
Parable of the Sower

Price: $19.99 - $10.05
(as of Nov 29, 2025 09:18:54 UTC – Details)
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
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Octavia E. Butler, the “grand dame of science fiction,” was the author of several award-winning novels including The Parable of the Sower.
Recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant and numerous literary awards, she has been acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future.
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
Publication date : April 30, 2019
Edition : Reprint
Language : English
Print length : 368 pages
ISBN-10 : 1538732181
ISBN-13 : 978-1538732182
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
Book 1 of 2 : Parable
Best Sellers Rank: #1,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #2 in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction (Books) #13 in Dystopian Fiction (Books) #105 in Literary Fiction (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 21,301 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Customers say
Customers find this dystopian novel highly readable and engaging, with a strong plot that flows well. The writing style receives praise for its beauty, and customers appreciate the book’s thought-provoking content, with one noting it provides food for thought in current challenging times. Customers describe the world as both realistic and frighteningly plausible, while the characters are compelling, particularly the strong female protagonist, and the philosophy is embedded with a hopeful message grounded in human nature.

