Parable of the Sower is such a powerful book. Set in a dystopian near future in California. Global warming has destroyed civilization as we know it, communities exist in isolated pockets defending themselves from innumerable threats, and those left outside the communities face violence and disease.

In the face of all this, Lauren - growing up in one of these communities - fights for survival and to understand the relationship between humans, earth and God.

This new graphic novel iteration of Octavia Butler's classic is excellent. I especially enjoyed the segments on Earthseed and Lauren's writings/ruminations of faith.

Rating 4 stars for story. It's profound and uses biblical allegory in a much deeper way than anything I have read lately. The art is focuses mostly on tight scenes involving the people speaking or being spoken about, using more broad landscape scene to make the reader feel the emptiness and dread that comes from living in an environment that is slowly falling apart. You really understand the feelings of desperation the characters have that forces them to band together and try to find meaning, and how hard it is for some of them to acknowledge that everything is falling apart.

The art seems unfinished. I'm not sure if this is an artistic choice or if the art was completed after the advanced copies went out to reviewers. There's a lot of potential here, and I look forward to seeing the completed work.

PLEASE NOTE: This review will be mainly on the text and overall story as my ARC did not have the finished drawings as most were only sketches with no final lines or colour.

I have never read the original novel of Parable of the Sower, but this book has got me wanting to. Taking place in what now is the very near future we see a world where the world has descended into chaos and where walls have been put up to protect communities from what is outside.

I found this story very interesting and was very intrigued with where the story was going. The combination of seeing what was going on in Lauren's head through her journal entries as well as seeing what was happening in her life was a good contrast and the story very much made me think.

I will probably be picking up this adaptation again when the finished version is published, but I found this a very interesting story.

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.

I'm a fan of the KINDRED graphic novel by the same team and PARABLE OF THE SOWER is just as great! I look forward to seeing it in its final form. The story is strong and the pace is good.

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

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this Graphic Novel Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler. I enjoyed this graphic novel for the most part. The illustration are well done, and correlate to the story well. The novel as a whole is well crafted with some minor issues.

I have been a fan of Octavia Butler for years, and I am so excited that her work is being adapted for new audiences to pick up. Her dystopian series was particularly prescient, predicting a lot of the scarcity and callous behavior towards the poor as the ravages of climate change and unchecked excesses of capitalism change our way of life beyond recognition. Like always, Butler looks at the future with biological and intersectional lenses, leading the way with Olamina, a neurodivergent young girl with biologically enforced empathy who begins to write her own religion from what she observes to be true.

The story is powerful and painful. I forgot how much I loved it. I may come back to edit my review when I have the chance to see the finished artwork. As is, there are some sections where the notebook format, or visualizing the sci fi elements of hyperempathy syndrome does quite help. Large other portions are still so rough that it is impossible to tell what is going on. I have hopes for that and will edit my review when I have a chance to see it. As is, I’m not as happy with this aspect.

My other criticism is that the opening misses some context, so it may be difficult for new readers to get into the graphic novel.

Overall? Forget The Road. Have students read The Parable if the Sower and The Parable of the Talents.

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/1590307786?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

I have read other graphic novels that have been converted from a classic. It gives people who may not otherwise pick up a classic, a way to access them in a more vivid and intriguing way. This was no exception. Well written and nicely illustrated

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
I really wanted to like this; I like the graphic adaptation of Kindred so much. I was pretty excited to get this, and I liked the first half or so of the book very much. I'm a big fan of the two novels (Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents) and know them well, so at first I wasn't bothered by the rough uncolored sketches of the ARC.
However, in the p0rtion of the book dealing with the trek on the road, as more and more people join--I had a hard time keeping track of who was who and what was happening, even with my familiarity with the book. I hope the final versions of the art help, but I worry there was not quite enough info left in. I think a new reader of the story would possibly struggle.

A varied format for the graphic art and good selection of passages from Octavia Butler's original story make this a graphic novel to buy for older teens and adults.

So, I didn't really get to see much of the artwork for this, so I can't comment much on that. The e-ARC I was provided had storyboard art, not the finished work, but I was able to get a sample peek online, and what I saw looked great. The story had what I love from Octavia E. Butler- dystopia with a hint of hope for humankind, but there will be a lot of work getting to the brighter future. I haven't read the original book yet, so I can't say how good the adaption is, but it seems good. I like the way this version is formatted, as if you're reading Lauren's notebooks, with verses from the Earthseed book throughout. I definitely want to read the original sooner rather than later, to get more detail about the story, but this didn't feel like chunks were missing- there's no explanation of what happened, what led the world to become like this, though, and I'd like to know. Of course, there might not be an explanation, and that's okay too, leaves room to imagine what might've gone wrong. Butler's book was written in 1993, and is set just a few years from now, 2024 if I remember correctly. I could see things getting to this point- maybe not as soon as 2024, but not so far away.

#ParableOfTheSower #NetGalley

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

It is 2024, and the United States looks nothing like what people from the late 20th century would recognize. Environmental and economic crises have devastated the country. Teenager Lauren Olamina lives in a walled-off neighborhood, which gives her family some protection from the worse conditions outside the walls. Lauren is afraid to tell her dad that she doesn't believe in his Christian god. Instead, she creates her own “religion”, Earthseed, based on what she believes in from what she sees: change.

I have not read the book this graphic novel is based on, but reading the graphic novel makes me want to! The art wasn't finished in the ARC; I am really curious about how it will look when the novel actually comes out! Just based on the cover, I expect it will be amazing!

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

I am so psyched that Parable of the Sower is getting the graphic novel treatment to try to bring in newer readers to Butler's works. (Here's hoping Parable of the Talents gets one too!) Like others have said, the unfinished copy was a bit difficult to read, especially on the computer, but there was still enough to know it is good. I cannot wait for the full version to see it in all of its finished glory.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. I hadn't read the original text, so I found this piece to be incredibly interesting. It felt like it could have been written right now about merely days or weeks into the future. The artwork wasn't entirely finished which makes it challenging to weigh in on. Still, from the art that was included, it's clear that the book is going to be gorgeous! I think that this is a very approachable way for students to become accustomed to Octavia Butler, her writing style, and her themes. For students who are reluctant readers, I think that this book could be a game changer.

Although the narrative is compelling and the artwork is promising, this feels too unfinished to pursue at this stage; it's difficult to differentiate characters, scenery, etc. with the art as it is currently. I would revisit it once it's finished.

Outstanding. The artwork is gorgeous and the story unparalleled. I'm already a fan of Butler but in this new medium the story just comes alive even more. It also helps that the font is effortlessly readable (unlike some other graphic novels out there...). It was such a pleasure to read this. I hope they do the whole series!

Thank you Netgalley and Publishers for the opportunity to read an ARC of this graphic novel!

3.5 stars

I liked the art style they chose for the graphic novel. I just read the novel for class so, having the story fresh in my mind. I was excited to read graphic novel but found that too much information was skipped over/missing or not translated though the artwork that the graphic novel could not be a stand alone work. If someone were to pick it up without having read the book, there were times especially at the beginning (that captures ch 1-2) needed more explanation and/or detail. I like the interesting direction the graphic novel attempts to take though.