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Book Review: Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Title: Parable of the Sower (Earthseed Book 1)
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Published: New York: Open Road, 2012 (1993)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 300
Total Page Count: 191,530
Text Number: 567
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: As America suffers drought and social collapse, one woman builds a religion based on the tenet that God is Change. This is a grim dystopia, and otherwise not hugely speculative (although I imagine the sequel is moreso); the scope is smaller than I expect from Butler, the ethical issues less complex. It feels restrained—but is nonetheless compelling. The social collapse and the birth of the central religion tend towards infodumpy and preachy, but both the basis for the religion and the intimate, uncompromising detail of the protagonist's experience are unexpectedly convincing, enlivening an otherwise underwhelming dystopia. Butler is often compulsively readable, but this is especially so. I look forward to picking up the sequel.
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Published: New York: Open Road, 2012 (1993)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 300
Total Page Count: 191,530
Text Number: 567
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: As America suffers drought and social collapse, one woman builds a religion based on the tenet that God is Change. This is a grim dystopia, and otherwise not hugely speculative (although I imagine the sequel is moreso); the scope is smaller than I expect from Butler, the ethical issues less complex. It feels restrained—but is nonetheless compelling. The social collapse and the birth of the central religion tend towards infodumpy and preachy, but both the basis for the religion and the intimate, uncompromising detail of the protagonist's experience are unexpectedly convincing, enlivening an otherwise underwhelming dystopia. Butler is often compulsively readable, but this is especially so. I look forward to picking up the sequel.