I got this novel from the library on Kindle. Last week I heard on NPR a piece on Butler and they said that she had died 'in a fall at her home in Forest Park, Washington. I was familiar with her writing, but I thought the manner of death rather odd. Similar to William Holden? I checked this out, and learned that what happened was a stroke and then a fall.
The library has most of her novels, yet few on Ebooks. This book is the first of the Earthseed Trilogy and was released in 1994.
The first third of the book takes place in a community of poor families near Los Angeles in 2023. The government is no longer in control and marauding bands of violent crazies prey upon the citizens.
Some take a drug called 'Ro' that makes them insane and prone to light fires (from 'Pyromania').
After a few years Lauren Olamina's enclave is invaded, and she and some followers begin a trek toward the Canadian border. The story is told by Lauren and each chapter begins with a quote or poem from Earthseed. This is a religion that she is developing.
Hyperempathy Syndrome
Keith Olamina is Lauren's brother and he is a hoodlum. He leaves the community to work with the criminals on the outside. They use him because he can read and write- they are illiterate. Keith gives some of the money that he earns to his mother, but soon he is brutally murdered- skinned alive.
Curtis Talcot is Lauren's boyfriend. He is lost on the night of the attack on the community.
Harry and Zahra are the two people that follow Lauren from her community.
Travis and Nativida are a couple that soon join Lauren.
Bankole is an older man that joins the group. Lauren is romantically involved with this black man. He has property in northern California that becomes their destination. His sister and her family have a working farm, but when the group arrives the farm has been invaded and there are no survivors.
Jill and Allie Gilchrist are two sisters that join the group.
From the book's page at amazon-
"By 2025, global warming, pollution, racial and ethnic tensions and other ills have precipitated a worldwide decline. In the Los Angeles area, small beleaguered communities of the still-employed hide behind makeshift walls from hordes of desperate homeless scavengers and violent pyromaniac addicts known as "paints" who, with water and work growing scarcer, have become increasingly aggressive. Lauren Olamina, a young black woman, flees when the paints overrun her community, heading north with thousands of other refugees seeking a better life. Lauren suffers from 'hyperempathy," a genetic condition that causes her to experience the pain of others as viscerally as her own--a heavy liability in this future world of cruelty and hunger. But she dreams of a better world, and with her philosophy/religion, Earthseed, she hopes to found an enclave which will weather the tough times and which may one day help carry humans to the stars. Butler tells her story with unusual warmth, sensitivity, honesty and grace; though science fiction readers will recognize this future Earth, Lauren Olamina and her vision make this novel stand out like a tree amid saplings."
I liked the book and will try to get the next book in the series. It kind of reminded me of THE STAND by Stephen King- another sprawling Road Book.
The book at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Sower_(novel)
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