I discovered Octavia Butler at the end of 2017, so it’s fitting I came back to her to finish off 2018.

While her work fits firmly into the Dystopian SciFi category (not typically my favorite), she added depth through her explorations of race, gender, religion and human nature.

Parable of the Sower was one of her last novels, and it definitely continues those themes. Lauren is coming into adulthood in a world where climate change has destroyed the United States, particularly in hot, dry California. Adding to the misery, government has privatized police, fire services, and in some cases even entire towns. Indentured labor harking back to post-Civil War sharecropping (read: slavery by another name) has made a comeback.

Similar to Butler’s Xenogenesis and Patternist series, the protagonist slowly builds a community around her. The interplay of this reality and Lauren’s slowly developing new religion is a fascinating.

I’d definitely recommend this one, though I haven’t read the second book in the series to determine if it satisfies me fully. There’s enough in this book alone that you could just stop there and you’ll be processing your thoughts for days after.