Listen free for 30 days
-
Parable of the Sower
- Narrated by: Lynne Thigpen
- Length: 12 hrs
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $4.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Buy it with
-
Wild Seed
- The Patternist Series, Book 1
- Written by: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For a thousand years, Doro has cultivated a small African village, carefully breeding its people in search of seemingly unattainable perfection. He survives through the centuries by stealing the bodies of others, a technique he has so thoroughly mastered that nothing on Earth can kill him. But when a gang of New World slavers destroys his village, ruining his grand experiment, Doro is forced to go west and begin anew. He meets Anyanwu, a centuries-old woman whose means of immortality are as kind as his are cruel. Now they begin a struggle that will last centuries.
-
-
Engrossing and compelling
- By Laura Lee on 2023-03-12
Written by: Octavia E. Butler
-
Kindred
- Written by: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Kim Staunton
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning White boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes she's been given a challenge.
-
-
Absolutely Amazing
- By Alicia C on 2020-03-11
Written by: Octavia E. Butler
-
Mind of My Mind
- Written by: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary is a treacherous experiment. Her creator, an immortal named Doro, has molded the human race for generations, seeking out those with unusual talents like telepathy and breeding them into a new subrace of humans who obey his every command. The result is Mary: a young black woman living on the rough outskirts of Los Angeles in the 1970s, who has no idea how much power she will soon wield.
Written by: Octavia E. Butler
-
Emergent Strategy
- Written by: adrienne maree brown
- Narrated by: adrienne maree brown
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of Octavia Butler, here is radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help to shape the futures we want. Change is constant. The world, our bodies, and our minds are in a constant state of flux. They are a stream of ever-mutating, emergent patterns. Rather than steel ourselves against such change, Emergent Strategy teaches us to map and assess the swirling structures and to read them as they happen, all the better to shape that which ultimately shapes us, personally and politically.
-
-
So good
- By Anonymous User on 2023-07-03
Written by: adrienne maree brown
-
Dawn
- Written by: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Julienne Irons
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
Written by: Octavia E. Butler
-
Octavia's Brood
- Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
- Written by: Adrienne Maree Brown, Walidah Imarisha
- Narrated by: Je Nie Fleming
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whenever we envision a world without war, without prisons, without capitalism, we are producing speculative fiction. Organizers and activists envision and try to create such worlds all the time. Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown have brought 20 of them together in the first anthology of short stories to explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change.
Written by: Adrienne Maree Brown, and others
-
Wild Seed
- The Patternist Series, Book 1
- Written by: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For a thousand years, Doro has cultivated a small African village, carefully breeding its people in search of seemingly unattainable perfection. He survives through the centuries by stealing the bodies of others, a technique he has so thoroughly mastered that nothing on Earth can kill him. But when a gang of New World slavers destroys his village, ruining his grand experiment, Doro is forced to go west and begin anew. He meets Anyanwu, a centuries-old woman whose means of immortality are as kind as his are cruel. Now they begin a struggle that will last centuries.
-
-
Engrossing and compelling
- By Laura Lee on 2023-03-12
Written by: Octavia E. Butler
-
Kindred
- Written by: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Kim Staunton
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning White boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes she's been given a challenge.
-
-
Absolutely Amazing
- By Alicia C on 2020-03-11
Written by: Octavia E. Butler
-
Mind of My Mind
- Written by: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary is a treacherous experiment. Her creator, an immortal named Doro, has molded the human race for generations, seeking out those with unusual talents like telepathy and breeding them into a new subrace of humans who obey his every command. The result is Mary: a young black woman living on the rough outskirts of Los Angeles in the 1970s, who has no idea how much power she will soon wield.
