Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler
Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler
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Parable of the Sower

Author: Octavia E. Butler

Narrator: Anika Noni Rose

Unabridged: 12 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/14/2026

Synopsis

From a celebrated, award-winning author, a modern classic about a young girl fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic world, perfect for fans of N.K. Jemisin and Margaret Atwood. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding social chaos and anarchy caused by climate change and economic crisis. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy—a debilitating sensitivity to others' emotions.

Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of human destiny. Includes a foreword by LeVar Burton and an afterword by N. K. Jemisin Lauren's story continues in The Parable of the Talents. 

"In the ongoing contest over which dystopian classic is most applicable to our time, Octavia Butler's 'Parable' books may be unmatched."—The New Yorker
 

About Octavia E. Butler

Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, one of very few African American women in the field. She won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards and in 1995 was the first science fiction writer ever to receive the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Rick on January 12, 2021

I am embarrassed to say I had never read Octavia Butler before. I’m happy I finally corrected this glaring oversight. This novel set in the near future is so frighteningly prescient it is difficult to read. The year is 2026. American society is rapidly breaking down thanks to global warning, economi......more

Goodreads review by Petrik on September 21, 2022

4.5/5 stars Parable of the Sower is hard to put down, harrowing, and much darker than I expected. “There is no end To what a living world Will demand of you.” It is most likely that any praises I give this book has been mentioned by someone else. But I haven't checked any reviews on this novel yet, a......more

Goodreads review by J.L. on January 26, 2023

"A lot of things changed for the survivors...It took a plague to make some of the people realize that things could change." I reread Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower for a third or fourth? time for a second book club discussion. Everyone found it dark, but also thought it should be read. It als......more

Goodreads review by Tim on February 01, 2025

According to Octavia Butler, today is the day: February 1, 2025 [URL not allowed] ### In his first letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul tells us to grow the f*ck up, but not with so few words. When Octavia Butler is at her best, she doesn't waste words. She gets right to the poi......more

Goodreads review by Maryann on April 24, 2018

What bothers me most about this book, is probably the acclaim. Contrary to countless raving reviews about this book being pivotal and poignant-- I can say with every fiber of my being, that this book was a waste of my time. Many reviews mention President Donner and similarities to Trump. That's cool......more

Quotes

"A brilliant, endlessly rich dystopian novel that pairs well with 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale, and it's also a fascinating exploration of how crises can fuel new religious and ideological movements."—John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Turtles All the Way Down, New York Times

"Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower is a stunner. It's a terrifying vision of a dismal future brought on by the willful ignorance, racism and greed of human beings, and an eerily dangerous parallel to our present path. Ms. Butler gives us a satisfying protagonist in the hypersensitive teenager Lauren, whose courage and wits are an infinite source of inspiration."—Flea, Wall Street Journal

"Butler felt to me like a lighthouse blinking from an island of understanding way out at sea. I had no idea how to get there, but I knew she had found something life-saving. She had found a form of resistance. Butler and other writers like Ursula Le Guin, Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood...used the tenets of genre to reveal the injustices of the present and imagine our evolution."—Brit Marling, New York Times

"In the ongoing contest over which dystopian classic is most applicable to our time, Octavia Butler's 'Parable' books may be unmatched."—New Yorker

"A gripping tale of survival and a poignant account of growing up sane in a disintegrating world."—New York Times Book Review

"One of the most important and groundbreaking science-fiction authors."—Entertainment Weekly

"A powerful story of hope and faith."—Denver Post

"There isn't a page in this vivid and frightening story that fails to grip the reader."—San Jose Mercury News

"Artfully conceived and elegantly written . . . Butler's success in making Lauren's subsequent odyssey feel real is only the most obvious measure of this fine novel's worth."—Cleveland Plain Dealer

"A real gut-wrencher . . . What makes Butler's fiction compelling is that it is as crisply detailed as journalism. . . Often the smallest details are the most revelatory."—Washington Post

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