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Summary: An Inspiring Parable
Review: Octavia Butler has written a stimulating,thought provoking tale of 21st century America dominated by lawlessness, slavery and religious fanatacism. Education, family and even more importantly -community, become essential for survival. Although this futuristic picture is often dark and depressing,Lauren Olamina's Earthseed community's diversity and it's vision for the future provide a positive note. In this "parable",Lauren makes the ultimate sacrifice of her own family to use her talents for the greater good of the community. How inspiring to read of a Black woman portrayed with such strength and fortitude!
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Summary: It was worth the four year wait
Review: Octavia Butler promised this book by 1996, but it was worth the wait! Octavia Butler created a world that will hopefully never occur, but still seems possible. The characters she created search for solutions for the problems of today. I've read the reason she did release the book in 1996 was because she couldn't find answers. But she did find answers it might not have been the easier answers she fought she could create, but it was the answers that hard work and community is what we need to make the world better.
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Summary: Interesting
Review: Octavia Butler's grim visions of the future are thought provoking, if not totally pessimistic. The book follows up on the adventures of Lauren Olamina. Personally, I didn't like her, but the characters surrounding her were interesting enough that I kept reading. I enjoyed the ending (it was probably my favorite part of the book) and the representation of the Christian (shall we say overlord) denomination was accurate in my experience.
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Summary: The nightmare continues in a worthy sequel
Review: One of those rare sequels that is better than the original (which itself was amazingly good), Butler continues the story of Lauren Olamina and her attempts to establish Acorn, a self-sufficient community in a nightmarishly dystopian world. Many of the elements of the previous novel are here--Lauren's genetic ability to feel the actual pain of others' experiences, the collapse of the U. S. government and its economy--but there is much new. Alaska has seceded from the nation, the U.S. is a war with Canada, and religious fundamentalists threaten what remains of the American way of life.The sequel is told from three points of view. While much of the conflict is between Lauren and the brother she frees from slavery, Lauren's daughter provides a retrospective and balanced look at the eventual and inevitable hostility between the two siblings. The first half of the book portrays Acorn and its attempts to bloom in a hostile world. When the community comes under attack from the newly elected fundamentalist government that promises to restore law and order, the novel recalls--in a good way--Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," especially in the portrayal of the hypocrisy of those in power and their attitude toward women. Part social commentary, part adventure story, the second half of the novel concerns Lauren's often desperate search for her daughter and her persistent desire to reestablish Earthseed, the religious system she has created which believes that humankind's ultimate destiny is to establish itself on other planets. As usual, Butler is best when depicting intra- and interpersonal conflicts and when detailing the unusual specifics of her imagined world. But, because the novel is such a smorgasbord of themes and because she describes the rise, demise, and resurrection of a community of several dozen people, only the lead characters are meticulously sketched. Unlike her other books, the novel falters occasionally in its attempt to render the many characters, who are often difficult to distinguish. Ultimately, Butler is kind to her readers: she doesn't leave the novel with an wide-open ending designed to generate sequels. But there's good news for those of us who enjoyed the first two books: in an interview at the end of the book she admits that she "intends to write about communities of Earthseed who, in fulfillment of the Destiny, go out to extrasolar worlds."
