Octavia E. Butler

Doro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex or design. He fears no one until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu is a shapeshifter who can absorb bullets and heal with a kiss and savage anyone who threatens her. She fears no one until she meets Doro. Together they weave a pattern of destiny (from Africa to the New World) unimaginable to mortals.

The futures of both mankind and an alien species rest in the hands of one hybrid son in the award-winning science fiction author’s masterful sequel to Dawn. Nuclear war had nearly destroyed mankind when the Oankali came to the rescue, saving humanity—but at a price. The Oankali survive by mixing their DNA with that of other species, and now on Earth they have permitted no child to be born without an Oankali parent. The first true hybrid is a boy named Akin—son of Lilith Iyapo— and to the naked eye he looks human, for now. He is born with extraordinary sensory powers, understanding speech at birth, speaking in sentences at two months old, and soon developing the ability to see at the molecular level. More powerful than any human or Oankali, he will be the architect of both races’ intergalactic future. But before he can carry this new species into the stars, Akin must decide which unlucky souls will stay behind. At once a coming-of-age story, science fiction adventure, and philosophical exploration, Butler’s ambitious and breathtaking novel ultimately raises the question of what it means to be human.

The stunning conclusion to a postapocalyptic trilogy about an alien species merging with humans—from “one of science fiction’s finest writers” (TheNew York Times). Human and Oankali have been mating since the aliens first came to Earth to rescue the few survivors of an annihilating nuclear war. The Oankali began a massive breeding project, guided by the ooloi, a sexless subspecies capable of manipulating DNA, in the hope of eventually creating a perfect starfaring race. Jodahs is supposed to be just another hybrid of human and Oankali, but as he begins his transformation to adulthood he finds himself becoming ooloi—the first ever born to a human mother. As his body changes, Jodahs develops the ability to shapeshift, manipulate matter, and cure or create disease at will. If this frightened young man is able to master his new identity, Jodahs could prove the savior of what’s left of mankind. Or, if he is not careful, he could become a plague that will destroy this new race once and for all.

Fledgling, Octavia Butler's new novel after a seven year break, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly inhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted - and still wants - to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human.

Dana, a 1970s black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin. This young adult edition includes a new foreword by Tomi Adeyemi, New York Times bestseller and Hugo and Nebula award winning author of fantasy titles Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance. Adeyemi was also named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people and was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media. From the New York Times bestselling author of Parable of the Sower and MacArthur “Genius” Grant, Nebula, and Hugo award winner The visionary time-travel classic whose Black female hero is pulled through time to face the horrors of American slavery and explores the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now. “I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm.” Dana’s torment begins when she suddenly vanishes on her 26th birthday from California, 1976, and is dragged through time to antebellum Maryland to rescue a boy named Rufus, heir to a slaveowner’s plantation. She soon realizes the purpose of her summons to the past: protect Rufus to ensure his assault of her Black ancestor so that she may one day be born. As she endures the traumas of slavery and the soul-crushing normalization of savagery, Dana fights to keep her autonomy and return to the present. Blazing the trail for neo-slavery narratives like Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s The Water Dancer, Butler takes one of speculative fiction’s oldest tropes and infuses it with lasting depth and power. Dana not only experiences the cruelties of slavery on her skin but also grimly learns to accept it as a condition of her own existence in the present. “Where stories about American slavery are often gratuitous, reducing its horror to explicit violence and brutality, Kindred is controlled and precise” (New York Times). “Reading Octavia Butler taught me to dream big, and I think it’s absolutely necessary that everybody have that freedom and that willingness to dream.” —N. K. Jemisin

For 4,000 years, an immortal has spread the seeds of a master race, using the downtrodden as his private breeding stock. But now a young ghetto telepath has found a way to awaken -- and rule -- her superhuman kind, igniting a psychic battle as she challenges her creator for her right to free her people.

The combined mind-force of a telepathic race, Patternist thoughts can destroy, heal, rule. For the strongest mind commands the entire pattern and all within. Now the son of the Patternmaster craves this ultimate power, He has murdered or enslaved every threat to his ambition--except one. In the wild, mutant-infested hills, a young apprentice must be hunted down and destroyed because he is the tyrant's equal... and the Pattermaster's other son.