Written by: Octavia E. Butler
-
Emergent Strategy
- Written by: adrienne maree brown
- Narrated by: adrienne maree brown
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of Octavia Butler, here is radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help to shape the futures we want. Change is constant. The world, our bodies, and our minds are in a constant state of flux. They are a stream of ever-mutating, emergent patterns. Rather than steel ourselves against such change, Emergent Strategy teaches us to map and assess the swirling structures and to read them as they happen, all the better to shape that which ultimately shapes us, personally and politically.
-
-
So good
- By Anonymous User on 2023-07-03
Written by: adrienne maree brown
-
Dawn
- Written by: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Julienne Irons
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
Written by: Octavia E. Butler
-
Octavia's Brood
- Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
- Written by: Adrienne Maree Brown, Walidah Imarisha
- Narrated by: Je Nie Fleming
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whenever we envision a world without war, without prisons, without capitalism, we are producing speculative fiction. Organizers and activists envision and try to create such worlds all the time. Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown have brought 20 of them together in the first anthology of short stories to explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change.
Written by: Adrienne Maree Brown, and others
-
The Dispossessed
- A Novel
- Written by: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life. Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Anarres, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.
-
-
Inner walls are the highest
- By Mike Ivanov on 2021-06-11
Written by: Ursula K. Le Guin
-
The Water Knife
- Written by: Paolo Bacigalupi
- Narrated by: Almarie Guerra
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the American Southwest, Nevada, Arizona, and California skirmish for dwindling shares of the Colorado River. Into the fray steps Angel Velasquez, detective, leg breaker, assassin, and spy. A Las Vegas water knife, Angel "cuts" water for his boss, Catherine Case, ensuring that her lush, luxurious arcology developments can bloom in the desert, so the rich can stay wet while the poor get nothing but dust.
-
-
Excellent World Building
- By CleverFool on 2021-08-27
Written by: Paolo Bacigalupi
-
Annihilation
- The Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 1
- Written by: Jeff VanderMeer
- Narrated by: Carolyn McCormick
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. This is the 12th expedition, and their group is made up of four women. Part of their mission is to map the terrain and collect specimens, and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself. They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers, but it's the surprises that came across the border with them, and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another, that change everything.
-
-
3.5 stars
- By Greg at 2 Book Lovers Reviews on 2019-02-16
Written by: Jeff VanderMeer
-
The Shadow of the Torturer
- The Book of the New Sun, Book 1
- Written by: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in the four-volume epic, the tale of a young Severian, an apprentice to the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession - showing mercy towards his victim.
Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Sun" is one of speculative fiction's most-honored series. In a 1998 poll, Locus Magazine rated the series behind only "The Lord of the Rings" and The Hobbit as the greatest fantasy work of all time.
-
-
My new favorite book series
- By Liam on 2021-02-14
Written by: Gene Wolfe
-
Flowers for Algernon
- Written by: Daniel Keyes
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlie Gordon knows that he isn't very bright. At 32, he mops floors in a bakery and earns just enough to get by. Three evenings a week, he studies at a center for mentally challenged adults. But all of this is about to change for Charlie. As part of a daring experiment, doctors are going to perform surgery on Charlie's brain. They hope the operation and special medication will increase his intelligence, just as it has for the laboratory mouse, Algernon.
-
-
Great read
- By brandie on 2021-07-29
Written by: Daniel Keyes
-
The Perfect Run
- The Perfect Run, Book 1
- Written by: Maxime J. Durand, Void Herald
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 17 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryan "Quicksave" Romano is an eccentric adventurer with a strange power: he can create a save-point in time and redo his life whenever he dies. Arriving in New Rome, the glitzy capital of sin of a rebuilding Europe, he finds the city torn between mega-corporations, sponsored heroes, super-powered criminals, and true monsters. It's a time of chaos, where potions can grant the power to rule the world and dangers lurk everywhere.
-
-
Great book and series!
