drew this for my English project on Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler :)
Close ups under cut
[[MORE]]
Text
finally FINALLY got through reading Octavia Butler’s Fledgling. i have so many thoughts about it but practically none of them are articulable right now 💀
you can really tell that it was a passion project for her and a way out of her post-Talents writer’s block. while i think the prose on the page certainly makes it one of her weaker works and it lacks the polish of her other books, it was a joy to read anyway because you can just sort of see how much fun she had writing it. it needed to go through another couple rounds of edits, but the worldbuilding was pretty solid, and certainly an interesting departure from more traditional vampire novels.
shori as a protagonist i found both compelling and disturbing, which was objectively the point of her so that’s fine. there were moments when i was so repulsed by the implications of what i was reading that i had to set the book down for a few minutes. for comparison, i read Kindred for the first time a few months ago, and while that was a rougher read in some ways (likely for the realism of its various atrocities), i found myself more viscerally repelled more often by Fledgling. imo this is one of Butler’s greatest strengths as an author: when she wants you to feel unsettled, you are going to feel unsettled. you either have to sit with that and process it and then keep reading, or put the book down. she doesn’t provide any easy outs in the narrative. i admire that.
overall i think i liked it! it’s not my favorite of hers (that remains Dawn, and probably always will), but it was interesting to me and i’m glad i made the time to read it.
Text
Every women author I have ever loved has brought me to the precipice of understanding what it means to exist and just before I can reach enlightenment they reach into the depths of the unexplained and pull out the weirdest, most uncomfortable age-gap relationship that is just technically OK and I revert into an idiot.
Text
Read Parable of the Sower
Complicated. I frequently found myself horrified at both the precision and the familiarity of Butler’s vision of a particularly capitalist dystopia. In the first section of the novel, she constructs a world that we can almost reach out and grab, in which people go to work, pay their mortgages, attend schools. These mundanities, wage labor, bills, education, are often omitted in dystopian narratives that have strayed too far from our current reality, but Butler stays focused on the potential rather than the fantastical. Lauren’s voice is completely rendered, and creates an image of a singularly focused child, perhaps somewhat fantastic in her intelligence and awareness, but tangible nonetheless. The epistolary device in an apocalyptic novel is particularly powerful: each entry we read, we read because Lauren has not yet died. In this way we are significantly more secure, even in our imaginations, than the travelers we stay with. Unfortunately, this dedication to creating a potential and detailed young voice means that the prose itself is rarely impressive. This is not necessarily detrimental, but it doesn’t quite align with my preference. The religious bent is intentionally and obviously juvenile, which becomes somewhat frustrating with no real conflict, but I hope there is an improvement on that front in the sequel.
Text
People do blame you for the things they do to you.
Companion // Octavia Butler, The Parable of the Talents
Text
I finished octavia butler’s dawn today (it was the first of her books I’ve read) and wow! that was horrifying! can’t wait to read the next book!
spoilers below the cut if anyone wants to read my rambles about this book lmao.
[[MORE]]first of all as someone who never wants to get pregnant ever, dear fucking lord! the last five pages of this would have been my personal nightmare, actually. however, I also think that was the point. I found it veryyyy interesting that there were no mentions of queer humans at all in this book, and I know that was not just octavia butler writing within her time of the 80s. she’s far too introspective and thoughtful for that. the next book might expand upon this of course but I’m sure those aliens were self-selecting the cisgender and straight humans because their entire plan is to breed and assimilate them and notably, queer people have a harder time doing that. the aliens in this series have such a rigid nuclear family system that seems completely unbreakable(?) and I find that so interesting. Even when they add humans into the mix, they’re really just creating another version of what they do with each other, but dropping two humans into the mix instead. I also find Lilith’s insistence that no one rapes one another so interesting when contrasted with the lengths the aliens go to to assimilate humans into their ranks. I think it’s pretty reasonable to say that all of the sexual contact the aliens have with humans is coerced in some way. The first time joseph, lilith, and nikanj “mate” nikanj low-key sounds like a manipulative date rapist trying to get into a girl’s pants with what it says to joseph before and after. that scene was manipulative as fuck and I kinda loved the commentary that had on power, coercion, colonization, and survival.
Text
when i worked at Book Store i told absolutely everyone buying octavia butler or biographies abt black authors to pick up positive obsession bc i was so so so excited about it and now half a year later im finally reading it and having the time of my life ms butler you are the coolest woman in the world
Text
Kindred by Octavia Butler
I somehow missed out on reading this book despite it being smack dab in the type of books I read a lot as a teen, and from an author I like
The last line hits absolutely perfectly
Text
My Review of Positive Obsession
Have you ever read the story of someone else’s life, and found yourself thinking, “Wow, we have a lot in common!” That’s how I felt while reading this book. There were moments, especially in the beginning, where I felt as though I was reading about myself. Even the author’s own history, which was woven into the introduction, felt familiar. Octavia E. Butler, Susana M. Morris (the author) and…
Text
“First, forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice.”
Today we’re celebrating the life of the badass creative genius that is Octavia E. “Junie” Butler, creator of the Patternist series, Kindred, the gripping Xenogenesis trilogy, and of course the Earthseed series. Octavia passed twenty years ago on this very date (Feb 24, 2006), but we sci-fi nerds know she is pretty much immortal; the landing site of the Perseverance Rover on Mars is now known as Octavia E. Butler Landing, a mountain on Pluto’s moon Charon also bears her name, and Asteroid 7052 was renamed Octaviabutler by its discoverer, astronomer Eleanor Helin. Dive into her story at: https://www.petervintonjr.com/blm/lesson106.html
Random decks of twelve of these trading cards are available for the asking –as many decks as you need, to share with your classroom, congregation, or workgroup. No cost, no strings attached. Email the artist for details.
Text
Parable of the Sower
Octavia Butler
375 pages
Gurlllll. First of all, why did that book follow me. For like 2-3 years straight it was recommended to me/ everywhere. Then my dad shipped it to my house unprompted like dang now I gotta read it.
Honestly I liked the first half when Lauren was in her village/community. When Lauren hit the road, I was ready to punch her. Like she is a well-meaning asshole. Great idea/ vision of community, horrible people skills, manipulative gurl & she was trying to convert everyone which is counter to how she started out. The earthseed verses are fire though. I think the outer world building was the best part
3/?
2/17/2026
Text
Hollyweird - Aja Monet
“Nothing like disaster to shock a heart into beating”
Her first new release since 2023 and it’s a banger. I saw her perform in London last year and she blew me away. We need more artists like her in the world right now.
“I wrote ‘Hollyweird’ on scraps of found paper, frantically jotting down observations and sentiments of the moment during the Los Angeles fires and its aftermath,” Monet explains. “The song is an Afropunkesque ode to frustrations and feelings around our current culture of social isolation and performative solidarity. I wanted to speak to the emptiness of ‘hollyweird’ not as a place but as a way of being where insincerity is normalized. Where social interactions become void of sincerity and we lose sight of community and connection.”
“Octavia Butler newscasting premonitions from a graveside in Altadena”
Octavia Butler imagined LA ravaged by fires. Her Altadena cemetery survived
“When people show you who they are…..believe them.”
Love the video especially her signature use of image collages. If you get the chance, go and see her live.
Post Date: 20/02/2026