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Summary: Inspiring Book
Review: Parable of Talents (PoT) was a great book for me. Much of the SF/Fantasy I've read in the last few years depends on deus ex machina. See Star Trek -- at the last moment someone presses the red button on the alien artifact and the story ends -- not satisfying. PoT's plot is driven by people throughout. Olamina wants to build a future with Earthseed. Her husband, Bankole, just wants a future for their family. Olamina's brother embraces the Christian Authority as she runs from it. All this happens as the safety net on the lower and middle class breaks in the United States. PoT also rises above with its character depth. Too often, SF novels have characters that are either the author's ideal person or their concept of evil. The most interesting plots are not Good Vs. Evil, but Good Vs. Good; we get a lot of Good Vs. Good in PoT. True, much of the plot is driven, from off-screen, by Jarret and his Christian America, but the spot light is always on the protagonists and showing how they get along and deal with themselves, each other and the events around them. The down side is, the events of the novel are bleak. Rape, murder and other forms of brutality occupy most of the book. More than once, I questioned weather I really wanted this as entertainment, but the characters are so compelling, the pages turned themselves. The character Marcus Duran helps the story immeasurably, but he is not shown in the best light possible. The majority of the book focuses on Olamina with a parallel story on her daughter. Too many major characters can defocus a plot, but I wish more time was devoted to Marcus. If he had a more compelling character, the story would have been more interesting (to me, anyway). PoT's message -- "turn your back on the poor at your own expense" -- was interesting and easy to swallow after reading. I live in California, where the book is set, and see the motivations for the story all around me. PoT opened my eyes and I'm always grateful for that. The pacing of the story keep me turning pages at a rapid rate throughout the 400+ pages. The end, however, felt rushed. It felt like the book ended in the last 15 pages as if the author thought, "Whoa, I must end this book. Now!" Still, the ending was satisfying, if quick.
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Summary: A book worth teaching . . .
Review: Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents are the best written of Butler's books. Stylistically, she just keeps improving as a writer. I understand sci-fi fans might want more science, but thse books are really morality tales about the path she sees our country taking--- and it's not for the faint of heart. Be forewarned, a point in the middle is so depressing I could barely keep reading, and I find the end heartbreaking despite the utopian possibilities offered by the end of Lauren's story. This book is most extraordinary because she frames Lauren's writing with her daughter's observations of her life, and readers are forced to interrogate Lauren's kind of new age spiritual politics with her daughter's embittered, ambivalence to religion and politics. Butler is always interested in how and how much people resist power, and in examining how people survive by doing things that no one would have imagined as a productive possibilities before. This book is worth teaching, as you can explore contemporary political conflict but also think about the allegory of resistance Butler presents here--- something revolutionary as opposed to something that accomodates old systems. I can't wait for the next one.
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Summary: This is masterful story telling at its finest.
Review: The book was excellent and kept me interested however as I am finding with most of her novels she seems to end them in the middle of a thought. The ending was rushed which was so alarmingingly obvious beacause the rest of the novel was so deliberately paced. The relationship between the mother and daughter was not explored at all eventhough it starts off being the glue that holds the narrative together. The ending was an I-need-to-get-my-publisher-off-my-back-so-I-need-to-hurry endings. This does not detract from the ultimately satisfying read.
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Summary: Butler provides a scary yet believable look at the future.
Review: The future as presented by Octavia Butler in The Parable of the Talents is harrowing yet absolutely believable. Ms. Butler continues to provide superb chacterizations and weaves an exciting and fast paced story that is difficult to put down. The novel appeals on several levels - a look at religion and religious persecution; a look at oppression from the eyes of the oppressed and their struggles to overcome. The technological advances presented are very believable and fit in with current trends. The political and social climate she depicts are so real that it's scary. It's eerily reminiscent of Germany in 1939. I am hungry for more from Octavia Butler and eagerly await her next literary offering.
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Summary: The Good, The Bad and the Black
Review: The Good: A wonderful book of ideas populated with interesting characters. The hunger for new spiritual guidance is a fit with today's situation. Much richer characters and plot than generic sci-fi / fantasy. The Bad: Definitely bleak at times ... but the journey is definitely the reward. Some of the characters / subplots seem to be fragments of a larger story that was edited down (or maybe seeds for new stories in the future). The Black: This book is mistakenly targeted at a black / minority demographic. It is less about racism (though there is that element) and much more about intolerance in general (blacks, women, the "wrong" religion, etc). Overall, I highly recommend it!
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Summary: Incredible
Review: The only drawback to this incredible book is that it ends too quickly. It seemed to me that the ending was very non descriptive of all the work that the main character did. I give much props to Octavia Butler for creating scripture for an imaginary religion. This book and the prequel - Parable of the Sower are both important looks at the future. Some might say that it is pessimistic, but I think that something like this is possible sometime in the future, if not 50 years into the future. I also like the commentary on what could happen if public schooling were eradicated. This book makes me grateful for what does exist, but also makes me aware that these things are not enough and also that they are also in danger.
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