- By Jenny Zhao on 2022-11-18
Written by: Maxime J. Durand, and others
-
Imajica
- Written by: Clive Barker
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 37 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imajica is an epic beyond compare: vast in conception, obsessively detailed in execution, and apocalyptic in its resolution. At its heart lies the sensualist and master art forger Gentle, whose life unravels when he encounters Judith Odell, whose power to influence the destinies of men is vaster than she knows, and Pie "oh" pah, an alien assassin who comes from a hidden dimension.
-
-
Great Story
- By Jason on 2021-05-30
Written by: Clive Barker
-
Teaching to Transgress
- Education as the Practice of Freedom
- Written by: bell hooks
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Teaching to Transgress, Bell Hooks - writer, teacher, and insurgent black intellectual - writes about a new kind of education, education as the practice of freedom. Teaching students to "transgress" against racial, sexual, and class boundaries in order to achieve the gift of freedom is, for Hooks, the teacher's most important goal. Bell Hooks speakes to the heart of education today: how can we rethink teaching practices in the age of multiculturalism? What do we do about teachers who do not want to teach, and students who do not want to learn? How should we deal with racism and sexism in the classroom? Full of passion and politics, Teaching to Transgress combines a practical knowledge of the classroom with a deeply felt connection to the world of emotions and feelings. This is the rare book about teachers and students that dares to raise questions about eros and rage, grief and reconciliation, and the future of teaching itself.
-
-
A must read for every teacher at every level
- By Anjali Menezes on 2023-09-10
Written by: bell hooks
-
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
- Crossing Press Feminist Series, Book 1
- Written by: Audre Lorde
- Narrated by: Robin Eller
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Presenting the essential writings of black lesbian poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider celebrates an influential voice in 20th-century literature. In this charged collection of 15 essays and speeches, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. Her prose is incisive, unflinching, and lyrical, reflecting struggle but ultimately offering messages of hope.
-
-
difficult to follow narrator
- By Amazon Customer on 2017-11-13
Written by: Audre Lorde
-
The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun
- A Mayan Tale of Ecstasy, Time, and Finding One's True Form
- Written by: Martín Prechtel
- Narrated by: Martín Prechtel
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Martín Prechtel revives a hitherto unknown Guatemalan Tzutujil Mayan tale of the beginnings of the world with a poetic retelling of the story. Prechtel authoritatively retells the powerful tale of the Tall Girl who weaves the world in a loom, her parents the Sun and the Moon who repudiate her suitors, and the mysterious man who disguises himself as a hummingbird to lure her away.
Written by: Martín Prechtel
-
Red Mars
- Written by: Kim Stanley Robinson
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 23 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, Red Mars is the first book in Kim Stanley Robinson's best-selling trilogy. Red Mars is praised by scientists for its detailed visions of future technology. It is also hailed by authors and critics for its vivid characters and dramatic conflicts.
For centuries, the red planet has enticed the people of Earth. Now an international group of scientists has colonized Mars. Leaving Earth forever, these 100 people have traveled nine months to reach their new home. This is the remarkable story of the world they create - and the hidden power struggles of those who want to control it.
-
-
Not what you're expecting.
- By Joe on 2018-12-10
Written by: Kim Stanley Robinson
-
Anathem
- Written by: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Tavia Gilbert, William Dufris, and others
- Length: 32 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fraa Erasmus is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the "Saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities, and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs, bloody violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community.
-
-
Only for elite hard sci fi lovers
- By Robert on 2018-04-21
Written by: Neal Stephenson
Publisher's Summary
God is change. That is the central truth of the Earthseed movement, whose unlikely prophet is 18-year-old Lauren Olamina. The young woman's diary entries tell the story of her life amid a violent 21st-century hell of walled neighborhoods and drug-crazed pyromaniacs - and reveal her evolving Earthseed philosophy. Against a backdrop of horror emerges a message of hope: if we are willing to embrace divine change, we will survive to fulfill our destiny among the stars.
For her elegant, literate works of science fiction, Octavia E. Butler has been compared to Toni Morrison and Ursula K. LeGuin. Narrator Lynne Thigpen's melodious voice will hold you spellbound throughout this compelling parable of modern society.
