20 Best Books By Octavia Butler (2023 Update)

In 2032, lauren olamina has survived the destruction of her home and family, and realized her vision of a peaceful community in northern california based on her newly founded faith, earthseed. the fledgling community provides refuge for outcasts facing persecution after the election of an ultra-conservative president who vows to 'make america great again.' in an increasingly divided and dangerous nation, lauren's subversive colony–a minority religious faction led by a young black woman–becomes a target for president jarret's reign of terror and oppression–provided by publisher.

The definitive edition of the complete works of the "grand dame" of american science fiction begins with this volume gathering two novels and her collected storiesan original and eerily prophetic writer, octavia e. butler used the conventions of science fiction to explore the dangerous legacy of racism in america in harrowingly personal terms. she broke new ground with books that featured complex black female protagonists—“i wrote myself in,” she would later recall—establishing herself as one of thepioneers of the afrofuturist aesthetic. in 1995 she became the first science fiction writer to receive a macarthur fellowship, in recognition of her achievement in creating new aspirations for the genre and for american literature. this first volume in the library of america edition of butler’s collected works opens with her masterpiece, kindred, one of the landmark american novels of the last half century. its heroine, dana, a black woman, is pulled back and forth between the present and the pre–civil war past, where she finds herself enslaved on the plantation of a white ancestor whose life she must save to preserve her own. in fledgling, an amnesiac discovers that she is a vampire, with a difference: she is a new, experimental birth with brown skin, giving her the fearful ability to go out in sunlight. rounding out the volume are eight short stories and five essays—including two never before collected, plus a newly researched chronology of butler’s life and career and helpful explanatory notes prepared by scholar gerry canavan. butler’s friend, the writer and editor nisi shawl, provides an introduction.

A beautiful boxed set brings together the great sci-fi writer's two award-winning parable books the perfect gift for fans of octavia butler, this boxed set pairs the bestselling nebula-prize nominee, parable of the sower and parable of the talents, which together tell the near-future odyssey of lauren olamina, a "hyperempathic" young woman who is twice as feeling in a world that has become doubly dehumanized. in sower, the place is california, where small walled communities protect from hordes of desperate scavengers and roaming bands of people addicts. lauren sets off on foot along the dangerous coastal highways, moving north into the unknown. parable of the talents celebrates the classic butlerian themes of alienation and transcendence, violence and spirituality, slavery and freedom, separation and community, to astonishing effect, in the shockingly familiar, broken world of 2032. it is told in the voice of lauren olamina's daughter–from whom she has been separated for most of the girl's life–with sections in the form of lauren's journal. against a background of a war-torn continent, and with a far-right religious crusader in the office of the u.s. presidency, this is a book about a society whose very fabric has been torn asunder, and where the basic physical and emotional needs of people seem almost impossible to meet. talents is introduced by singer, musician, composer, producer, and curator toshi reagon, who created an opera based on the parable books.

Titles in this set : 1. america is a place of chaos, where violence rules and only the rich and powerful are safe. lauren olamina, a young woman with the extraordinary power to feel the pain of others as her own, records everything she sees of this broken world in her journal. then, one terrible night, everything alters beyond recognition, and lauren must make her voice heard for the sake of those she loves. soon, her vision becomes reality and her dreams of a better way to live gain the power to change humanity forever. parable of the talents in order for me to understand who i am, i must begin to understand who she was. asha was born into a broken world. there are many things she needs to know: how her country could embrace a violent, far-right president promising to make america great again, why they turned a blind eye to the suffering – and the truth about her mother. in her journals, lauren olamina tells of a great love divided between her young daughter, her community and the revelation that led her to found a new faith that teaches 'god is change'. but under a tyrannical religious regime who consider the mere existence of a black female leader a threat, lauren knows she must soon either sacrifice her daughter and her followers – or forsake the beliefs that could transform human destiny.

