Parable of the Sower

This is such a strong story and great storytelling. I frequently found myself inspired by it to reflect on how we as individuals and communities may cope with our world. Can wholeheartedly recommend! #FediBooks #Solarpunk

Comparing the art to the Kindred adaption, obviously the artist is the same, but I didn't find it quiet so overwhelming visually. My negative side wonders if this has to do with reading it frame by frame digitally, rather then parsing it page by page physically, but I don't know. My gut says it is a bit more parred down and more pleasing to my eye. Which is obviously super important - not. As the story does revolve around Lauren's religious speculation there is a lot of quotes and excerpts included alongside the art. As always, re-reads and digital comics are both a bit hard for me, but that is a me problem not a book problem. It's a super timely read not only for the actual timeline of the book being in the 2020s but also just because of how prescient it feels. This does fall into my appreciated sub genre of the "hippies" kind of winning, or at least that might does not make right at the end of the world. I feel like the past few months of mutual aid and caremongering has perhaps shown us that humanity can be even more compassionate, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see...?

Gender and race are both pretty central to Lauren's mission with Earthseed. She talks several times about needing to create a diverse community of people. That said, things end up feeling pretty heterosexual.

My biggest complaint is the extreme drug stigmatisation that goes on. I mean, it's not unique to her, but it is unfortunate. Maternal drug use is also the reason why Lauren is disabled and that certainly brings up a lot of bad connotations.

Class is less of a monolith, and all the characters do rough it, but it does feel like there is judgement there. Kind of hard to untangle from the general fear of the outsider that is part of the sub-genre.

It's set in a post-collapse world, but as it goes along it shows us that there can be different degrees of post-apocalypse when it comes to individuals. The first third shows the main character in the context of her family trying to do everything they can to safeguard their home, and the remainder shows what happens as it ends up failing for them. What saves Lauren is her ability to think for herself and look beyond what was immediately in front of her, though it is abundantly clear that a lot of it is a matter of luck too. By the end, she has assembled a sort of replacement community from people who were once strangers, who all have come to accept her ideas on the reasons for human existence. It becomes a sort of picaresque novel by then as the group encounters different challenges walking the California freeways to a hazily defined destination up north.
Lauren is a Sharer too, experiencing the emotions and feelings of those she sees whether for good or ill. It is almost as if this is a separate aspect of the story, it influences the character's behavior in situations but doesn't really play a fundamental role in driving the plot I think. Maybe if the author were able to write the later volumes in the series this condition would have been more deeply integrated as an element.
This edition of the book includes the first three chapters or so of Parable of the Talents. I expect to finish that book also later this year to find out how this near-future depiction of the US plays out. There has been a lot of talk recently about how prescient Butler was in discussing topics which are currently hot in the real world and I do want to know how far this extends.