Buy new:
$18.00
FREE delivery: Monday, April 22 on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.
Ships from: Amazon
Sold by: ABMarket1
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Monday, April 22 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Thursday, April 18. Order within 2 hrs 12 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$18.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$18.00
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon
Ships from
Amazon
Sold by
Sold by
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime
FREE delivery Tuesday, April 23 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Thursday, April 18. Order within 11 hrs 27 mins
Condition: Used: Good
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Other Sellers on Amazon
Added
$29.12
+ $3.99 shipping
Sold by: b4cause
Sold by: b4cause
(21905 ratings)
93% positive over last 12 months
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Shipping rates and Return policy
Added
$29.13
+ $3.99 shipping
Sold by: Orangeworld LLC
Sold by: Orangeworld LLC
(150 ratings)
95% positive over last 12 months
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Shipping rates and Return policy
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Parable of the Talents Paperback – January 1, 2000

4.6 out of 5 stars 8,440

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$18.00","priceAmount":18.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"18","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"4%2FAE1DFCVxZ7tPETMku3aVSXUhhNsD5CMa3wlkeebbb4oVk0L3sBRlj39Wp5Qj8hSNh%2BQ2PO58myHVt8LODSfxC49tdnXH6Aql3XS%2BsnlcbCn0U9OQD1uK1DgZLyDdtnJreHv6mvRm91Fi%2FdmIR2%2FTGpFun995B9o8U%2BmsvD1CXtaSkTAq5OyU%2FUalu%2BrLAA","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$12.66","priceAmount":12.66,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"12","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"66","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"4%2FAE1DFCVxZ7tPETMku3aVSXUhhNsD5CDpa0MBLdpHFP4DvKmGzKAfiHmaNVrAua0n5thCr1CpI%2BpxlJOYedbTCZanfg8uHawUcm7ueRH7gahWzd1nPAumUHnkhcqo5CxTGPICjlfoAteL4yQYMDHJ1egR%2BOyQm%2F3QoqP%2FoWNEyVMAJpJNrbpQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

"Enthralling...compelling and truly original." - Denver Post

Lauren Olamina's love is divided among her young daughter, her community, and the revelation that led Lauren to found a new faith that teaches "God Is Change". But in the wake of environmental and economic chaos, the U.S. government turns a blind eye to violent bigots who consider the mere existence of a black female leader a threat. And soon Lauren must either sacrifice her child and her followers -- or forsake the religion that can transform human destiny.

"All the Little Raindrops: A Novel" by Mia Sheridan for $10.39
The chilling story of the abduction of two teenagers, their escape, and the dark secrets that, years later, bring them back to the scene of the crime. | Learn more

Frequently bought together

$18.00
Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 22
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by ABMarket1 and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
+
$10.70
Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 22
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
$11.98
Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 22
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

OCTAVIA E. BUTLERwas a renowned writer who received a MacArthur "Genius" Grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. She was the author of several award-winning novels including Parable of the Sower, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and was acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future. Sales of her books have increased enormously since her death as the issues she addressed in her Afrofuturistic, feminist novels and short fiction have only become more relevant. She passed away on February 24, 2006.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grand Central Publishing; Reprint edition (January 1, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 424 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0446675784
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0446675789
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.5 x 1.25 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 8,440

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Octavia E. Butler
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