An innocent familiy, carjacked on a desolate highway, is abducted to a bizarre new world. A world being born in the Californian desert. They discover Earth has been invaded by an alien microorganism. The deadly entity attacks like a virus, but survivors of the disease genetically bond with it, developing amazing powers, near-immortality, unnatural desires - and a need to spread the contagion and create a secret colony of the transformed. Now the meaning of "survival" changes. For the babies born in the colony are clearly, undeniably, not human...

An NPR Books Great Read: Two never-before-published stories from the archives of one of science fiction’s all-time masters. The novella “A Necessary Being” showcases Octavia E. Butler’s ability to create alien yet fully believable “others.” Tahneh’s father was a Hao, one of a dwindling race whose leadership abilities render them so valuable that their members are captured and forced to govern. When her father dies, Tahneh steps into his place, both chief and prisoner, and for twenty years has ruled without ever meeting another of her kind. She bears her loneliness privately until the day that a Hao youth is spotted wandering into her territory. As her warriors sharpen their weapons, Tahneh must choose between imprisoning the newcomer—and living the rest of her life alone. The second story in this volume, “Childfinder,” was commissioned by Harlan Ellison for his legendary (and never-published) anthology The Last Dangerous Visions™. A disaffected telepath connects with a young girl in a desperate attempt to help her harness her growing powers. But in the richly evocative fiction of Octavia E. Butler, mentorship is a rocky path, and every lesson comes at a price. The award-winning author of science fiction classics Parable of the Sower and Kindred bestows these compelling, long lost gems “like the miraculous discovery that the beloved book you’ve read a dozen times has an extra chapter” (Los Angeles Review of Books). Harlan Ellison and Dangerous Visions are registered trademarks of the Kilimanjaro Corporation. All rights reserved.

Este relato, que ganó el premio Hugo en 1984, fue escrito por Butler tras presenciar una sangrienta y absurda pelea mientras iba en el autobús. En su colección de relatos, Bloodchild and Other Stories, Butler afirmaba que al presenciar la pelea se preguntó «si la especie humana evolucionaría lo suficiente para comunicarse sin emplear un tipo u otro de puños». Y entonces, se le ocurrió la primera línea de este relato. Originalmente, Valdemar la publicó en las páginas 15 a 34 de la antología Paisajes del Apocalipsis: antología de relatos sobre el final de los tiempos (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16158836-paisajes-del-apocalipsis?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=eamov0RGVV&rank=1). La editorial lo ofreció gratuitamente en la red como ayuda para el confinamiento por la pandemia del COVID-19 el 4 de abril de 2020.

Set on a distant planet, Bloodchild is Octavia E. Butler’s shattering meditation on symbiosis, love, power and tough choices. It won the Hugo, Locus, Nebula and Science Fiction Chronicle awards and is widely regarded as one of her greatest works. Years ago, a group known as the Terrans left Earth in search of a life free of persecution. Now they live alongside the Tlic, an alien race who face extinction; their only chance of survival is to plant their larvae inside the bodies of the humans. When Gan, a young boy, is chosen as a carrier of Tlic eggs, he faces an impossible dilemma: can he really help the species he has grown up with, even if it means sacrificing his own life? Perfect for fans of the thrilling Arrival and the works of Ursula Le Guin.

Californie, 2025. Exclusion, misère, violence atteignent des proportions inégalées. A quinze ans, Lauren, fille d'un pasteur noir, est jetée sur les routes après le massacre de sa famille. Dans ce monde détruit, elle trace son chemin à travers le chaos, semant une parole d'espoir et de paix pour les déshérités, et plaidant pour une humanité nouvelle. Violence et humanité, aliénation et transcendance, asservissement et liberté, séparation et communauté, antiracisme... Magnifiques variations sur les grands thèmes butleriens, mais aussi inoubliables romans de résistance, La Parabole du semeur et sa suite, La Parabole des talents (Editions Au diable vauvert), prennent en ce début de millénaire, des accents d'une actualité brûlante.

