Parable of the Sower: A Novel [Hardcover]

A New York Times Book of the Year · Nebula Award nominee · Featuring an introduction by Gloria Steinem

From the pioneering New York Times bestselling science fiction author of Kindred.

The radically speculative odyssey of a young Black woman in a post-apocalyptic America and the community she cultivates despite the horrors of climate change and social inequality

The time is 2025. The place is California, where small, walled communities must protect themselves from hordes of desperate scavengers and roaming bands of people addicted to a drug that activates an orgasmic desire to burn, rape, and murder.

When one small community is overrun, Lauren Olamina, an 18-year-old Black woman with the hereditary train of hyperempathy —which causes her to feel others’ pain as her own—sets off on foot along the dangerous coastal highways, moving north into the unknown. Gripping ... poignant ... succeeds on multiple levels. —The New York Times Book Review

Literate ... thoughtful. And a real gut-wrencher. —Washington Post Book World

A powerful story of hope and faith in the midst of urban violence and decay ... Excellent science fiction and a parable of modern society.  —Denver Post

A prophetic odyssey.  —Essence

Simple, direct, and deeply felt.  —Library Journal

Artfully conceived and elegantly written.  —