Billy pilgrim is the son of an american barber. he serves as a chaplain's assistant in world war ii, is captured by the germans, and he survives the largest massacre in european history the fire bombing of dresden. after the war billy makes a great deal of money as an optometrist, and on his wedding night he is kidnapped by a flying saucer from the planet tralfamadore. so begins a modern classic by a master storyteller.

This highly acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from award-winning author octavia e. butler "pairs well with 1984 or the handmaid's tale" (john green, new york times)–now with a new foreword by n. k. jemisin. when global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, california becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. fifteen-year-old lauren olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. 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.

Fledgling, octavia butler’s last novel, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly un-human needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: she is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted—and still wants—to destroy her and those she cares for, and how she can save herself. fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human.

This is one of the world's great antiwar books. an american classic. centering on the infamous firebombing of dresden, billy pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we fear most.

Organizers and activists envision, and try to create, such worlds all the time. walidah imarisha and adrienne maree brown have brought 20 of them together in the first anthology of short stories to explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change. these visionary tales span genressci-fi, fantasy, horror, magical realismbut all are united by an attempt to inject a healthy dose of imagination and innovation into our political practice and to try on new ways of understanding ourselves, the world around us, and all the selves and worlds that could be. also features essays by tananarive due and mumia abu-jamal, and a preface by sheree renée thomas." those concerned with justice and liberation must always persuade the mass of people that a better world is possible. our job begins with speculative fictions that fire society's imagination and its desire for change. in adrienne maree brown and walidah imarisha's visionary conception, and by its activist-artists' often stunning acts of creative inception, octavia's brood makes for great thinking and damn good reading. the rest will be up to us." one part sacred text, one part social movement manual, one part diary of our future selves telling us, it's going to be okay, keep working, keep loving.' our radical imaginations are under siege and this text is the rescue mission. it is the new cornerstone of every class i teach on inequality, justice, and social change…. ruha benjamin, professor of african american studies at princeton university and author of people's science: bodies and rights on the stem cell frontier"octavia once told me that two things worried her about the future of humanity: the tendency to think hierarchically, and the tendency to place ourselves higher on the hierarchy than others. and that in calling for us to consider that hierarchical structure, they are not walking in her shadow, nor standing on her shoulders, but marching at her side." steven barnes, lion's blood – never has one book so thoroughly realized the dream of its namesake. octavia's brood is the progeny of two lovers of octavia butler and their belief in her dream that science fiction is for everybody…. butler could not wish for better evidence of her touch changing our literary and living landscapes. play with these children, read these works, and find the children in you waiting to take root under the stars!” moya bailey and ayana jamieson, octavia e. butler legacy – like [octavia] butler's fiction, this collection is cartography, a map to freedom.” dream hampton, filmmaker and visiting artist at stanford university's institute for diversity in the arts – walidah imarisha is a writer, organizer, educator, and spoken word artist. she is the author of the poetry collection – scars/stars and facilitates writing workshops at schools, community centers, youth detention facilities, and women's prisons.adrienne maree brown is a 2013 kresge literary arts fellow writing science fiction in detroit, michigan. she received a 2013 detroit knight arts challenge award to run a series of octavia butlerbased writing workshops. – in oakland, california on march 24, 2015 a fire destroyed the ak press warehouse along with several other businesses. please consider visiting the ak press website to learn more about the fundraiser to help them and their neighbors.