One woman is called upon to rebuild the future of humankind after a nuclear war, in this revelatory post-apocalyptic tale from the award-winning author of Parable of the Sower. When Lilith lyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. She discovers that the Oankali—a seemingly benevolent alien race—intervened in the fate of the humanity hundreds of years ago, saving everyone who survived a nuclear war from a dying, ruined Earth and then putting them into a deep sleep. After learning all they could about Earth and its beings, the Oankali healed the planet, cured cancer, increased human strength, and they now want Lilith to lead her people back to Earth—but salvation comes at a price. Hopeful and thought-provoking, this post-apocalyptic narrative deftly explores gender and race through the eyes of characters struggling to adapt during a pivotal time of crisis and change.

Know Thy Enemy They fled from an Earth ravaged by plague and violence, seeking to fulfill their holy mission -- to discover a new home for humanity. But instead of landing in a peace-filled paradise, Earth's Missionaries find themselves caught between two warring civilizations -- the Garkohn and Tehkohn. And only one of the people from Earth, a young girl and "converted" Missionary named Alanna, has the proper survival training to see through the lies of their Garkohn "hosts," who extend the hand of friendship to the humans only to enslave them. Alanna alone can understand the necessity of becoming one with the Tehkohn "enemy." And, perhaps, she can find a way to release the Missionaries from the deadly bondage into which they have complacently fallen. Yet even if she succeeds, will Alanna merely be saving them for a still more inescapable doom . . . ?

Archived: Does not meet catalog guidelines

In her classic Patternist series, multiple Hugo and Nebula award winner Octavia E. Butler established themes of identity and transformation that echo throughout her distinguished career. Now collected for the first time in one volume, these four novels take readers on a wondrous odyssey from a mythic, primordial past to a fantastic far future. In ancient Africa, a female demigod of nurture and fertility mates with a powerful, destructive male entity. Together they birth a race of madmen, visionaries, and psychics who cling to civilization's margins and back alleys for millennia, coming together in a telepathic Pattern just as Earth is consumed by a cosmic invasion. Now these new beings -- no longer merely human -- will battle to rule the transfigured world. Contents (including original publication dates): Wild Seed (1980) Mind of My Mind (1977) Clay's Ark (1984) Patternmaster (1976) [Not included: Survivor (1978)]

Pochi scrittori hanno saputo aprire nuove riflessioni sulla contemporaneità partendo da premesse vertiginosamente fantastiche come quelle che troviamo nella narrativa di Octavia Butler. Perennemente sospese tra utopia e distopia, le sue storie ci obbligano a salti del pensiero in apparenza paradossali, ma ci riportano ogni volta alle radici concrete e umanissime del nostro stare nel mondo. Cosa accadrebbe in una società in cui la parola fosse scomparsa per sempre, e con essa la capacità di mediare i conflitti tramite il dialogo, lasciandoci come unica risorsa disponibile l’uso della violenza? Si può immaginare un mondo in cui siano gli uomini e non le donne a dover sopportare il fardello della gravidanza? Cosa chiederemmo a Dio, se avessimo la possibilità di incontrarlo (o di incontrarla) e di esprimere uno e un solo desiderio per salvare il genere umano dall’autodistruzione? Segnalato dal New York Times tra i migliori libri dell’anno e tradotto oggi per la prima volta in italiano, La sera, il giorno e la notte è una lettura imprescindibile per gli appassionati di speculative fiction, uno sguardo ravvicinato su una delle menti creative più coraggiose e visionarie della letteratura statunitense.

Más de treinta y cinco años después de su lanzamiento, "Parentesco" sigue atrayendo a nuevos lectores con su profunda exploración de la violencia y la pérdida de la humanidad causada por la esclavitud en Estados Unidos, y el impacto complejo y duradero que aún tiene este hecho histórico en la actualidad. La obra más famosa de Butler, aclamada por la crítica, cuenta la historia de Dana, una joven negra que de repente e inexplicablemente es transportada desde su hogar en la California de la década de 1970 hasta la guerra civil. Mientras viaja en el tiempo entre ambos mundos, uno en el que es una mujer libre y otro en el que forma parte de su propia y complicada historia familiar en una plantación del sur, se enreda aterradoramente en la vida de Rufus, un conflictivo esclavista que es a la vez un antepasado de Dana, y en las vidas de las muchas personas que están esclavizadas por él. Considerada como una obra esencial dentro de los géneros feminista, de ciencia ficción y fantasía, y una piedra angular del movimiento afrofuturista, se han vendido más de medio millón de copias de "Parentesco". La interseccionalidad de la raza, la historia y el tratamiento de las mujeres abordada en este libro sigue siendo un tema crítico en el diálogo contemporáneo, tanto en el aula como en la esfera pública. Inquietante, convincente y de una rica imaginación, "Parentesco" ofrece una mirada inquebrantable a nuestra complicada historia social.

