn't feel feel that there was enough explanation about how the end was finally reached. (I'm being a little vague here, but I don't want to give anything away to those who haven't read it yet.) Lauren Olamina Oye Bankole's goals were intriguing, and I enjoyed reading about the small steps taken to reach them...so I felt disappointed when the book's steps turned into leaps. Still, it is a fantastic book -- and I hope we'll have a shorter wait for Butler's next!
Rating:
Summary: An Deeply Probing Delightful Parable
Review: I was mesmerized, horrified, grief-stricken, and elated by turns. This book took me through so many emotions, that I was exhausted when I finished. And yet, I desperately ached for the characters and their extremely human conflicting emotions. I highly recommend the book, and its predecessor, "The Parable of the Sower;" the book that changed forever the way I view divinity.
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