More from the same
What listeners say about Parable of the Sower
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Heather Connell
- 2020-09-03
First Afrofuturism, first futurism and it’s a yes!
I had no idea what futurism was when I read the Reading Women Challenge prompt, “A book featuring Afrofuturism or Africanfuturism. I barely read anything that isn’t non-fiction. I have never been a fan of fantasy(which I had thought this prompt was) and I was worried I wouldn’t like it. After researching the topic I was more hopeful that I would enjoy it. After reading many reviews I choose Octavia E Butler and I am so glad I did. I throughly enjoyed this book and would like to read more of her books. The story was captivating. Odd at time’s but kept my attention the entire time. Oddly enough the “prepping” ideas Lauren has and actions she takes are things I’ve already been considering as just good sense give the year 2020 has shown us. I have nothing to compare this book to as it’s my first Afrofuturism but if you’re considering a new genre of books, Octavia is a good author to start with for this one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sarah Ferrara
- 2018-11-27
Readers voice is best part
A good audible book. The reading was well done. I think better enjoyed as an audible vs a written book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jared.karpa
- 2020-07-24
Harsh review for a half-decent story
I have a hard time with books written as 1st person narratives. I find it much harder to be engaged in the broader story when your perspective is so narrowly defined. I also dislike the journal format; it pulls the reader out of the present and reduces the tension of the moment because it’s written as the past. I also felt there were a lot of unrealistic inconsistencies about how much society was falling apart and yet some things were still functioning. The Earthseed concepts felt underdeveloped as did the “sharing”. All in all though, the story was still very engaging and —full disclosure—I tend to be pretty harsh on reviews compared to others. This wouldn’t be the first book I’d choose but it certainly wasn’t time wasted either.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2020-03-03
Bleh
Struggled to finish it... I found the protagonist's know-it-all attitude / perception a bit much to tolerate. And the apathetic tone of the narrator made it even worse. Three quarters of the way through the story and I could care less about the characters.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kerry Joane Goring
- 2023-04-12
Powerful, Telling and Sadly Timeless
An amazing read because of how right on time it is. It gives the listener a peek at the dire consequences of what happens when a society rapidly declines because of climate change, mixed in with the slash-and-burn scramble of greed in a post-capitalist age.
As you can imagine, this book is heavy because of the subject matter, but Lynn Thigpen's melodic narration was soothing and musical, even through some of the most brutal scenes recounted in the story.
A great listen but pace yourself and be ready to self-care.
It may hit you uncomfortably close to home.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mag M
- 2023-01-26
Prophetic and heartbreaking
Such a gorgeous way to experience this Butler classic - the narrator strikes a strong balance between having a soft empathic voice appropriate to the character, while conveying stoicism and shock describing the horrible atrocities in the plot. Definitely listening to the sequels!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Atian
- 2023-01-26
Decent, but not great
Terrible audio. You hear mouth noises constantly. in chapter 24 with 1hr 4 mins remaining in the book can literally hear the narrator's stomach growling as she speaks. why they didn't correct for any of these noises boggles my mind.
The story was okay. spent half the book describing the starting town setting in a lot of detail before anything important happens. as others have said it's a little annoying how much of a preachy know-it-all the main character is but somehow everyone considers that some sort of charismatic draw? doesn't make much sense to me.
Very little seems to happen over the course of such a lengthy book. seems to me like an attempt to stretch the series into more books or that the editor was not very good at cutting it down. won't be checking out any of the following books in this series if they are anything like the first
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2022-12-24
A Good General Dystopian Survival Guide
Great teller. Compelling characters. The story is sad and will stick with you. Some features of the dystopia feel contrived while others are real and unique to this body of work. The story is worth your time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2022-12-07
100% Must Read, excellent female-authored fantasy
Couldn't put it down. I powered through this and then immediately read Parable of the Talents. The narrator was excellent. As a woman, I struggle to find fantasy novels that don't make me physically cringe with their description of women, or their complete lack of realistic female characters. When describing this issue to a friend, he recommended Olivia Butler.