From the new york times bestselling author of parable of the sower and macarthur “genius” grant, nebula, and hugo award winner the visionary time-travel classic whose black female hero is pulled through time to face the horrors of american slavery and explores the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now. “i lost an arm on my last trip home. my left arm.” dana’s torment begins when she suddenly vanishes on her 26th birthday from california, 1976, and is dragged through time to antebellum maryland to rescue a boy named rufus, heir to a slaveowner’s plantation. she soon realizes the purpose of her summons to the past: protect rufus to ensure his assault of her black ancestor so that she may one day be born. as she endures the traumas of slavery and the soul-crushing normalization of savagery, dana fights to keep her autonomy and return to the present. blazing the trail for neo-slavery narratives like colson whitehead’s the underground railroad and ta-nehisi coates’s the water dancer, butler takes one of speculative fiction’s oldest tropes and infuses it with lasting depth and power. dana not only experiences the cruelties of slavery on her skin but also grimly learns to accept it as a condition of her own existence in the present. “where stories about american slavery are often gratuitous, reducing its horror to explicit violence and brutality, kindred is controlled and precise” (new york times).“ k. jemisin the series adaption from fx premieres december 13 on hulu. developed for television by writer/executive producer branden jacobs-jenkins (watchmen), executive producers also include joe weisberg and joel fields (the americans, the patient), and darren aronofsky (the whale). janicza bravo (zola) is director and an executive producer of the pilot. kindred stars mallori johnson, micah stock, ryan kwanten, and gayle rankin.

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.

Now a fx/hulu original series from branden jacobs-jenkins and darren aronofsky and starring mallori johnson and micah stock #1 new york times bestseller winner of the 2018 eisner award for best adaptation from another medium octavia e. butler's bestselling literary science-fiction masterpiece, kindred, now in graphic novel format. more than 35 years after its release, kindred continues to draw in new readers with its deep exploration of the violence and loss of humanity caused by slavery in the united states, and its complex and lasting impact on the present day. adapted by celebrated academics and comics artists damian duffy and john jennings, this graphic novel powerfully renders butler's mysterious and moving story, which spans racial and gender divides in the antebellum south through the 20th century. butler's most celebrated, critically acclaimed work tells the story of dana, a young black woman who is suddenly and inexplicably transported from her home in 1970s california to the pre-civil war south. as she time-travels between worlds, one in which she is a free woman and one where she is part of her own complicated familial history on a southern plantation, she becomes frighteningly entangled in the lives of rufus, a conflicted white slaveholder and one of dana's own ancestors, and the many people who are enslaved by him. held up as an essential work in feminist, science-fiction, and fantasy genres, as well as a cornerstone of the afrofuturism movement, the intersectionality of race, history, and the treatment of women addressed in the book still remain critical topics in contemporary dialogue, both in the classroom and in the public sphere. frightening, compelling, and richly imagined, kindred offers an unflinching look at our complicated social history, transformed by the graphic novel format into a visually stunning work for a new generation of readers.

"i began writing about power because i had so little," octavia e. butler once said. butler's life as an african american woman–an alien in american society and among science fiction writers–informed the powerful works that earned her an ardent readership and acclaim both inside and outside science fiction. gerry canavan offers a critical and holistic consideration of butler's career. drawing on butler's personal papers, canavan tracks the false starts, abandoned drafts, tireless rewrites, and real-life obstacles that fed butler's frustrations and launched her triumphs. canavan departs from other studies to approach butler first and foremost as a science fiction writer working within, responding to, and reacting against the genre's particular canon. the result is an illuminating study of how an essential sf figure shaped themes, unconventional ideas, and an unflagging creative urge into brilliant works of fiction.

'the octavia butler novel for our times' the atlantic 'my book of the year . . . completely devours the genre which gave rise to it' junot díaz the final ground-breaking novel from renowned, bestselling author octavia e. a young girl wakes up in the woods, gravely injured and alone, with no memory of what happened or who she is. as shori heals, she realises that she isn't like the people around her, which leads to a shocking discovery. she is a fifty-three-year-old vampire, and in terrible danger. to save herself, shori must learn anew everything about the power and desires that she holds, the life that was stolen from her – and those who want her dead. praise for octavia e. butler, the new york times bestselling author 'in the ongoing contest over which dystopian classic is most applicable to our time… for sheer peculiar prescience, butler's novel may be unmatched' new yorker 'octavia butler was playing out our very real possibilities as humans.