Cuando Lilith Iyapo despertó ya no estaba en la Tierra. Porque la Tierra estaba muerta, y Lilith, temía, estaba viva. Pero los terrores que atormentaban su pasado no eran nada comparados con el futuro que sus salvadores alienígenas habían elegido para ella. Los oankali, comerciantes genéticos que manipulaban el ADN, como el hombre que había moldeado en sus tiempos el metal, exigían su precio por el rescate de la humanidad. Y su precio era la única herencia que la especie humana tenía por ofrecer: ¡los oankali querían a cambio la propia humanidad! Planeaban engendrar con los humanos. Y no había forma alguna de detenerles…

Cuando el cambio climático global y las crisis económicas conducen al caos social a principios de la década de 2020, California se llena de peligros, desde la escasez generalizada de agua hasta las masas de vagabundos que harán cualquier cosa para sobrevivir otro día más. Lauren Olamina, una joven adolescente de quince años, vive dentro de una comunidad cerrada con su padre, un predicador, su familia y sus vecinos, relativamente protegida de la anarquía circundante. En una sociedad donde cualquier vulnerabilidad es un riesgo, ella sufre de hiperempatía, una sensibilidad debilitante hacia las emociones de los demás. Precoz y lúcida, Lauren debe hacer oír su voz para proteger a sus seres queridos de los desastres inminentes que su pequeña comunidad ignora obstinadamente. Pero lo que comienza como una lucha por la supervivencia pronto conduce al nacimiento de una nueva fe y a una sorprendente visión del destino humano.

Lilith Iyapo is in the Andes, mourning the death of her family, when war destroys Earth. Centuries later, she is resurrected -- by miraculously powerful unearthly beings, the Oankali. Driven by an irresistible need to heal others, the Oankali are rescuing our dying planet by merging genetically with mankind. But Lilith and all humanity must now share the world with uncanny, unimaginably alien creatures: their own children. This is their story...

From Book 1: Rescued from Earth’s destruction, one woman is called upon to revive mankind Lilith Iyapo has just lost her husband and son when atomic fire consumes Earth—the last stage of the planet’s final war. Hundreds of years later Lilith awakes, deep in the hold of a massive alien spacecraft piloted by the Oankali—who arrived just in time to save humanity from extinction. They have kept Lilith and other survivors asleep for centuries, as they learned whatever they could about Earth. Now it is time for Lilith to lead them back to her home world, but life among the Oankali on the newly resettled planet will be nothing like it was before. The Oankali survive by genetically merging with primitive civilizations—whether their new hosts like it or not. For the first time since the nuclear holocaust, Earth will be inhabited. Grass will grow, animals will run, and people will learn to survive the planet’s untamed wilderness. But their children will not be human. Not exactly.

eine reise in die vergangenheit wird zur auseinandersetzung mit der gegenwart. ein packender roman über das rassistische system der sklaverei, familiäre verstrickungen und gesellschaftliche verantwortung. kindred – alles ist verbunden. beschreibung: dana, eine junge Schwarze schriftstellerin, ist frisch verheiratet und voller hoffnung, als sie 1976 mit ihrem weißen ehemann, kevin, nach altadena umzieht. noch umgeben von umzugskisten wird sie plötzlich in ein völlig anderes jahrzehnt und an einen vermeintlich unbekannten ort versetzt: dort rettet sie einen kleinen jungen namens rufus vor dem ertrinken, bevor sie sich durchnässt in den 70ern und ihrem neuen haus wiederfindet. danas unerklärliche zeitreisen passieren scheinbar spontan und immer häufiger. sie erfährt, dass diese sie in die zeit vor dem us-amerikanischen sezessionskrieg führen – einer zeit also, in der Schwarze menschen afrikanischer herkunft von weißen menschen versklavt worden sind. am eigenen leib muss sie erleben, was es heißt, als Schwarze frau auf einer plantage im süden der usa zu leben. auf der suche nach erklärungen begegnet dana erneut rufus, bis sie erkennt, dass ihre rolle als seine beschützerin auch für ihr eigenes leben essentiell ist … eindringlich wie mitreißend schildert octavia e. butler in »kindred – verbunden« die geschichte von dana und reflektiert darin die vielschichtigen verbindungen von rassismus und sexismus in vergangenheit und gegenwart. der roman, im original »kindred« (1979), wurde zum bekanntesten werk octavia e. butlers und erscheint nun in neuer deutschsprachiger übersetzung. octavia e. butler (1947–2006) war us-amerikanische autorin, die über das schreiben von science-fiction-literatur als eine von nur wenigen Schwarzen autorinnen in diesem genre weltweite rezeption erfahren hat. ihr schreiben wurde mehrfach ausgezeichnet, u.a. mit dem hugo und nebula award. mirjam nuenning, geb. 1979, ist übersetzerin und liebt afrodiasporische literatur. nach einem 8-jährigen aufenthalt in washington dc lebt mirjam mit ihren kindern erneut in berlin. als freiberuflerin möchte sie Schwarze literatur auch für die deutsche sprachwelt erfahrbar zu machen.