I was shocked to find out when this book was written. You'd think it was written during the Trump era, but it was merely predicting things that would come to pass, like the resurgence of the Reagan era "Make America Great Again" slogan.
This deserves to be considered a classic, ala Atwood's Handmaiden. The book doesn't focus on the plight of women, but of racism and classism, and the general tendency of humanity to form in and outgroups.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Marianne Breton
- 2022-10-11
The best of dystopian sci-fi
My only regret is that her body of work is complete. This author should had the time to write more.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amber
- 2014-05-28
Dystopia before dystopia was cool...
Love, love narrator Lynne Thigpen. LOVE HER. While hers is plainly the voice of a mature woman and not a teenager, she perfectly channels Lauren’s “old soul” persona. A few reviewers have complained that she’s too slow, but poetry is not improved by speeding it up, and Thigpen’s reading is just that—pure poetry. Her voice is raw silk, and her pacing and inflections are perfection, adding layers of meaning to a single word of dialog. I hung on every sentence, every word, and was happy to be carried along at the story’s natural pace. Hungry for more of her work, I looked her up. It’s clear that she has been pigeonholed into only reading audiobooks with black protagonists, and a small number of those, which I think is a gross under-appreciation of her talents.
On its face, there’s nothing that extraordinary about the plot—it’s a classic dystopian/post-apocalyptic future story, in which a band of survivors travels a ruined country, fending off bandits and natural disasters, searching for a safe haven in which to build a secure new home. If any of it seems clichéd, bear in mind it was first published in 1993, before dystopia became trendy and the genre became so glutted.
Butler first sets the scene, in a grim near-future that’s all too easy to imagine- America’s (and perhaps the world’s--that is left purposely vague) economy and government have become moribund, leaving thousands unemployed, homeless and desperate. While familiar institutions like police and fire departments and federal and state governments still exist, they are ineffectual, and violence and vigilante justice have become the law of the land in most places. Lauren Olamina is one of the relatively lucky ones—a member of a shrinking middle class, living in an armed, walled neighborhood in the outskirts of Los Angeles, drifting closer to poverty every year as the times grow leaner, the climate grows drier, and the thieves outside grow more desperate. Blessed with a dream and a gift for oratory, Lauren leaves the smoking ruins of her home and sets forth with a gun, a few hundred dollars, two traveling companions, and little else but her own determination to survive. Adventure ensues.
It’s Lauren’s philosophical ideas, not the plot, that captivated me. Lauren, a young woman of passing vision and resolve, daughter of the neighborhood’s Baptist minister, has been observing the decline of society her whole life, and concluded at the tender age of 15 that the religion of her father has no place in this tempestuous new world. The idea of God as a sort of super-person in the sky who cares individually about every soul and patiently waits to hear and answer humanity’s prayers is patently false to her… and more importantly, of no real use in this world. Her parents’ generation are doggedly waiting and praying for the good old days to return, but Lauren knows praying to the old gods won’t help – any good times which may lie ahead will have to be seized and built anew by those of her own generation. She invents—or discovers, depending on your point of view—a new religion for the new world she is determined to build, and calls it EarthSeed.
The principles of EarthSeed are simple, but profound. Its most basic, most often repeated tenet is,
“All that you touch, you Change.
All that you Change, Changes you.
The only lasting truth is Change.
God is Change.”
This may seem strange to those who are used to thinking of God as a person, or at least a consciousness. But if one defines God as simply that ultimate, most pervasive truth in the universe over which no higher power or truth can be found to hold sway, it makes perfect sense. When Lauren was questioned by her traveling companions, she answered simply, “Then show me another force that is more pervasive than change.” Everything changes, even the universe itself. Nothing is immune.
