Seed to Harvest [Paperback]

Octavia E. Butler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2007

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Octavia E. Butler was the first black woman to come to international prominence as a science fiction writer. Incorporating powerful, spare language and rich, well-developed characters, her work tackled race, gender, religion, poverty, power, politics, and science in a way that touched readers of all backgrounds. Butler was a towering figure in life and in her art and the world noticed; highly acclaimed by reviewers, she received numerous awards, including a MacArthur "genius" grant, both the Hugo and Nebula awards, the Langston Hughes Medal, as well as a PEN Lifetime Achievement award.

Product Details

• Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (January 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446698903
• ISBN-13: 978-0446698900
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Octavia Estelle Butler, often referred to as the "grand dame of science fiction," was born in Pasadena, California on June 22, 1947. She received an Associate of Arts degree in 1968 from Pasadena Community College, and also attended California State University in Los Angeles and the University of California, Los Angeles. During 1969 and 1970, she studied at the Screenwriter's Guild Open Door Program and the Clarion Science Fiction Writers' Workshop, where she took a class with science fiction master Harlan Ellison (who later became her mentor), and which led to Butler selling her first science fiction stories.

Butler's first story, "Crossover," was published in the 1971 Clarion anthology. Patternmaster, her first novel and the first title of her five-volume Patternist series, was published in 1976, followed by Mind of My Mind in 1977. Others in the series include Survivor (1978), Wild Seed (1980), which won the James Tiptree Award, and Clay's Ark (1984).

With the publication of Kindred in 1979, Butler was able to support herself writing full time. She won the Hugo Award in 1984 for her short story, "Speech Sounds," and in 1985, Butler's novelette "Bloodchild" won a Hugo Award, a Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and an award for best novelette from Science Fiction Chronicle.

Other books by Octavia E. Butler include the Xenogenesis trilogy: Dawn (1987), Adulthood Rites (1988) and Imago (1989), and a short story collection, Bloodchild and Other Stories (1995). Parable of the Sower (1993), the first of her Earthseed series, was a finalist for the Nebula Award as well as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. The book's sequel, Parable of the Talents (1998), won a Nebula Award.

In 1995 Butler was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Foundation fellowship.

AWARDS

1980, Creative Arts Award, L.A. YWCA
1984, Hugo Award for Best Short Story - Speech Sounds
1984, Nebula Award for Best Novelette - Bloodchild
1985, Science Fiction Chronicle Award for Best Novelette - Bloodchild
1985, Locus Award for Best Novelette - Bloodchild
1985, Hugo Award for Best Novelette - Bloodchild
1995, MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant
1999, Nebula Award for Best Novel - Parable of the Talents
2000, PEN American Center lifetime achievement award in writing
2010, Inductee Science Fiction Hall of Fame
2012, Solstice Award, Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#71 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction

#85 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Science Fiction

#71 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction

#85 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Science Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 62 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great series January 17, 2007

By T. Pham

Format:Paperback

I found this title while browsing around Amazon's New in Fiction January list, and was quite excited about the prospect of a new Butler book. Unfortunately, it is a compilation of books I've already read...bummer! I echo the comment left before me -- if you're new to Butler, great series to read.

Compilation includes the following novels: Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark, and Patternmaster.

79 of 85 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Orson Scott Card has nothing on Octavia! January 21, 2007

By Prestina Thompson

Format:Paperback

Think Sherri Tepper at her height (not the preachiness she's descended to). Think Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Think the moral dilemna's and characterization of Robin Hobb. When you think of these things you're close to understanding this series by Octavia Butler. Being a black woman I was initially intrigued by the idea of afro-centric science fiction. But this is soooo much more than that. Octavia Butler is one of the most talented sci fi writers I've read in god knows how long. Her characters may be racially African-American (and sometimes just African, and usually a mix of a lot of different races) but this book has nothing really to do with that. It does lightly explore racial inequalities, but focuses more on social inequalities, the plight of the impoverished. Even better than that the REAL focus of the book is the science fiction. It's not just a social commentary with a touch of the extraordinary. It's true hard core sci/fi fantasy, and it is extraordinary.

The book follows a race of mentally gifted individuals of all ethnicities forward in time from the pre-slavery era to around 2225. These individuals are breed like cattle to be the companions, family, science project and ultimately FOOD of the scariest super villian you ever want to read about....Doro. Doro is a superbeing, a soul-vampire. He is immortal in that he jumps bodies but not like the rather kindly Lestat in Anne Rices series. He has to jump bodies, it's how he feeds. He likes it. And the more mentally talented the person is the better the food tastes to him. He also has the ability of tracking a person that he's met anywhere, across continents and across time. You cant escape him, and the last thing you want to do is kill him. That would only precipitate him jumping into YOUR body. Doro, collects mentally gifted individuals and breeds them together for his own amusement and as a source of food. I don't want to tell you much more becuase it would ruin the surprise. Suffice it to say that because of his tampering he breeds a race of humans that become a bit much to handle in later years.

The description I've just given you is pretty clinical. THe great thing about this book is that Octavia's superb writing allows you to live in these peoples lives, experience their powers and their terrible limitations. She puts the slave collar on your own neck and lets the blisters rise on your own skin. You can see, feel and taste their world.

I strongly reccomend this book to anyone who likes the writers I listed in the first paragraph. My advice to you is to be mentally ready...you're about to go on a real rollor coaster ride.

133 of 151 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you have all the other books, don't get ripped off December 20, 2006

By Jasmine J.

Format:Paperback

I was extremely excited to learn that Octavia Butler had written a final book before her departure, and as she was my favorite author I rushed out to get this last work. Unfortunately, its a trick because its only a compilation of her pre-existing work and contains NO NEW MATERIAL! So, unless you're new to Butler, don't bother picking this one up. If you are new to Butler, its an excellent read and saves room on the bookshelf!