'the octavia butler novel for our times' the atlantic 'my book of the year . . . completely devours the genre which gave rise to it' junot díaz the final ground-breaking novel from renowned, bestselling author octavia e. a young girl wakes up in the woods, gravely injured and alone, with no memory of what happened or who she is. as shori heals, she realises that she isn't like the people around her, which leads to a shocking discovery. she is a fifty-three-year-old vampire, and in terrible danger. to save herself, shori must learn anew everything about the power and desires that she holds, the life that was stolen from her – and those who want her dead. praise for octavia e. butler, the new york times bestselling author 'in the ongoing contest over which dystopian classic is most applicable to our time… for sheer peculiar prescience, butler's novel may be unmatched' new yorker 'octavia butler was playing out our very real possibilities as humans.

Please note that the following individual books as per original isbn and cover image in this listing shall be dispatched collectively: /b br br parable series 2 books collection set by octavia e. butler: /b br br parable of the sower: /b br this acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from an award-winning author "pairs well with 1984 or the handmaid's tale" and includes a foreword by n. k. jemisin (john green, new york times). when global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, california becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. fifteen-year-old lauren olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. br br parable of the talents: /b br originally published in 1998, this shockingly prescient novel's timely message of hope and resistance in the face of fanaticism is more relevant than ever. in 2032, lauren olamina has survived the destruction of her home and family, and realized her vision of a peaceful community in northern california based on her newly founded faith, earthseed. the fledgling community provides refuge for outcasts facing persecution after the election of an ultra-conservative president who vows to "make america great again." br br

An effortlessly rich and lyrical mystery wrapped in a love story that bends space, time, myth and science, perfect for fans of octavia butler and emily st. john mandel.sol has disappeared. their earth-born wife lumi sets out to find them but it is no simple feat: each clue uncovers another enigma. their disappearance leads back to underground environmental groups and a web of mystery that spans the space between the planets themselves. told through letters and extracts, the course of lumi’s journey takes her not only from the affluent colonies of mars to the devastated remnants of earth, but into the hidden depths of sol’s past and the long-forgotten secrets of her own. part space-age epistolary, part eco-thriller, and a love story between two individuals from very different worlds.

Named one of the best books of 2022 by the new yorker and the economistin his forceful follow-up to moneyland, oliver bullough unravels the dark secret of how britain placed itself at the center of the global offshore economy and at the service of the worst people in the world.the suez crisis of 1956 was the nadir of britain's twentieth century, the moment when the once-superpower was bullied into retreat. "great britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role," said dean acherson, a former us secretary of state. acheson's line has entered into the canon of great quotations: but it was wrong. britain had already found a role. the leaders of the world just hadn't noticed it yet. butler to the world reveals how britain came to assume its role as the center of the offshore economy. written polemically, but studded with witty references to the butlers of popular fiction, it demonstrates how so many elements of modern britain have been put at the service of the world's oligarchs. the biden administration is putting corruption at the heart of its foreign policy, and that means it needs to confront britain's role as the foremost enabler of financial crime and ill behavior. this book lays bare how london has deliberately undercut u.s. regulations for decades, and calls into question the extent to which britain can be considered a reliable ally.

Butler is widely recognized today as one of the most important figures in contemporary science fiction. bringing together leading and emerging scholars and covering butler's complete works from the bestselling novel kindred, to her short stories and major novel sequences patternmaster, xenogenesis and the parables, this is the most comprehensive companion to butler scholarship available today.the bloomsbury handbook to octavia e. butler covers the full range of contemporary scholarly themes and approaches to the author's work, including:· cyborgs and the posthuman· race and african american history· afrofuturism· gender and sexuality· new perspectives from religious studies, the environmental humanities and disability studies· new discoveries from the butler archives at the huntington librarythe book includes a comprehensive bibliography of works by butler and secondary scholarship on her work as well as an afterword by the novelist tananarive due.

Fledgling, octavia butler’s last novel, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly un-human needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: she is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted—and still wants—to destroy her and those she cares for, and how she can save herself. fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human.