Immerwährender Wandel Kalifornien im Jahre 2025: Die Regierung ist handlungsunfähig, der Bundesstaat leidet unter Wasserarmut. Wer es sich leisten kann, lebt hinter dicken Mauern zum Schutz vor den kriminellen Banden, die ohne Gnade rauben, vergewaltigen und morden. In dieser Welt wächst die fünfzehnjährige Lauren Olamina als Tochter eines Baptistenpriesters auf. Sie ist hyperempathisch – sie fühlt die Schmerzen anderer am eigenen Leib. Als ihre kleine Gemeinde angegriffen und zerstört wird, macht sie sich auf eine gefährliche Reise nach Norden, um ihren Platz in dieser Welt zu finden...

This Nebula Award-winning sequel to Parable of the Sower continues the story of Lauren Olamina in socially and economically depressed California in the 2030s. Convinced that her community should colonize the stars, Lauren and her followers make preparations. But the collapse of society and rise of fanatics result in Lauren's followers being enslaved, and her daughter stolen from her. Now, Lauren must fight back to save the new world order.

The wise words of science fiction icon Octavia E. Butler live on in this beautiful and giftable little volume. “There’s no single answer that will solve all our future problems. There’s no magic bullet. Instead there are thousands of answers—at least. You can be one of them if you choose to be.” Originally published in Essence magazine in the year 2000, Octavia E. Butler’s essay “A Few Rules for Predicting the Future” offers an honest look into the inspiration behind her science fiction novels and the importance of studying history and taking responsibility for our actions if we are to move forward.  Organized into four main rules, this short essay reminds readers to learn from the past, respect the law of consequences, be aware of their perspectives, and count on the surprises. Citing the warning signs of fascism, the illusive effects of fear and wishful thinking, and the unpredictable nature of what is yet to come, Butler shares realistic but hopeful suggestions to shape our future into something good. An inspiring and motivational gift for students and recent graduates, fans of Butler's work, and anyone seeking a brighter day tomorrow, this exquisite gift book includes stunning Afrofuturist artwork by Manzel Bowman alongside the full text of the original essay. LITERARY Octavia E. Butler was a pioneering science fiction writer whose novels, written decades ago, remain eerily relevant, reflecting on themes of racial injustice, women’s rights, environmental collapse, and political corruption. In 1995, she became the first science fiction author to win a MacArthur Genius grant, and her books are taught in over 200 colleges and universities nationwide. This book shares Butler's timely but lesser-known essay and is a must-read for fans of her classic sci-fi works.   CELEBRATE BLACK This book spotlights one of the greatest authors of Afrofuturism, a genre and philosophy that explores and reimagines Black culture, creativity, and liberation through fiction, art, music, film, and other media. Octavia E. Butler’s forward-thinking essay is paired with contemporary illustrations by Manzel Bowman, whose evocative images are also inspired by Afrofuturist visions.   INSPIRING A unique gift for students, recent graduates, and anyone celebrating life milestones or looking forward in life, this beautifully designed hardcover book is sure to inspire. Octavia E. Butler’s essay is also an important, evergreen reminder for writers, creatives, dreamers, and activists who want to envision and work toward a brighter future. Perfect