Like some of the characters in the book, I question whether Lauren’s ideas are truly a religion—after all, her philosophy doesn’t attempt to answer any of those fundamentally unanswerable questions that are the unique province of religion, such as, “Where do we come from?” “Where are we going?” or “Why are we here?” And it doesn’t appear to facially impose a moral code of behavior, at least not as it’s developed in this book. However, at least one verse from the Book of the Living hints at a moral code:
“Any Change may bear seeds of benefit. Seek them out.
Any Change may bear seeds of harm. Beware.
God is infinitely malleable. God is Change.”
Lauren’s character and ideas appeal to me on many levels. At the age of 15, she had the strength of will to challenge and reject as false and useless the religion practiced by the person she loved and respected most in the world. That’s not an easy thing, and it takes some very deep convictions. Her religion, such as it is, appeals to me as an atheist because it doesn’t require belief in or worship of anything supernatural or mystical—it is quite simply an acknowledgment of and respect for a natural truth of the universe. It is immanent rather than transcendent. Most importantly, it’s useful and helpful both in Lauren’s world and ours. It recognizes the spark of divinity in each of us—we can all be agents of Change. We can all be mini-deities and alter reality to create better or worse outcomes for ourselves and those around us. And we are all subject to the power of Change, and we must be prepared to face the consequences of our behavior and our environment. In EarthSeed’s credo, to plan, build, work, support your community and be supported by it, prepare for change and be ready for it, are sacred acts, or as close to sacred as Lauren is willing to offer. I suspect I’ll be thinking about these ideas for a long time to come and pondering how they apply to everyday life in this world rather than Lauren’s.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
130 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- David
- 2011-03-18
A dystopian vision of collapsed America
Lauren Olamina, a minister's daughter, lives in a gated community that falls prey to the violence and anarchy that's been eating away at the edges of civilization for years. It's a brutal novel, as everyone Lauren loves dies, and the deaths are often gruesome. Lauren herself suffers from a condition called hyper-empathy, which causes her to feel what people around her feel... a very bad thing when people around her are being attacked, raped, and killed.
But Lauren is anything but a fragile helpless character. She carries the seeds of a new religion, and she's been planning for the collapse since she was a child. This novel has a lot in common with similarly-themed SF where the protagonist is a "chosen one" destined to lead his or her people out of chaos and barbarism, except that no one has "chosen" Lauren. She's decided for herself that this is something she has to do.
The story takes us on Lauren's journey up the coast of California, as its highways are flooded with refugees and its cities burn (thanks in large part to a drug which turns people into psychotic pyromaniacs). What is most interesting is not Lauren's "adventures" (which are mostly just a series of tense encounters fraught with dangers, as she constantly has to weigh the need for allies against the hazards of trusting unknown people on the road) but the brutal laying bare of certain truths beneath our capitalist society. Lauren's father foresaw the coming collapse and tried to keep his family from being lured into company towns that were economic traps, but even he didn't foresee how bad things would really become. Lauren discovers that slavery is real, and has been real and common, right here in the U.S., for quite some time.
It's a cynical and pessimistic view of the future, but it's not far from how many people live today. Ultimately, the book gives some hope for the future, but there is certainly going to be more blood and tears along the way.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
52 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Daniel Ward
- 2015-01-02
Best Distopian Future Novel
What did you love best about Parable of the Sower?
Much of what Butler says about the world in this book, you can clearly see coming towards us in our times now. This book may, border on prophetic. LOL
What about Lynne Thigpen’s performance did you like?
Probably one of the best, if not THE best reading I've heard.
Perfect presentation of the story.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I wanted to listen to it all at once but, spread it out to make it last longer.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
34 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Peregrine
- 2009-10-24
A good story, a little preachy
I can't decide if the author intends us to take seriously the religion developed by the main character. It's pretty lightweight stuff. But the tale of survival in 2025 California is entertaining. It's not America in the post-apocalypse, exactly, but in the middle of new Great Depression as it is becoming a corrupt violent dangerous capitalist country like Brazil or India.
