You're welcome, Meg! You should be proud of that story, it's a hit! I noticed that you'll publish a fiction book next year. Not sure if you wrote about that yet... I saw it in a note I think...
I have a high regard for Octavia Butler. It's a pity she wasn't able to write more; every one of her books is extraordinary. She's got a fun vampire story (Fledgling) and a harrowing time-travel story (Kindred) and a lot more. Well worth exploring all her work.
I'll mention that the bible parables the books' titles come from, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, are thematic to the Earthseed books. I'm not a big fan of dystopic near-future SF, but I found these riveting. All her work is.
I liked the Earthseed books a lot, but I might rate them as the least wonderful of her stories. Still wonderful, though! Some of that is my bias against dystopic stories and stories that make me angry at humanity. In some ways, the Earthseed books are the least SF and most socially prescient of her work. I still can’t get over how acutely she predicted P45 from the 1990s.
I'm very curious now to explore the rest of her work. Thanks for the overview!
I love stories that stir emotion. But I heard from many people that they don't want to read dystopia, especially cli-fi, because it's so depressing. I find reality more depressing, those are just stories.
There are times when I wish I had that ability writers do to separate from the story like that, to see it as just a story. Sometimes I can, but I read fiction to escape the depressing world and tend to become thoroughly immersed in the story and characters.
To paraphrase Bones, “I’m a reader, damn it, not a writer!” 😁
It‘s funny that you say this but also true. And I started to have the same with films after studying screenwriting. Everything is a work of art. A story imagined by someone and patched together scene by scene to the best of their abilities.
Excellent review, Claudia. You're right, religion and faith are underplayed and their potential effects underestimated in many dystopian stories. History tells us that when hardship strikes, people turn to those who provide hope, no matter how dishonest they might be. Never dismiss the power of a believer!
Thanks for reading, Johnathan! You're absolutely right. Another dimension to take into account is the fact that technological progress also brought us this mess that is climate change and biodiversity loss... Technology without spirit (morals, ethics, a respect for the natural world) is a double-edged sword and it cuts deeper than we anticipated.
The problem is this split occurs in the education system at a young age. It might be against natural, neural leanings, but there needs to be a synthesis of business and deeper motives, profit and care for this world.
When I started reading cli-fi, Octavia Butler felt like the discovery of the century! I also love reading about her thought process and life since she left so many journals behind.
Thank you for such a lovely review, Claudia. I recently finished 'Parable of the Sower', and moved onto 'The Parable of the Talents' afterwards. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, so it's nice to find someone else who enjoyed it too.
Great write up, Claudia. Enjoyed this. I'm ashamed to say I haven't read any Octavia Butler yet, despite "Kindred" coming up on just about all the BookTube videos I've consumed in the last six months. I certainly need to get to some Butler soon. Thanks for the nudge to remind me. ;)
thank you for posting this review. i had never heard of Octavia Butler but now i am intrigued... if i could drag myself away from all the fascinating things on substack for a while i really must look into authors like her.
Read the whole MaddAddam trilogy (oryx and crake is the first book). I discovered Margaret Atwood in 2006 and she’s one of my favourite authors. I love her! I also love ‘Alias Grace’ (also a Netflix series) and ‘Cat’s eye’.
Thank you so much for the mention, Claudia! I'm quite proud of that particular story and am so happy it found you. 💜🥂
You're welcome, Meg! You should be proud of that story, it's a hit! I noticed that you'll publish a fiction book next year. Not sure if you wrote about that yet... I saw it in a note I think...
Thank you for mentioning my short story, Claudia! I like your review and round up here. Very cool.
You're welcome, Brian! There are so many treasure hidden in the archives of 'Future Thief'. 🙌
Thanks for the kind mention, Claudia. Glad you enjoyed TMWWD!
You're welcome, Alexander, I hope that more people will read and enjoy your fiction! 👏
And yours! It's a hope we all share. 🙌
🙏
I have a high regard for Octavia Butler. It's a pity she wasn't able to write more; every one of her books is extraordinary. She's got a fun vampire story (Fledgling) and a harrowing time-travel story (Kindred) and a lot more. Well worth exploring all her work.
I'll mention that the bible parables the books' titles come from, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, are thematic to the Earthseed books. I'm not a big fan of dystopic near-future SF, but I found these riveting. All her work is.
Honoured to meet such a huge Octavia Butler fan. I only read these two books but I am fascinated by her as an author. Thanks for the recommendations.
I liked the Earthseed books a lot, but I might rate them as the least wonderful of her stories. Still wonderful, though! Some of that is my bias against dystopic stories and stories that make me angry at humanity. In some ways, the Earthseed books are the least SF and most socially prescient of her work. I still can’t get over how acutely she predicted P45 from the 1990s.
I highly recommend… all her other books! 😁
I'm very curious now to explore the rest of her work. Thanks for the overview!
I love stories that stir emotion. But I heard from many people that they don't want to read dystopia, especially cli-fi, because it's so depressing. I find reality more depressing, those are just stories.
There are times when I wish I had that ability writers do to separate from the story like that, to see it as just a story. Sometimes I can, but I read fiction to escape the depressing world and tend to become thoroughly immersed in the story and characters.
To paraphrase Bones, “I’m a reader, damn it, not a writer!” 😁
It‘s funny that you say this but also true. And I started to have the same with films after studying screenwriting. Everything is a work of art. A story imagined by someone and patched together scene by scene to the best of their abilities.
Excellent review, Claudia. You're right, religion and faith are underplayed and their potential effects underestimated in many dystopian stories. History tells us that when hardship strikes, people turn to those who provide hope, no matter how dishonest they might be. Never dismiss the power of a believer!
Thanks for reading, Johnathan! You're absolutely right. Another dimension to take into account is the fact that technological progress also brought us this mess that is climate change and biodiversity loss... Technology without spirit (morals, ethics, a respect for the natural world) is a double-edged sword and it cuts deeper than we anticipated.
The problem is this split occurs in the education system at a young age. It might be against natural, neural leanings, but there needs to be a synthesis of business and deeper motives, profit and care for this world.
Sadly, it's the humanist worldview that has no space for nature. Hopefully our views will change together with what we teach to children.
Love me some Octavia Butler! Great review.
When I started reading cli-fi, Octavia Butler felt like the discovery of the century! I also love reading about her thought process and life since she left so many journals behind.
Thank you for such a lovely review, Claudia. I recently finished 'Parable of the Sower', and moved onto 'The Parable of the Talents' afterwards. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, so it's nice to find someone else who enjoyed it too.
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I discovered Octavia Butler only last year and I was so taken with her writing. An amazing author and human being.
Great write up, Claudia. Enjoyed this. I'm ashamed to say I haven't read any Octavia Butler yet, despite "Kindred" coming up on just about all the BookTube videos I've consumed in the last six months. I certainly need to get to some Butler soon. Thanks for the nudge to remind me. ;)
Didn’t know about Kindred and all the media buzz. Wish Octavia Butler was alive to witness this.
Hi Claudia.
thank you for posting this review. i had never heard of Octavia Butler but now i am intrigued... if i could drag myself away from all the fascinating things on substack for a while i really must look into authors like her.
N
I had never heard about her until last year and now I think how I lived without her for 42 years... She's an amazing writer!
i feel a bit like that about margaret atwood. i just read Oryx and Crake last year after watching handmaids tale on netflix. have you read that?
Read the whole MaddAddam trilogy (oryx and crake is the first book). I discovered Margaret Atwood in 2006 and she’s one of my favourite authors. I love her! I also love ‘Alias Grace’ (also a Netflix series) and ‘Cat’s eye’.