THE PLOT: ‘Parable of the Talents’ by Octavia Butler is a dystopian novel and the second instalment in a duology. After climate and economic crises in the 2020’s, a far-right President emerges. He promises to make America great again but Christian extremism makes anyone who opposes him “heathens”. Through the 2032-2035 journals of Lauren Olamina, the protagonist of the first book in the duology, we see her try to oppose the regime and spread her new religion, Earthseed, which preaches “God Is Change”. And in a dual timeline, we see Lauren’s daughter attempt to know the truth about her mother.

SUMMARY: You know I’m going to give Octavia Butler five stars so let’s just cut to the chase. Published in 1998, this book is incredibly prescient. In a world where house and rental prices outstrip wages, there is indentured servitude to big business. And when government can’t fund public services, education, healthcare and policing only exist for those who can pay. Sound familiar? Yes, it’s terrifying yet realistic. A true parable for the current state of the world. This novel is extremely harrowing. Read this book with all the trigger warnings in mind, particularly for sexual assault and child abuse. It’s very dark and won’t be for everyone. But I feel it’s an honest look at what happens when capital is power, and that’s why I will always recommend it.

GOOD BITS: It’s the intricacy of the plotting for me. Whenever something bad happened, I’d connect it to every other negative thing in the novel and it felt like a spiral of terrible events. Of course, this book is very dark and it can seem like a tunnel with no light at the end. But the way it’s all connected made the darkness feel believable as it’s the logical conclusion of what we are doing to the planet and our political institutions. Unlike the previous book, I wasn’t sure if I wholly liked Lauren. This new dimension to questioning her character and leadership is very clever as her daughter makes us wonder whether we can fully trust the narrator we’ve already invested in.

NOT SO GOOD BITS:  The ending felt a little bit rushed. Perhaps it’s because I was racing through the last fifteen pages, desperate to see how the story ends, but after going through so much struggle with Lauren it felt like a cascade of events to wrap her story up quickly. Maybe I was just sad to leave this story behind? Either way, it didn’t ruin my enjoyment.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ by John Steinbeck, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood and ‘Beloved’ by Toni Morrison.

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