OCTAVIA E. BUTLER (1947–2006) was the renowned author of numerous ground-breaking novels, including Kindred, Wild Seed, and Parable of the Sower. Recipient of the Locus, Hugo and Nebula awards, and a PEN Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work, in 1995 she became the first science- fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Fellowship ‘Genius Grant’. A pioneer of her genre, Octavia’s dystopian novels explore myriad themes of Black injustice, women’s rights, global warming and political disparity, and her work is taught in over two hundred colleges and universities nationwide.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
8,440 global ratings
Octavia Butler does it again!
5 Stars
Octavia Butler does it again!
This was a wonderful continuation of Olamina's story through her daughter's voice. Ms. Butler never lets me down.
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2019
Butler's pair of Earthseed novels (Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents) are pure genius. In "Sower," Butler introduces us to Lauren Olamina, a teenage girl with a crippling sense of "hyperempathy" coming of age in a crime-ridden, economically depressed suburb of Los Angeles. She believes she has discovered a way for humanity to lift itself out of madness and travel to the stars. Indeed, she believes that this is humanity's destiny and only hope. She calls this path to salvation "Earthseed." When Olamina's cul-de-sac neighborhood is invaded and destroyed by a drug-crazed mob, Olamina finds herself on the road to the North. Along the way she gathers followers and allies, and begins to teach others her creed.
"Earthseed" is a powerful story of a young woman coming into adulthood, with themes of religion, philosphy, race and womanhood. Olamina is of "mixed" parentage, with a black father and white mother. Her companions on the road are various shades of black, brown and white skin. They speak mostly English, but some also speak Spanish and other languages. In short, they are typical Americans.
The first novel follows the well-trodden path of the post-apocalyptic journey, with one important difference - the apocalypse is happening all around Olamina as she travels north. The further she gets from LA, the worse the disintegration of society. There is hope that a new President will help set things right, but the one who is elected is a hard right-wing Christian who promises to "Make America Great Again." (This novel was written in 1990's, long before Trump became President.) "The Parable of the Sower" ends with Olamina marrying a much older man and starting a community in the woods, far from any large cities or towns. There is a sense of sweetness and hope. It looks like Earthseed will flourish and grow in the Northern forest.
"Parable of the Talents" picks up where "Sower" left off, but the story is told partly from the point of view of Olamina's grown daughter, who sees her mother in a critical light. Olamina's community is invaded (again) by fanatic white Christians, who enslave the village, rape the women systematically and viciously beat and torture anyone who tries to fight back. The slaves are fitted with collars that can be used to deliver painful shocks, and which will kill the slaves if they try to escape. The villagers are forced to attend church services and memorize Bible passages. Some of the villagers eventually turn against the others. Olamina tries desperately to keep her community together, and with the help of the other women, plans their escape.
"Talents" is a much deeper and thougtful novel. Butler gives Olamina and her family a complex story and vibrant human characters. Although Olamina is seen by her followers as a kind of saint, to her daughter she is a selfish, deluded idealist who abandoned her daughter in search of fame. Olamina's brother, a former slave prostitute, grows into a conservative Christian patriot, who joins the church that destroyed the first Earthseed village and so terribly abused its people. Even when shown clear evidence of the evil done in the name of his religion, he refuses to give up the Church. He tracks down Olamina's daughter, who was stolen by the Church, and raises her to adulthood, keeping the girl apart from her mother, and lying to them both.
Both of these novels are terrific, and together they form one of the best science fiction stories I have ever read.
18 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2024
This book is breathtaking. I was gifted the first book in this series by a friend who saw me deeply, in a way that I had not yet been seen before. They saw my hyper empathy before I knew what it was, let alone what it would mean for my life. I recommend this book first and foremost to other highly sensitive black women/femmes, then to anyone else who consider themselves to be highly sensitive. This book will enlighten you to the secret world that we all somehow inhabit. I hope to meet you there one day and hear how this book has also found you at the perfect time and we can share in the joy together.
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2024
The sequel to Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents ratchets up the intensity of Olamina's life, as well as the other residents of Acorn. Scary, as in 1998 Butler predicted Trump's motto, with a tyrannical president who who ran on Make America Great Again. His followers include the Christian Crusaders, a violent, self-righteous group of extremists who force their way on others.

Parable of the Talents is a real page-turner, but excessive in its violence and oppression. It's also a lesson in the importance of perseverance.
3 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2024
This book, even though written in an earlier time, relates so well to today's political environment. The CA reminds me so much of the religious movement to control us. Especially women. And who wouldn't want to "seed" the stars!
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2006
Butler, in her afterword to this book, indicates that Parable of the Sower and this book were conceived and partially written as one book. It's therefore somewhat surprising that not only do you not absolutely have to read Parable of the Sower first (though I highly recommend you do so), but that Talents is, perhaps, the `better' half. Butler includes enough background information on the happenings of Sower that the current situation is fully understandable.

