Butler is one of the greatest modern SF authors IMO and this trilogy is a classic!

This pair of great books touches on our possible future. Environmental and economic crises lead to social chaos in a chillingly believable scenario. Starting in Parable of the Sower, our protagonist, hyperempathic Lauren Olamina, is thrust into the painful world. There she has an epiphany and starts the somewhat philosophy, somewhat religion, Earthseed. Gaining followers, she founds Acorn, a community of believers.

Continuing in Parable of the Talents, first published in 1998, a presidential candidate uses the platform of a return to good, old-fashioned American values to fuel his campaign. (Quite relevant to Making America Great Again and the hatred it supports.) After victory his zealots overrun Acorn. The adults are fitted with pain-inflicting collars and the children are forcibly adopted into "Christian American" families. Lauren must decide between her child and her followers or teaching Earthseed.

This is a tale of a frighteningly believable near-future dystopia written by an incredible author. It is thought provoking, chilling and well worth reading!

Octavia Butler was truly ahead of her time. Her body of work is impeccable and sustainable. She is quite frankly a writer for all writers. Earthseed is a remarkable story of a heroine willing to stand for the rights of humanity.

I remember reading this before, in 2 separate books, and wishing I hadn't read the second, but that was as a young adult. Book I was about hope, somewhat uplifting, while book II showed the struggle, setbacks and complications. I didn't want to think about the complications; I wanted a simpler happy ending. Now I'm older, I can appreciate the increased realism. It certainly isn't as fun, nor as easy, but it resonates at a different level.

<i>Parable of the Sower</i> is set in the United States in the near future, 2024, a nation slowly crumbling. It's no longer safe to go outside enclosed communities, dangerous drugs are now rampant, and life seems more like survival rather than progress. Lauren Oya Olamina is a relatively normal teenager, but her questioning leads her to build, or discover, a new life philosophy she calls "Earthseed", one that offers hope. But if she wants to develop Earthseed farther, she risks everything she knows and has, including her own life.

<i>Parable of the Talents</i> takes the story one step further, and is told from journals of different people. Some are from the future, looking back at older journals, giving a sense of foreboding: we know what will happen, but must watch to see how. <spoiler>The sense that everything would have been fine if Olamina had kept her focus small, just on Acorn rather than Earthseed, seems to show the difference between people focused on the present and those who are leaders, grasping for the stars to pull us forward and upwards. I don't believe Olamina was as manipulative as Marc and her daughter perceived her to be though.</spoiler> History repeats itself; political leaders rise and fall, and communities or nations rise and fall with them.

It's impossible to read this and not consider your own beliefs. Olamina doesn't follow any established religion, making Earthseed almost more of a cult, though it is a more benevolent one. Much of Earthseed is consistent with many other tenets of faith: build a community, live together harmoniously, be the best you can be. Olamina's dream takes it past that though. The scary part of Talents is because most people - if honest - will have to question their own likely position: What would I do? What would I say? Would I act, or watch? Would I stay, or would I flee? Some of those cannot be answered, but I hope that in preconsidering, I would make better choices now.

I don't know how I've made it through 53 years and not heard of this amazing author. Now that I've discovered her, it seems I may have some catching up to do. Earthseed is incredibly relevant to what's happening now. Even the President they elect has some of the same slogans as Trump. "Make America great again." I'm not sure what alternate America he and his supporters are from, but when has America ever been great? The concept of Earthseed as a way of life is astonishingly simple, and makes a great deal of sense. Olamina and her friends, family and community were some of the best characters I've ever read, and I know I'll be reading this book again in a year or so. I've already bought two other stories, which I'm looking forward to reading. Ms. Butler came up with an "end of the world as we know it," nightmare scenario. One which I could see happening. American christians in charge. Terrifying! Killing the poor, and homeless. Stealing children from families and enslaving anyone who's not up to par in their very biased opinions. Company owned towns, where the people work for scrips and eventually are owned by the companies. In the end it was about hope, and maybe starting over again on new planets. Seeding them with humans. Earthseed. This is one heck of a story that was scary and heartbreaking, and its also one that I'd recommend. Thanks to Open Road Media, and Netgalley for sending me an e-arc of this book.