Day 502, Quasi-Quarantine: "Parable Of The Talents" Caps The Earthseed Saga With A Whimper Instead Of A Bang

"Yet Andrew Steele Jarret was able to scare, divide, and bully people, first into electing him President, then into letting him fix the country for them. He didn't get to do everything he wanted to do. He was capable of so much greater fascism. So were his most avid followers."

The finale to the vivid, two-part Earthseed saga, "Parable of the Talents" was most notable for its eerily prescient prediction of the the Trump era -- and the rise of his sycophants and rejection of reality -- in America.

Overall, however, Octavia E. Butler's sequel to "Parable of the Sower" is more disjointed than the first book, marked by less focus and detail. The format and narration can make it a bit awkward and confusing to follow chronology and perspective.

"I have also read that the Pox was caused by accidentally coinciding climatic, economic, and sociological crises. It would be more honest to say that the Pox was caused by our own refusal to deal with obvious problems in those areas. We caused the problems: then we sat and watched as they grew into crises."

The novel also ended a bit abruptly, forcing the epilogue to do a lot of work to secure Lauren's legacy. The drama and intensity are still there, set against the backdrop of the staggeringly dark and difficult-to-take America of the 2030s and beyond, but the tale ran out of steam near the finish line.

All told, the Earthseed books are poignant and important, weaving in important warnings about the perils of environmental degradation, class warfare, religion, and racism. Butler seems to suggest that eventually and inevitably, we will all be forced to escape to the stars.

"Choose your leaders 

with wisdom and forethought. 

To be led by a coward 

is to be controlled 

by all that the coward fears. 

To be led by a fool 

is to be led 

by the opportunists 

who control the fool. 

To be led by a thief 

is to offer up 

your most precious treasures 

to be stolen. 

To be led by a liar 

is to ask 

to be told lies. 

To be led by a tyrant

is to sell yourself 

and those you love 

into slavery."