And the current situation is the stuff of nightmares. Not only is America wracked by the effects of massive climate change, a badly frazzled economy, and a society turning inward upon itself, but anarchy, slavery, utter lawlessness have become rampant. In this world we have Acorn, the small community established by Olimina, who has a vision, a new religion, Earthseed, based on two items: God is Change, and the Destiny of Man is the stars. The depiction of this community's daily life, its struggles to establish stability and some form of security for its residents, is starkly realistic. Not all of its inhabitants totally buy Olimina's vision; there are doubters, slackers, whiners, those with different visions of how to proceed in the world. But all the plans go by the wayside when the community is not just attacked by members of the `fundamentalist' Christian America group, whose nominal leader has been elected as President of the US, but all its residents are forced into slavery, and their young children taken away for fostering in `Christian' homes.

This section of the book is highly depressing as the picture of humanity portrayed here is not only extremely ugly, it is all too believable. Fanatical beliefs in anything always seems to lead to behavior like this - after all, if you know that only your way is right, you can justify and rationalize almost any action against those who don't believe as you do. Butler's descriptions of the degrading conditions, the brutality Acorn's members experience, is horrifying (I just wish she'd had descriptions this powerful in her Kindred, as that was about the only flaw I could find in that excellent book). But this book is not just a screed against fundamentalist `Christianity', but against any belief system that calls for blind acceptance of its dogma. Butler presents not only Olimina's viewpoint, but also that of her husband, brother, and daughter (who was raised not even knowing that Olimina was her mother), and these viewpoints show that even Olimina's own vision, her religion of `Earthseed', is not without flaws of its own, and Olimina's obsession with spreading her word sometimes leads to decisions that are not in the best interests of all involved.

Each of these characters comes to life in this book. These are some very different people from one another, and their different viewpoints adds tremendously to the believability in the events portrayed.

The poems Butler presents as part of the `Word' of Earthseed are finely crafted and have enough power to make you, the reader, believe in their being a part of a new religion. Their message of strength to manage a world of constant change is, perhaps, the best part of Butler's themes, showing that there is hope for a better future, if only man will actually use all of his abilities to manage both himself and the world around him.

A finely crafted work, rife with emotional power, horrifying in its believability, with a message that cannot be ignored.

---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
8 people found this helpful
Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Kim
5.0 out of 5 stars eek
Reviewed in Canada on June 8, 2022
Reading this series this close to the time and climate it is set in - a little uncomfortable. Excellent in my opinion. The characters are complex, the plot interesting. All in all an enjoyable read.
3 people found this helpful
Report
Aaron
5.0 out of 5 stars Read parable of the sower first
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2024
The paraple books were very unexpected. Butler writes realistic sci fi, that is both scary and heart wrenching.
Mr. B
5.0 out of 5 stars Just fantastic
Reviewed in Spain on July 4, 2021
I read it not only admiring her strong, original prose and tight plot, but with my mouth open that she had somehow had the insight to see where we were going. It’s all here, but written decades ago. Read, learn and reflect!
M. E. Günther
5.0 out of 5 stars Ein Erlebnis
Reviewed in Germany on May 24, 2020
Da es den zweiten Teil der Serie noch nicht in deutscher Sprache gibt, musste ich mir diese englische Aussage zulegen. Ich wollte einfach wissen, wie es weiter geht.

Es ist die Geschichte von zwei Überlebenden einer Familie, die ihren neuen Platz in einer Welt suchen, die von religiösen Fanatikern voll ist. Ich will hier auch nicht zu viel verraten, aber es ist mehr als nur Unterhaltung.

Die Hauptperson, die man aus dem ersten Teil kennt, gründet endlich ihre erste Erdensaat-Gemeinschaft, eine Religion, die sei selbst erfunden hat, um zu überleben, sie findet einen Mann und bekommt ein Kind. Sie findet auch ihren tot geglaubten Bruder wieder. Doch der hält es dort nicht aus. Dann wird die Gemeinschaft überfallen, was häufiger vorkommt. Nur diesmal ist es schlimmer. Wird sie auch diesmal überleben?
One person found this helpful
Report
Stephanie
5.0 out of 5 stars If you like Octavia Butler you’ll enjoy this novel
Reviewed in Australia on April 1, 2019
A story spanning generations and reflecting on the good and bad parts of history and society. There is nothing supernatural/futuristic in this series, and yet I enjoyed this series as if it were science fiction.