"Parable of the Talents celebrates the classic Butlerian themes of alienation and transcendence, violence and spirituality, slavery and freedom, separation and community, to astonishing effect, in the shockingly familiar, broken world of 2032. Long awaited, Parable of the Talents is the continuation of the travails of Lauren Olamina, the heroine of 1994's Nebula-Prize finalist, bestselling Parable of the Sower. Parable of the Talents is told in the voice of Lauren Olamina's daughter--from whom she has been separated for ...
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"Parable of the Talents celebrates the classic Butlerian themes of alienation and transcendence, violence and spirituality, slavery and freedom, separation and community, to astonishing effect, in the shockingly familiar, broken world of 2032. Long awaited, Parable of the Talents is the continuation of the travails of Lauren Olamina, the heroine of 1994's Nebula-Prize finalist, bestselling Parable of the Sower. Parable of the Talents is told in the voice of Lauren Olamina's daughter--from whom she has been separated for most of the girl's life--with sections in the form of Lauren's journal. Against a background of a war-torn continent, and with a far-right religious crusader in the office of the U.S. presidency, this is a book about a society whose very fabric has been torn asunder, and where the basic physical and emotional needs of people seem almost impossible to meet"--
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Add this copy of Parable of the Talents to cart. $13.43, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2019 by Grand Central Publishing.
Add this copy of Parable of the Talents to cart. $17.17, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2017 by Seven Stories Press.
I enjoyed the first book, Parable of the Sower, so I had to read this. Butler's post-apocalyptic America seems to particularly resonate now, as we descend into the depths of a pandemic. I was especially struck by the near clairvoyant depiction of the fundamentalist US president who, "wanted to make America great again."
I enjoyed the continuing journey of Butler's main character Lauren Oya Olamina. I don't want to give up the many plot twists to future readers. But I will say the novel contains a well-crafted narrative shaped by the journals of the main character, her daughter, and in a few instances her brother. It works very well as the reader tries to figure out how these different threads join together in a final truth. I found the final denouement subtle, and devoid of a trite ending, and the author provides an emotionally well-founded bittersweet explanation for the final outcome.
That said, I can only wonder what the series might have been. I understand that Octavia Butler was working on a continuation (perhaps several volumes), but she hit writer's block before she passed away, and only left the two books in this series. Aside from the solid emotional narrative of the paths of the three main characters, the success of Earthseed, after some grave trials, seemed just too good to be true, and kind of rushed at the end. Almost like the author was trying to wrap the book up and move on. That could have contributed to Butler's inability to continue the narrative. At least it left this reader with the feeling that while her work was done on Earth, but there could well have been more to unwind in space.
