Octavia Butler's short essay is presented here in a book that's more akin to coffee table art, than a way to present her old words for a new generation.

When I first tried reading Parable of the Sower last year, I had to put it down and ultimately DNF it. The violence and apathy and overall world Butler imagined in that book felt much too close to reality and ultimately I couldn't handle it. After reading this short essay, it's easy to understand how she wrote such a creepily prescient work in the 90s - essentially, she studied history to be able to extrapolate where our future could go, and guess what? She wasn't too far off base. Scarily so. 

The artwork in this short book is beautiful, but it feels like it dilutes the message of the essay. The way the paragraphs are broken up by pages of art feels like it takes away from the overall message because it keeps breaking it up and not in a way that feels organic. 

Ultimately, this IS a good essay, and I'm glad that there will be a new volume like this to bring it back into light for new readers to discover. It'll certainly make for a beautiful display book for Butler fans.

Thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the opportunity to read and review this. The book will be available April 16, 2024.