La parabola del seminatore ci porta in un futuro molto prossimo e drammaticamente credibile, un mondo di orrore e disperazione, di comunità che vivono segregate e nel terrore di malattie e devastazioni. Lauren Olamina è una diciottenne 'iperempatica', è in grado cioè di provare il dolore delle persone che la circondano. Rinchiusa in una enclave della California assieme a pochi parenti, Lauren vive isolata dal mondo esterno violento e brutale, in cui la distanza tra ricchi e poveri si è fatta ormai abissale, e solo i più cinici e forti sono in grado di sopravvivere. All'improvviso questo delicato equilibrio viene sconvolto, e Lauren dovrà intraprendere un viaggio lungo e travagliato attraverso la devastazione, alla ricerca di una nuova terra promessa.

In her classic Patternist series, multiple Hugo and Nebula award winner Octavia E. Butler established themes of identity and transformation that echo throughout her distinguished career. Now collected for the first time in one volume, these four novels take readers on a wondrous odyssey from a mythic, primordial past to a fantastic far future. In ancient Africa, a female demigod of nurture and fertility mates with a powerful, destructive male entity. Together they birth a race of madmen, visionaries, and psychics who cling to civilization's margins and back alleys for millennia, coming together in a telepathic Pattern just as Earth is consumed by a cosmic invasion. Now these new beings -- no longer merely human -- will battle to rule the transfigured world. Contents (including original publication dates): Wild Seed (1980) Mind of My Mind (1977) Clay's Ark (1984) Patternmaster (1976) [Not included: Survivor (1978)]

Fledgling, Octavia Butler's first new novel in seven years, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly un-human needs and abilities lead her to a startling she is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted—and still wants—to destroy her and those she cares for, and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human.

A perfect introduction for new readers and a must-have for avid fans, this New York Times Notable Book includes "Bloodchild," winner of both the Hugo and the Nebula awards and "Speech Sounds," winner of the Hugo Award. Appearing in print for the first time, "Amnesty" is a story of a woman named Noah who works to negotiate the tense and co-dependent relationship between humans and a species of invaders. Also new to this collection is "The Book of Martha" which asks: What would you do if God granted you the ability—and responsibility—to save humanity from itself?Like all of Octavia Butler’s best writing, these works of the imagination are parables of the contemporary world. She proves constant in her vigil, an unblinking pessimist hoping to be proven wrong, and one of contemporary literature’s strongest voices. Bloodchild The evening and the morning and the night Near of kin Speech sounds Crossover Positive obsession Furor scribendi Amnesty The Book of Martha

Alternate Cover Edition can be found here. A multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner’s powerful saga of survival and destiny in a near-future dystopian America. One of the world’s most respected authors of science fiction imagines an apocalyptic near-future Earth where a remarkable young woman discovers that her destiny calls her to try and change the world around her. Octavia E. Butler’s brilliant two-volume Earthseed saga offers a startling vision of an all-too-possible tomorrow, in which walls offer no protection from a civilization gone mad. Parable of the Sower: In the aftermath of worldwide ecological and economic apocalypse, minister’s daughter Lauren Oya Olamina escapes the slaughter that claims the lives of her family and nearly every other member of their gated California community. Heading north with two young companions through an American wasteland, the courageous young woman faces dangers at every turn while spreading the word of a remarkable new religion that embraces survival and change. Parable of the Talents: Called to the new, hard truth of Earthseed, the small community of the dispossessed that now surrounds Lauren Olamina looks to her—their leader—for guidance. But when the evil that has grown out of the ashes of human society destroys all she has built, the prophet is forced to choose between preserving her faith or her family. The Earthseed novels cement Butler’s reputation as “one of the finest voices in fiction—period” (TheWashington Post Book World). Stunningly prescient and breathtakingly relevant to our times, this dark vision of a future America is a masterwork of powerful speculation that ushers us into a broken, dangerously divided world of bigotry, social inequality, mob violence, and ultimately hope.

Also published in Bloodchild and Other Stories

The visionary author’s masterpiece pulls us—along with her Black female hero—through time to face the horrors of slavery and explore the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now. Dana, a modern Black woman, is celebrating her 26th birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana’s life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.

In 2024, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future. Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others. When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind.