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Parable of the Sower
The follow-up to Kindred, the #1 bestseller, comes Octavia E. Butler’s groundbreaking dystopian novel
In this graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, by Damian Duffy and John Jennings, the award-winning team behind the #1 bestseller Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, the author portrays a searing vision of America’s future. In the year 2024, the country is marred by unattended environmental and economic crises that lead to social chaos. Lauren Olamina, a preacher’s daughter living in Los Angeles, is protected from danger by the walls of her gated community. However, in a night of fire and death, what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: a startling vision of human destiny . . . and the birth of a new faith.
288 pages, ebook
First published January 28, 2020
About the author
Damian Duffy
16 books81 followersDamian Duffy is a cartoonist, scholar, writer, curator, lecturer, teacher, and Glyph Comics Award-winning graphic novelist. He holds a MS and PhD in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His many publications include academic essays (in comics form) on new media & learning and art books about underrepresentation in comics culture.
On his off hours he teaches classes on cultural politics of computers and/or wrestles his children.
A co-founder of Eye Trauma Studios, Damian has given talks and lead workshops about comics, art, and education internationally.
On his off hours he teaches classes on cultural politics of computers and/or wrestles his children.
A co-founder of Eye Trauma Studios, Damian has given talks and lead workshops about comics, art, and education internationally.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 732 reviews
December 19, 2021
Parts of this were awesome. Bleak, uncompromising, gut-wrenching, surprising, prescient.
But I feel like Lauren’s hyperempathy was an underdeveloped part of the story. And all this endless preaching of her religion made me reach the point at which I just wanted this to end. The way it did end, I’m not so sure I’m satisfied with that.
I might write some more when the feeling of this cutting into my reading time instead of being good use of said time has passed.*
My own nagging aside, I think this should be a strong contender for this year’s Hugos, for which it is nominated in the Best Graphic Story category.
And for once I was right. It won the thing.
Best Novel
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
• The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
• Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
• Network Effect by Martha Wells
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
Best Novella
• Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire
• The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
• Finna by Nino Cipri
• Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
• Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
• Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
Best Novelette
• Burn or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super by A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny Magazine Issue 34: May/June 2020)
• I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter by Isabel Fall (Clarkesworld, January 2020)
• The Inaccessibility of Heaven by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine Issue 35: July/August 2020)
• Monster by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 160)
• The Pill by Meg Elison (from Big Girl)
• Two Truths and a Lie by Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com)
Best Short Story
• Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse by Rae Carson (Uncanny Magazine Issue 32: January/February 2020)
• A Guide For Working Breeds by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, Solaris)
• Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer (Tor. com)
• The Mermaid Astronaut by Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 2020)
• Metal Like Blood in the Dark by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)
• Open House on Haunted Hill by John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 6/15/20)
Best Series
• The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty
• The Interdependency by John Scalzi
• The Lady Astronaut Universe by Mary Robinette Kowal
• The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
• October Daye by Seanan McGuire
• The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Best Graphic Story or Comic
• Die, Vol. 2: Split the Party, written by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, letters by Clayton Cowles
• Ghost-Spider, Vol. 1: Dog Days Are Over, written by Seanan McGuire, art by Takeshi Miyazawa and Rosi Kämpe
• Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 2: Edge of Everything, written by G. Willow Wilson, art by Christian Ward
• Monstress, Vol. 5: Warchild, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
• Once & Future, Vol. 1: The King is Undead, written by Kieron Gillen, iIllustrated by Dan Mora, colored by Tamra Bonvillain, lettered by Ed Dukeshire
• Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, written by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings
*Well, obviously I didn't, since a couple of months have passed since I read this. But in the meantime I've read the Q&A with the creative team and other additional information in the back of the book. Which answers my question whether the second novel will be adapted as well. And while I'm still not interested in the novels at this point, I might give the second graphic novel a try.
But I feel like Lauren’s hyperempathy was an underdeveloped part of the story. And all this endless preaching of her religion made me reach the point at which I just wanted this to end. The way it did end, I’m not so sure I’m satisfied with that.
I might write some more when the feeling of this cutting into my reading time instead of being good use of said time has passed.*
My own nagging aside, I think this should be a strong contender for this year’s Hugos, for which it is nominated in the Best Graphic Story category.
And for once I was right. It won the thing.
________________
2021 Hugo Award Finalists
Best Novel
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
• The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
• Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
• Network Effect by Martha Wells
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
Best Novella
• Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire
• The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
• Finna by Nino Cipri
• Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
• Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
• Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
Best Novelette
• Burn or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super by A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny Magazine Issue 34: May/June 2020)
• I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter by Isabel Fall (Clarkesworld, January 2020)
• The Inaccessibility of Heaven by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine Issue 35: July/August 2020)
• Monster by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 160)
• The Pill by Meg Elison (from Big Girl)
• Two Truths and a Lie by Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com)
Best Short Story
• Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse by Rae Carson (Uncanny Magazine Issue 32: January/February 2020)
• A Guide For Working Breeds by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, Solaris)
• Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer (Tor. com)
• The Mermaid Astronaut by Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 2020)
• Metal Like Blood in the Dark by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)
• Open House on Haunted Hill by John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 6/15/20)
Best Series
• The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty
• The Interdependency by John Scalzi
• The Lady Astronaut Universe by Mary Robinette Kowal
• The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
• October Daye by Seanan McGuire
• The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Best Graphic Story or Comic
• Die, Vol. 2: Split the Party, written by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, letters by Clayton Cowles
• Ghost-Spider, Vol. 1: Dog Days Are Over, written by Seanan McGuire, art by Takeshi Miyazawa and Rosi Kämpe
• Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 2: Edge of Everything, written by G. Willow Wilson, art by Christian Ward
• Monstress, Vol. 5: Warchild, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
• Once & Future, Vol. 1: The King is Undead, written by Kieron Gillen, iIllustrated by Dan Mora, colored by Tamra Bonvillain, lettered by Ed Dukeshire
• Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, written by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings
*Well, obviously I didn't, since a couple of months have passed since I read this. But in the meantime I've read the Q&A with the creative team and other additional information in the back of the book. Which answers my question whether the second novel will be adapted as well. And while I'm still not interested in the novels at this point, I might give the second graphic novel a try.
May 28, 2024
I love Octavia E. Butler's Earthseed: Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents duology. They are 2 books I would love to re-read.
Unfortunately for my longing to re-live those books - though fortunately for my mountainous tbr pile - I have a rule for myself that I not re-read books. There aren't a whole lot I would want to, but the ones I do.... I really, really, really want to.
I was thrilled to see these two novels get graphic novel adaptations so I could kind of cheat, but not really, and re-read them this way.
I enjoyed them and think they're very well done, though they aren't nearly as good as the original books. I knew they wouldn't be, and so I wasn't [too] disappointed.
The adapter managed to get the gist of the story with minimal words, which couldn't have been easy. The drawings are well done and give an extra element to the story.
I'm thrilled this is also being adapted for the screen. Ms. Butler was a genius. Her stories are all too prescient and her ideas oh-so important.
Unfortunately for my longing to re-live those books - though fortunately for my mountainous tbr pile - I have a rule for myself that I not re-read books. There aren't a whole lot I would want to, but the ones I do.... I really, really, really want to.
I was thrilled to see these two novels get graphic novel adaptations so I could kind of cheat, but not really, and re-read them this way.
I enjoyed them and think they're very well done, though they aren't nearly as good as the original books. I knew they wouldn't be, and so I wasn't [too] disappointed.
The adapter managed to get the gist of the story with minimal words, which couldn't have been easy. The drawings are well done and give an extra element to the story.
I'm thrilled this is also being adapted for the screen. Ms. Butler was a genius. Her stories are all too prescient and her ideas oh-so important.
December 24, 2019
Thanks to NetGalley and ABRAMS FOR an ARC in exchange for an honest review
In this graphic novel adaptation of science fiction writer, Octavia Butler's 1993 novel, Damian Duffy and illustrator John Jennings brings us to the 2020s where society has largely collapsed due to climate change, inequality and corporate greed. Lauren Oya Olamina is a teenage protagonist who lives in a gated community near Los Angeles. As we travel through the outside of the gated community, Lauren and the other characters witness massive poverty and violence daily. In response to her father's ever-constant faith as a Baptist, Lauren explores her belief system through her journals, called Earthseed.
Although I cannot comment upon the illustrations of the graphic novel, as they were incomplete and still in the sketch stage, I can state that I was very interested in what would happen to Lauren as the story progressed. As there is a sequel Parable of the Talents, I would imagine that there will be a future graphic novel somewhere down the road.
Goodreads review 24/12/19
Publication Date 28/01/20
In this graphic novel adaptation of science fiction writer, Octavia Butler's 1993 novel, Damian Duffy and illustrator John Jennings brings us to the 2020s where society has largely collapsed due to climate change, inequality and corporate greed. Lauren Oya Olamina is a teenage protagonist who lives in a gated community near Los Angeles. As we travel through the outside of the gated community, Lauren and the other characters witness massive poverty and violence daily. In response to her father's ever-constant faith as a Baptist, Lauren explores her belief system through her journals, called Earthseed.
Although I cannot comment upon the illustrations of the graphic novel, as they were incomplete and still in the sketch stage, I can state that I was very interested in what would happen to Lauren as the story progressed. As there is a sequel Parable of the Talents, I would imagine that there will be a future graphic novel somewhere down the road.
Goodreads review 24/12/19
Publication Date 28/01/20
December 29, 2019
It's the year 2024 and Lauren Olamina is a preacher's daughter living with her family in a gated L.A. community. The gate is there to protect their community from outsiders fighting for food and water. America is a shell of its former self thanks to environmental and economic crises mishandled by leaders.
Outside the gates is chaos where people travel toward safety they're not sure exists and spend exorbitant amounts of their savings on clean water.
As the safety of their community begins to crumble, Lauren begins to prepare for the worst and teaches herself survival skills she knows she'll need. Her neighbors cling to their religion during these terrible times but what no one knows is that Lauren has found her own faith. Writing her thoughts down daily, she creates a revolutionary idea she calls Earthseed.
Lauren finds fellow refugees outside the walls in which she was raised and shares the concept of Earthseed with them. Together they travel North in search of shelter and safety where they can create a new community.
Butler's Earthseed duology (published in the 1990s) is a stunning sci-fi dystopia set in America's near future focusing on actual current events that are frighteningly magnified, making the possibility of this setting far too realistic for comfort.
The ARC I received has very limited panel detail, just rough sketches currently, so I'm curious to see the final illustrations. The story has translated well to the graphic novel format thanks to Duffy's efforts.
Thanks to Abrams and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation is scheduled for release on January 28, 2020.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
Outside the gates is chaos where people travel toward safety they're not sure exists and spend exorbitant amounts of their savings on clean water.
As the safety of their community begins to crumble, Lauren begins to prepare for the worst and teaches herself survival skills she knows she'll need. Her neighbors cling to their religion during these terrible times but what no one knows is that Lauren has found her own faith. Writing her thoughts down daily, she creates a revolutionary idea she calls Earthseed.
Lauren finds fellow refugees outside the walls in which she was raised and shares the concept of Earthseed with them. Together they travel North in search of shelter and safety where they can create a new community.
Butler's Earthseed duology (published in the 1990s) is a stunning sci-fi dystopia set in America's near future focusing on actual current events that are frighteningly magnified, making the possibility of this setting far too realistic for comfort.
The ARC I received has very limited panel detail, just rough sketches currently, so I'm curious to see the final illustrations. The story has translated well to the graphic novel format thanks to Duffy's efforts.
Thanks to Abrams and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation is scheduled for release on January 28, 2020.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
July 11, 2021
A great adaptation, cutting the long winded parts in the original material and did a good job in portraying the horrors too. I was still in pain reading the earlier part, still horrified for the most part, but the story got me going. The fire scenes were very well done. Ah, but this is not for the fainthearted, this particular Butler series, no mam.
July 5, 2019
Why read a graphic novel adaptation of a novel? For the same reason, one watches a movie adaptation of a novel. It adds a different aspect to the story. Often, if successful, such an adaptation can breathe new life to a story and flesh out things that were not as significant. This graphic novel tells the story of Butler's apocalyptic vision of the future in plain inked drawings, sometimes leaving characters in shadows and not fully illustrated. The story is broken down piece by piece in comic strip panels which highlight the pain and despair of Butler's novel which portrays a civilization which caved in on itself, with looters everywhere, and people wandering desperately up and down freeways looking for something anything cause it's all they have. The God Is change philosophy is offered in notebook-like tidbits that feels like a natural pet of the story. Overall, quite a worthwhile introduction to Butler's work.
May 15, 2022
I'm noticing a tendency for 'graphic novel' 'adaptations' to rely much more heavily on narration than original graphic novels do, and Parable of the Sower takes that tendency to extremes. For the most part, it does not tell a story through images and dialog; rather, it tells a story through Lauren's journal entries, which would still be readable without the accompanying illustrations (except for the the religious bits, which are just not readable, period, but I'll get to that in a minute). Occasionally, we'll get a big, impressive splash page of a riot or some interesting set dressing, but it's more often along the lines of text overlaid on panels of people doing nothing of interest, or panels depicting events described by the text. Character interaction with actual dialog bubbles does happen, and becomes more common in the second half of the story - almost like this is a graphic novel or something - but Lauren's journaling continues throughout.
What I'm saying is (without having read the source material) I don't get the impression that Parable of the Sower was crying out for a graphic novel adaptation, and in any event, it still hasn't quite gotten one.
That said, I can easily see how the source material might be a worse read than this was. Because although Butler's civilizational collapse worldbuilding (that term does not seem right here - 'worldwrecking', maybe?) is great, her protagonist is a teenager, and also literally, explicitly an aspiring cult leader. Lauren has a gift for pseudo-profound bullshit, and has gotten high on her own supply. The book is sprinkled with bits of her poetic drivel about how God is change and so on. This does not endear her to me; to the contrary, it has my eyes in the back of my head. The other characters aren't too keen on it either, and try to call her on her bullshit occasionally once she starts preaching, but she just confidently brushes it off. How much more annoying would she be in full prose?
January 29, 2023
Maybe I need to read the book as well, because this was quite a confusing hot mess of a comic book. It is a dystopian view of life in LA with society having devolved into a violent stew of tension and horror. The idea of creating a new religion while fleeing and hiding is kind of original even if the story has that kind of Walking Dead repetitiveness to it (oh no, another roving gang of cannibals!). The artwork is interesting, but I found it hard sometimes to distinguish between the characters. This might have been done on purpose, but sometimes it was disarming to this reader.
April 1, 2020
I read the original novel 26 years ago, and mostly I just remember the impression that it was confusing and dull perhaps because of the writing style. In reviewing the sample of the first chapters available on Amazon, I see it starts with a dream sequence and a lot of talk of religion, things that would definitely put me off even as I dutifully read each word.
This graphic adaptation cuts out the dream sequence but still left me feeling confused for the first few dozen pages, though I was able to get into the story as the book progressed. In a world slowly tumbling through dystopia into survivalist free for all, a teenage girl named Lauren begins developing her insight into the inevitability of change into a new religion based on humanity migrating to the stars. And for some reason, she's an empath, though frankly I don't understand or even care why this aspect is even included in the story as it doesn't seem to amount to much. With chaos closing in on her walled community outside Los Angeles, she begins a road trip north along California's coast surviving, preaching, and gathering apostles.
So it's a sort of entertaining survival story with lots of pseudo-religious writing sprinkled throughout. I always have doubts about religious zealots though and how often they fall into the trap of letting the ends justifying the means. Lauren does little here to allay my fears, so in the end I'm not entirely sure if I'm supposed to be rooting for or against her. It also doesn't help when at 18 she gets romantically involved with a man in his fifties. I feel like I want to like this book, but so much in it keeps pushing me away.
John Jennings' scratchy, blocky, busy art bugged me in Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, but the messiness of it worked pretty well for this hellish world. So there's that anyway.
This graphic adaptation cuts out the dream sequence but still left me feeling confused for the first few dozen pages, though I was able to get into the story as the book progressed. In a world slowly tumbling through dystopia into survivalist free for all, a teenage girl named Lauren begins developing her insight into the inevitability of change into a new religion based on humanity migrating to the stars. And for some reason, she's an empath, though frankly I don't understand or even care why this aspect is even included in the story as it doesn't seem to amount to much. With chaos closing in on her walled community outside Los Angeles, she begins a road trip north along California's coast surviving, preaching, and gathering apostles.
So it's a sort of entertaining survival story with lots of pseudo-religious writing sprinkled throughout. I always have doubts about religious zealots though and how often they fall into the trap of letting the ends justifying the means. Lauren does little here to allay my fears, so in the end I'm not entirely sure if I'm supposed to be rooting for or against her. It also doesn't help when at 18 she gets romantically involved with a man in his fifties. I feel like I want to like this book, but so much in it keeps pushing me away.
John Jennings' scratchy, blocky, busy art bugged me in Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, but the messiness of it worked pretty well for this hellish world. So there's that anyway.
Read
July 28, 2021Not sure how faithful this adaptation was to the novel, but it didn't work well for me at all.
February 5, 2024
2024 Reread:
I'm not a fan or reading graphic novels or comics. I love the pictures and want to like the resulting story but rarely do.
This is a rare exception.
The graphics bring tbis story to life and I love the experience.
This novel is starts in 2024 and I intend to reread the physical novel starting July 20th but thought I'd revisit this first and I'm so glad I did.
Original Review:
I loved this
I'm not a fan or reading graphic novels or comics. I love the pictures and want to like the resulting story but rarely do.
This is a rare exception.
The graphics bring tbis story to life and I love the experience.
This novel is starts in 2024 and I intend to reread the physical novel starting July 20th but thought I'd revisit this first and I'm so glad I did.
Original Review:
I loved this
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1645808644i/7494844._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)
Shelved as 'dnf'
January 21, 2020DNF at 36 pages
The graphic novel ARC is verrrry unfinished (the illustrations aren't done and it hasn't been colored), so it feels like a rough draft and I feel like I'm missing half of the things by not having pictures with expressions. Maybe I'll try to find the graphic novel when it releases so I can get the finished version, but I still intend to read the original book.
I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.
The graphic novel ARC is verrrry unfinished (the illustrations aren't done and it hasn't been colored), so it feels like a rough draft and I feel like I'm missing half of the things by not having pictures with expressions. Maybe I'll try to find the graphic novel when it releases so I can get the finished version, but I still intend to read the original book.
I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.
March 7, 2021
This is only the second book by Octavia Butler that I've ever read. The first, KINDRED, was also in graphic novel form, and it was adapted by the same writers and artists. We read it as part of our comic book club back in...I'm gonna say 2019? (I mean, for whom does time still have meaning nowadays, amirite??) In any event, we read it when we were still able to gather in person, and I remember us spending a fair amount of time showing each other various pages or panels whose art had left us feeling a bit confused by the narrative. Unfortunately, this experience with PARABLE OF THE SOWER shared some characteristics with the KINDRED reading, but this time we were at the mercy of a Google Meet split screen while discussing the inconsistencies in this panel or that.
I've said before that I hate to criticize something that I myself am not good at. It sometimes makes critiquing or reviewing graphic novels difficult, because as an artist I unequivocally suck. That leaves me with only this: While sometimes the imprecise artwork serves Butler's stories well, especially in those frantic scenes of apocalyptic disorder and violence, other times it confuses the hell out of me. I find myself straining to see if it's two characters I'm seeing from one panel to the next, or if it's one character who looks almost entirely different from a new angle. It detracts from the reading experience for me, and like with KINDRED I found myself wishing I'd straight up read the novel first/instead.
As far as the story itself goes, Butler wove an impressive tapestry. The desperation and despair practically jump off the page. The protagonist, Lauren, is layered and complex. There's some uncomfortable stuff in here -- Lauren's sexual relationship with a man older than her father comes to mind -- but I sense we're meant to feel unsettled. It's set in a sad, terrible world (one that takes place not long from now, if you want to get totally freaked out by the thought), where civilization's rules can't always apply. You take whatever love and happiness you can in times such as those.
PARABLE OF THE TALENTS is already set to be released by the same creative team in the near future. Their passion for analyzing and adapting Butler's work is remarkable, truly. I think, if I were to go forward with reading about these characters and the Earthseed community, I'd choose the longform novel. But that's just me.
Whoever said this makes for a perfect companion read with THE HANDMAID'S TALE was spot on. (And for the record I loved the graphic novel adaptation of that one.)
I've said before that I hate to criticize something that I myself am not good at. It sometimes makes critiquing or reviewing graphic novels difficult, because as an artist I unequivocally suck. That leaves me with only this: While sometimes the imprecise artwork serves Butler's stories well, especially in those frantic scenes of apocalyptic disorder and violence, other times it confuses the hell out of me. I find myself straining to see if it's two characters I'm seeing from one panel to the next, or if it's one character who looks almost entirely different from a new angle. It detracts from the reading experience for me, and like with KINDRED I found myself wishing I'd straight up read the novel first/instead.
As far as the story itself goes, Butler wove an impressive tapestry. The desperation and despair practically jump off the page. The protagonist, Lauren, is layered and complex. There's some uncomfortable stuff in here -- Lauren's sexual relationship with a man older than her father comes to mind -- but I sense we're meant to feel unsettled. It's set in a sad, terrible world (one that takes place not long from now, if you want to get totally freaked out by the thought), where civilization's rules can't always apply. You take whatever love and happiness you can in times such as those.
PARABLE OF THE TALENTS is already set to be released by the same creative team in the near future. Their passion for analyzing and adapting Butler's work is remarkable, truly. I think, if I were to go forward with reading about these characters and the Earthseed community, I'd choose the longform novel. But that's just me.
Whoever said this makes for a perfect companion read with THE HANDMAID'S TALE was spot on. (And for the record I loved the graphic novel adaptation of that one.)
December 20, 2019
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
So the thing is this is my least favorite of Butler's works. The story had a lot of plot holes that the graphic novel of course cannot and does not fix.
Taking place in 2025, we follow the character of Lauren Olamina and her family that are living in what remains of areas around Los Angeles. Told in the first person, we get Lauren's "insights" into her family, friends, community, and what the world is turning into. The whole Earthseed concept never really works though at least in graphic novel format it's okay to have stilted sentences like "God is Change."
I think graphic novels in the right hands can really rock. I love re-reading The Gunslinger series via graphic novel format and the novel "Speak" recently as heart-wrenching to read via that format. Duffy though doesn't really grab me with his art. Everything is shadowy and dark. A few times I wondered if the ARC I got had finished art or what.
Here is a link to my review of the novel where I still had some of the same issues while reading this graphic novel: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
So the thing is this is my least favorite of Butler's works. The story had a lot of plot holes that the graphic novel of course cannot and does not fix.
Taking place in 2025, we follow the character of Lauren Olamina and her family that are living in what remains of areas around Los Angeles. Told in the first person, we get Lauren's "insights" into her family, friends, community, and what the world is turning into. The whole Earthseed concept never really works though at least in graphic novel format it's okay to have stilted sentences like "God is Change."
I think graphic novels in the right hands can really rock. I love re-reading The Gunslinger series via graphic novel format and the novel "Speak" recently as heart-wrenching to read via that format. Duffy though doesn't really grab me with his art. Everything is shadowy and dark. A few times I wondered if the ARC I got had finished art or what.
Here is a link to my review of the novel where I still had some of the same issues while reading this graphic novel: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
July 29, 2020
Having read this immediately after reading the original novel by Butler, it’s hard for me to say how well people unfamiliar with the novel would be able to follow along. For me, with details from the novel still fresh in my mind, I noticed lots of small details in the illustrations that referenced things from the novel, without explicitly explaining them in this adaptation. I greatly appreciated this level of attention to detail.
The art style is not particularly something I was draw to, but, it was done very well. By design, graphic novels have less text then novels, so, much of the prose by Butler that evoked a lot of emotion in reads needed to be cut, but, I think a lot of the choices made by the artist helped convey a lot of the feelings and emotions. The art is not graphic for the sake of being graphic. It is only as graphic as is needed to convey to the reader Butler’s story.
The art style is not particularly something I was draw to, but, it was done very well. By design, graphic novels have less text then novels, so, much of the prose by Butler that evoked a lot of emotion in reads needed to be cut, but, I think a lot of the choices made by the artist helped convey a lot of the feelings and emotions. The art is not graphic for the sake of being graphic. It is only as graphic as is needed to convey to the reader Butler’s story.
March 11, 2023
Ich hatte den Anfang der Romanfassung gelesen und war noch in den ersten zehn Prozent steckengeblieben, deshalb dachte ich, vielleicht geht es mit der Graphic-Novel-Version besser. Ging es auch, es war jedenfalls schneller vorbei. Ich bin kein Fan des Illustrationsstils, vor allem kann der Illustrator keine Kinder zeichnen, die meisten Kleinkinder sehen aus wie 30 Jahre alt. Ich weiß auch nicht, wahrscheinlich bin ich kleinlich bei Survival-Romanen und Dystopien, vielleicht ist es einfach unmöglich, sie realistisch zu schreiben, weil dann alle den ganzen Tag nur mit Nahrungssuche beschäftigt wären. Aber der Umgang mit Essen und die Vorstellung von Landwirtschaft hier hat mich gestört, am Anfang wird eine große Gemeinde aus den Gärten von ein paar Einfamilienhäusern ernährt (nach einer jahrelangen Dürre und ohne dass man mehr Gartenarbeit sieht als gelegentliches Pflücken einer Frucht vom Baum)? Später sind sie dann unterwegs, werden immer mehr, gehen den ganzen Tag zu Fuß und essen gelegentlich ein paar Birnen. Den Religionsteil über "Earthseed" fand ich albern, er ließ sich aber gut überspringen. Ich sehe mich nicht in naher Zukunft den Roman lesen. Aber vielleicht komme ich auch nur einfach allgemein nicht mit postapokalyptischen Romanen klar, in denen durch die verwüsteten USA gewandert wird, ich mochte ja auch "The Road" und "Station Eleven" nicht.
Update, hab noch mal nachgedacht, ich glaube, es gibt in allen drei Büchern das Problem cherry picking the apocalypse: Man lässt ein paar Zivilisationsdinge weg, kann sich aber entweder nicht richtig vorstellen, wie es dann wäre (Lebensmittelbeschaffung, Frieren beim Draußenschlafen, Infektionskrankheiten etc.) oder möchte einfach nicht, dass die Figuren stinken und Hunde essen. Hier ist einfach immer genug von allem da: Essen, Geld (wird ständig in großen Mengen gefunden), Waffen, Munition ... Das kommt mir wie eine zu bequeme Sofa-Apokalypse vor, ein Vehikel, um eine langweilige Idee zu transportieren.
Update, hab noch mal nachgedacht, ich glaube, es gibt in allen drei Büchern das Problem cherry picking the apocalypse: Man lässt ein paar Zivilisationsdinge weg, kann sich aber entweder nicht richtig vorstellen, wie es dann wäre (Lebensmittelbeschaffung, Frieren beim Draußenschlafen, Infektionskrankheiten etc.) oder möchte einfach nicht, dass die Figuren stinken und Hunde essen. Hier ist einfach immer genug von allem da: Essen, Geld (wird ständig in großen Mengen gefunden), Waffen, Munition ... Das kommt mir wie eine zu bequeme Sofa-Apokalypse vor, ein Vehikel, um eine langweilige Idee zu transportieren.
September 9, 2024
I read this because i figured it'd help solidify my memory of Butler's novel. It was useful in that regard, but i think these ideas are best conveyed in prose. And i just didn't enjoy the visuals.
If you're interested in the story but you don't enjoy prose novels, then your best option is this faithful-to-the-original graphic novel.
If you're interested in the story but you don't enjoy prose novels, then your best option is this faithful-to-the-original graphic novel.
July 21, 2020
A faithful adaptation of a deeply dark and sadly possible future. Hunger, addiction, violence are prevalent, in what seems to be a failing country with vast areas given over to desperate and criminal behaviour, destroyed and failing infrastructure, corruption, predatory corporations and what looks to be a fascist leader in government. Hmmm, this seems oddly familiar……
Octavia Butler’s prescient and dark novel is wonderfully adapted in graphic form. The imagery is bold, with lovely earthy tones mixed with vivid reds and oranges; Lauren’s life in its smallness and relative safety before she’s thrown into the wider world is juxtaposed well with the fear and tension of the road, the wide vistas, and the gradual integration of select others into her core group. This novel’s creators do a good job also of using Lauren’s Earthseed text, and I found the story flowed well in this graphic form, without sacrificing Butler’s vision
Octavia Butler’s prescient and dark novel is wonderfully adapted in graphic form. The imagery is bold, with lovely earthy tones mixed with vivid reds and oranges; Lauren’s life in its smallness and relative safety before she’s thrown into the wider world is juxtaposed well with the fear and tension of the road, the wide vistas, and the gradual integration of select others into her core group. This novel’s creators do a good job also of using Lauren’s Earthseed text, and I found the story flowed well in this graphic form, without sacrificing Butler’s vision
July 7, 2019
This was my first introduction to Butler's work, but I'll definitely be back for more. Her unique take on a dystopian America still feels futuristic, even though it's set in 2024 and was written in 1993. I decided to give this graphic novel adaptation a try since I thought the story would lend itself well to this form - there's so much intense imagery described. The story was incredible - both tragic and hopeful - as a young woman does all she can to survive during intensely threatening times. She decides to form her own religion called Earthseed, which she uses to propel her towards a safer future where God is trusted and relied upon fully. Despite some truly brutal descriptions of violence and death, there is still an inspiring purity to this text. Full disclosure: the ARC I was provided with by the publisher didn't have the final artwork included, so I don't feel like I can truly judge what the art will look like once the project is complete. However, overall, I felt this book was a great alternative to classic dystopian novels. The grit and heart of Butler's writing won me over completely.
March 15, 2020
Bleak! The world described here is scary and depressing, and yet not all that far removed from the real world of today. The main character starts out living in a gated community that is somewhat protected from the harshness outside the gates. But don't think "gated" equals "rich". In this case, they are poor and barely making it themselves, but the gates keep out some of the truly desperate. The story gets even darker from there, when she leaves home and tries to find a better life, and start a new religion.
I haven't read the original version, but this graphic novel version doesn't seem to be missing anything. Like the novel, it is the first part of a two-part story, so I'll need to read the second "Parable" when it comes out.
I haven't read the original version, but this graphic novel version doesn't seem to be missing anything. Like the novel, it is the first part of a two-part story, so I'll need to read the second "Parable" when it comes out.
August 10, 2021
Octavia Butler was a prophet...John Jennings created a visual narrative that complements this adaptation of Butler's story in graphic novel format quite well; the illustrations are stunningly beautiful. This is a must read.🧐📚
January 5, 2024
Octavia Butler is a genius
This tale of a dystopic California was written in the 90s but seems ever more likely to come true
Don't say Octavia didn't try to warn us...
PS...the book is set in...
2024
This tale of a dystopic California was written in the 90s but seems ever more likely to come true
Don't say Octavia didn't try to warn us...
PS...the book is set in...
2024
August 28, 2022
If you know me you know I am obsessed with Parable of the Sower. I’m giving this graphic novel three stars because, well, I feel bad saying this but it didn’t add anything. The illustrations are good and graphic novels can definitely be a more accessible form of reading, but I didn’t feel this format really enhanced the story or offered some new insight to it.
Parable of the Sower is a 5 star book. The illustrations here are great. But I do think that if you haven’t read the original book, you would be quite confused throughout this graphic novel. There were times I caught myself wondering how we got from one panel to the next and only being able to go back and pick up on the minute details in the drawings because I know what happens in the story.
And ugh the story it’s just so good!!! I just can’t get over how freaking powerful and ominous and accurate and just ahhhh it is that this story isn’t really apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic or something like that, despite the objectively apocalyptic setting. And that’s what gets me about this book. It’s so scary realistic. Because I can absolutely see that we get to the point where climate change is so bad that resources are in such high demand that people are working for food and shelter and jobs that pay actual money are few and far between. And we still cling to this idea of the “American government” and “calling the police” and “your vote makes a difference.” And people are killing each other in the streets. Living in barb-wire covered fenced neighborhoods because stepping on the street is so dangerous. But is anyone trying to overthrow the government? No. The concept of “democracy” and “capitalism” is so inherent in American values and concepts of living that the poor attack the poor while the rich continue living their relatively normal life. It just makes me lose my mind how amazingly accurately Octavia Butler was able to write about the world ending, because even as the world ends, people are going to continue going to their jobs and watching TV and paying taxes as the literal environment is turning against them and the world goes up in flames.
Parable of the Sower is a 5 star book. The illustrations here are great. But I do think that if you haven’t read the original book, you would be quite confused throughout this graphic novel. There were times I caught myself wondering how we got from one panel to the next and only being able to go back and pick up on the minute details in the drawings because I know what happens in the story.
And ugh the story it’s just so good!!! I just can’t get over how freaking powerful and ominous and accurate and just ahhhh it is that this story isn’t really apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic or something like that, despite the objectively apocalyptic setting. And that’s what gets me about this book. It’s so scary realistic. Because I can absolutely see that we get to the point where climate change is so bad that resources are in such high demand that people are working for food and shelter and jobs that pay actual money are few and far between. And we still cling to this idea of the “American government” and “calling the police” and “your vote makes a difference.” And people are killing each other in the streets. Living in barb-wire covered fenced neighborhoods because stepping on the street is so dangerous. But is anyone trying to overthrow the government? No. The concept of “democracy” and “capitalism” is so inherent in American values and concepts of living that the poor attack the poor while the rich continue living their relatively normal life. It just makes me lose my mind how amazingly accurately Octavia Butler was able to write about the world ending, because even as the world ends, people are going to continue going to their jobs and watching TV and paying taxes as the literal environment is turning against them and the world goes up in flames.
August 29, 2021
De adaptatie vind ik geweldig, echt absoluut geweldig. Ik beschik ook over de oorspronkelijk tekst (in boekvorm) en kan niet anders dan de keuzes die Duffy heeft gemaakt bewonderen. De tekeningen van John Jennings zijn fabuleus passend bij de tekst. Het verhaal van Butler is verbijsterend actueel en dat schijnt ook te gelden voor Parable of the Talents, deel 2 van Earthseed-serie, die Duffy en Jennings nu aan het adapteren zijn.
Toch ben ik niet compleet omver geblazen, en dat komt omdat er teveel verteld wordt (in het oorspronkelijke boek) en te weinig beleefd wordt. Dat is in het begin niet zo, dan leef je echt (mee) in de gemeenschap waarin Lauren Oya Olamnina geboren en opgegroeid is. Er wordt nauwelijks iets uitgelegd, je mag zelf ervaren en deduceren hoe en waarom die de leden van deze gemeenschap leven zoals ze leven. Dat geldt helaas niet voor de overige leden van de groep die ontstaan is aan het eind van dit boek. Hun wederwaardigheden worden vrijwel uitsluitend aan elkaar verteld op die bijna oneindige vlucht naar 'het noorden'. Die wandeling vond ik, naarmate het langer duurde, steeds saaier worden ondanks het continue gevaar, de branden en al die verschillende mensen die zich aansluiten.
Daarom niet de volle pond aan sterren, hoewel Duffy en Jennings die eigenlijk wel verdienen... Ik hoop dat Parable of the Talents binnenkort verschijnt, want die wil ik dolgraag (ook) als graphic noveladaptatie lezen.
Toch ben ik niet compleet omver geblazen, en dat komt omdat er teveel verteld wordt (in het oorspronkelijke boek) en te weinig beleefd wordt. Dat is in het begin niet zo, dan leef je echt (mee) in de gemeenschap waarin Lauren Oya Olamnina geboren en opgegroeid is. Er wordt nauwelijks iets uitgelegd, je mag zelf ervaren en deduceren hoe en waarom die de leden van deze gemeenschap leven zoals ze leven. Dat geldt helaas niet voor de overige leden van de groep die ontstaan is aan het eind van dit boek. Hun wederwaardigheden worden vrijwel uitsluitend aan elkaar verteld op die bijna oneindige vlucht naar 'het noorden'. Die wandeling vond ik, naarmate het langer duurde, steeds saaier worden ondanks het continue gevaar, de branden en al die verschillende mensen die zich aansluiten.
Daarom niet de volle pond aan sterren, hoewel Duffy en Jennings die eigenlijk wel verdienen... Ik hoop dat Parable of the Talents binnenkort verschijnt, want die wil ik dolgraag (ook) als graphic noveladaptatie lezen.
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July 28, 2024wow! cool adaptation, and cool story to start with
December 21, 2020
I liked it. This is perhaps the third graphic novel I’ve read so I’m not the best source for a review on that aspect of the book. I read this Butler novel over 20 years ago and she immediately became a favorite author. I sought and read nearly everything else she wrote after this, my introduction to her.
Being now in my 50s it was interesting how much more closely I identified with the father of the protagonist rather than Lauren or the younger characters. Maybe identify is the wrong word but I certainly understood him more and sympathized with his point of view. In my memory he barely registered as a character at all.
It’s a good story and as relevant now as ever. The drawings are rich and the adapted story was easy to follow. I finished this within 24 hours. Sort of like watching a movie, graphic novels are. Not as immersive as a text novel but entertaining. Perfect medium to refresh my memory of the story before next month’s book club discussion.
Being now in my 50s it was interesting how much more closely I identified with the father of the protagonist rather than Lauren or the younger characters. Maybe identify is the wrong word but I certainly understood him more and sympathized with his point of view. In my memory he barely registered as a character at all.
It’s a good story and as relevant now as ever. The drawings are rich and the adapted story was easy to follow. I finished this within 24 hours. Sort of like watching a movie, graphic novels are. Not as immersive as a text novel but entertaining. Perfect medium to refresh my memory of the story before next month’s book club discussion.
August 16, 2020
The same team behind the Kindred graphic adaptation returns to the source to now tackle author’s other famous work, Parable of the Sower. A devastating dystopian tale set in the not too distant and (frighteningly) no longer all that implausible future of the US. The author dreamt this one decades ago, where (one hopes) this seemed like some sort of nightmarish worst case scenario, but mostly probably a cautionary warning. And now…well, depending on how the 2020 election goes and at this time there isn’t much chance of it going well, a year 2024 where the country is devastated by poverty, shortages of basic needs, marauders, rampant violence, economic and environmental crises, etc….seems all too terrifyingly prophetic. In the story, into that world something like a prophet indeed emerges, a preacher’s daughter that develops her own ideology of Earthseed and, despite her young age (the novel starts with her at 15 and goes through to 18) she is determined and ambitious about disseminating her ideas among the refugees she meets on the way to establish something like a peaceable colony. Sounds intriguing? It is, in a way. But as a book it just didn’t work for me. Or my fiancée, with whom I read it. It wasn’t the overwhelming bleakness, not for me, anyway, my reading often is on the darker side of things. It was the quality of bleakness here, the monotony of it, the single sustained note of terrible devastation interspersed with strikingly graphic violence and…not much other than that. In fact, the entire book can be summed up in one sentence…presented in ugly art, girl starts cult amid the ashes of civilization. Yes, I know how terribly reductive that is, but it doesn’t make it inaccurate. The art is ugly, it was ugly in Kindred and it’s uglier still. Or probably the same level of ugly, only Kindred was a superior story, so it’s more noticeable here. And yes, ugly isn’t nearly specific enough and it’s more along the lines of…it’s crude and weird about faces, especially from different angles. It’s probably a stylistic choice and as such will probably work for some, but it really didn’t for me. And plot wise…outside of the obvious and clever sociopolitical commentary, economic and racial injustices that seem just as current then as they do now (irrespective of all the well intentioned protests and so on), outside of all that…it’s a fairly thin plot. Terrible things occur, the characters move on, the protagonist discusses Earthseed, repeat. It’s obviously depressing and heavy and all that, but it didn’t offer enough for me to balance things out, didn’t care that much about the characters (the main thing) plus the art just distracted. And it's so freaking long, it just goes on and on, took seemingly forever to get through. Also what’s with the pairing of the 18 year old with the 57 year old? And you thought Kindred’s couple had an age difference. That just seemed odd. Then again many things do, dystopian mentality is one of do whatever seems right at the moment for the moments are limited. Though obviously this specific dystopia might last longer than others since there is a sequel to the book. One I’m not sure I have any interest in reading based on this experience. Mind you, my opinion seems to be a minority on, based on other GR reviews. This is a beloved book and a book that in this day and age would be PC and trendy to love, irrespective of quality, just going by the themes it tackles. So I don’t want to discourage anyone from checking it out, this is just a summary of a personal reading experience.
August 17, 2019
Not sure about this one. I got it as an ARC and some panel really seem unfinished, was it part of the style, all of the art look a bit sketchy, which I enjoy I'm not saying that negatively, but some of it really look unfinished... anyway! I wasn't a big fan of the story, never read the original source material so I can't compare... but I find the rhythm to slow for me in a graphic novel format, maybe the novel would be a better choice for me. I never really engage in it...
August 3, 2021
Trigger warnings: Death (including child, parent, and animal death), murder, torture, violence (particularly gun and sexual violence), blood and gore, body horror, child abuse, incest, domestic abuse, slavery, human trafficking, pedophilia, rape, sexual assault, drug use and abuse, addiction, grief
Overall rating: 3.5 stars
Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 3.5 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Worldbuilding: 3.5 stars
Art: 1 star
Overall rating: 3.5 stars
Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 3.5 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Worldbuilding: 3.5 stars
Art: 1 star
June 22, 2022
I have been hearing about this novel for a little while now and when I saw it in graphic novel form, I snatched it up. This one is very traumatic but also very worthwhile. The art is pretty visceral at times so keep that in mind.
Read this title if you are entertained by our dystopian possible future.
Read this title if you are entertained by our dystopian possible future.
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