Some of the dialogue is embarrassingly stilted--audio books bring that out, and the reader is very, very slow--I listened on my iPhone in 2x speed, and I do believe that helped the pace.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
28 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- David S. Mathew
- 2017-01-17
Seeds among the Bitter Earth
This is the first half of Octavia Butler's Earthseed series. It is a coming of age story of a young girl surviving in a rapidly deteriorating world ravaged by unchecked corporate greed, open government corruption, and rampant crime. Rape, torture, and mutilation fairly common outside of walled communities. But not content to simply survive, our heroine grows a new religion, known as "Earthseed," to give hope to an almost hopeless world. Fair warning, this is the grimmest vision of the future I've read since The Road and this actually might be worse.
Also, special praise must be reserved for Lynne Thigpen. She is absolutely flawless in this production and I can't wait to listen to her again. Very highly recommended!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
26 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Alysia
- 2013-02-26
A Bit Dark but Beautiful
This is the second book I have read by Octavia Butler. And I have to say that this one was darker than Kindred. This book was dark yet gripping.
This book is was written in a journal style of a teenager named Lauren Olamina. The only daughter of a neighborhood preacher in 2024, California. The world has changed and violence, poverty, hunger is everywhere. Did I say violence? Wheww! I had to take a minute and stop here and there due to the graphic nature of the violence in this book. I think I am kinda ok with a bad guy (character) getting murdered, raped, or burned but when it happens to children in a book it seems to take my breath away. And not in a good way. The violence in 2024 does not discriminate at all. Young, old, men and woman are victims in this book.
But for some reason I was hooked to find out what happens to Lauren in this desperate landscape. Lauren's dream of creating an Earthseed community builds up as she travels from her home to a new Northern community. This is the backbone and the silver lining in the book that keeps the reader interested. I found myself worrying for Lauren and the people she meets along the way.
I really enjoyed the thoughtfulness of Octiavia Butler's writing. As I was listening to the book I could sense Octavia was giving us a glimpse of the future with a dose of the extreme terrible on top. What would happen if the $4.00 a gallon gas jumped to $40.00 a gallon? I for one would have to quite my job. Then what?
If you have a strong constitution and can handle violence in all forms then you might find this a great read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Maria Williams
- 2015-10-21
AMAZING Read!!!
This storyline was so enchanting and hypnotizing. I couldn't stop until I reached the end, and then grew upset because I wanted more, I went through every emotion, my eyes swelled up with tears more than once and despite the horrid conditions, there were moments I smiled in joy for Laura. This book makes you go into deep thought of social and environmental problems of today and what our future will look like if we continue. Amazing, amazing book. I must read more by Octavia Butler.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Krymson
- 2015-10-09
The Road meets the Celestine Prophesy
A lovely book and performance. Duskilly read and occasionally soft and tough to hear on a drive, but entrancing and worth stretching to listen.
I now want to read a Book Of The Living, and this book is responsible for that.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Tanya Twombly
- 2015-08-05
Wonderful, terrifying, riveting
A bleak and so very plausible vision of what our future might hold. Yet, hope is never lost. we can change. Change is everything. Wonderfully read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sarah C
- 2014-10-29
Compelling, Inspirational, Smart Dystopian Tale
I loved the pacing of the performance, the narrator seemed to embody the character of Lauren Olamina. The imagery was engaging, and the geography tested my mental map of California (I've lived in both L.A. and the Bay Area). The theology of Earth Seed had me thinking of the Process Theology I've studied in classes.
Highly recommended Spec Fic!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Prégny V.
- 2022-08-01
Never read anything like that
Never read anything like that. It is not just sci fi, it's philosophy, poetry, bildungsroman and drama. The reading performance is really good . I really recommend it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful