A New York Times Book of the Year · Nebula Award nominee · Featuring an introduction by Gloria Steinem
From the pioneering New York Times bestselling science fiction author of Kindred.
The radically speculative odyssey of a young Black woman in a post-apocalyptic America and the community she cultivates despite the horrors of climate change and social inequality
The time is 2025. The place is California, where small, walled communities must protect themselves from hordes of desperate scavengers and roaming bands of people addicted to a drug that activates an orgasmic desire to burn, rape, and murder.
When one small community is overrun, Lauren Olamina, an 18-year-old Black woman with the hereditary train of "hyperempathy"—which causes her to feel others’ pain as her own—sets off on foot along the dangerous coastal highways, moving north into the unknown.
Parable of the Sower is the Butlerian odyssey of one woman who is twice as feeling in a world that has become doubly dehumanized. The time is 2025. The place is California, where small walled communities must protect themselves from hordes of desperate scavengers and roaming bands of people addicted to a drug that activates an orgasmic desire to burn, rape, and murder. When one small community is overrun, Lauren Olamina, an 18 year old black woman with the hereditary train of "hyperempathy"—which causes her to feel others' pain as her own—sets off on foot along the dangerous coastal highways, moving north into the unknown.
"Gripping ... poignant ... succeeds on multiple levels."
—The New York Times Book Review"Literate ... thoughtful. And a real gut-wrencher."
—Washington Post Book World"A powerful story of hope and faith in the midst of urban violence and decay ... Excellent science fiction and a parable of modern society."
—Denver Post"A prophetic odyssey."
—Essence"Simple, direct, and deeply felt."
—Library Journal"Artfully conceived and elegantly written."
—Cleveland Plain Dealer"There isn't a page in this vivid and frightening story that fails to grip the reader."
—San Jose Mercury News
