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authorMartin Ashby <martin@ashbysoft.com>2024-12-21 22:18:18 +0000
committerMartin Ashby <martin@ashbysoft.com>2024-12-21 22:18:18 +0000
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Bump zine 0.3.0 -> 0.8.0
Fix a lot of associated breakage Fix broken rss.xml file as highlighted to me by Matthijs van der Wild (thanks!)
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+---
+.title = "Book - Parable of the Sower / Parable of the Talents",
+.author = "Martin Ashby",
+.date = @date("2023-10-01T22:23:00+01:00"),
+.layout = "single.shtml",
+.custom = {"comments": true},
+---
+
+By [Octavia E Butler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_E._Butler). *Note, spoilers*
+
+When I read fiction, I primarily read sci-fi. Some of my favourite authors include Iain M Banks, Terry Pratchett, Steven Baxter. I also enjoyed Frank Herbert's original Dune series, and some of Issac Asimov's short stories (particularly I Robot).
+
+'Parable of the Sower' stood out to me in my local library's tiny sci-fi section; I'd not previously read anything by Octavia E Butler. It doesn't tread lightly: racism, sexism, violence, abuse and slavery are core themes, in a story where North America is tearing itself apart over a generation through crime, fear, and disorder. The protagonist Lauren Olamina suffers immensely, and yet she holds onto a dream of not only improving her own situation but changing the whole outlook of humanity; setting us on a course for the stars. The epilogue of the latter book sees an elderley Olamina watch the first starships launched through her organisation's work.
+
+I enjoyed the story immensely, although the brutality made it difficult to enjoy the book. Butler herself said at interview that the research for the novel was ['overwhelming'](https://web.archive.org/web/20051112234721/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05%2F11%2F11%2F158201), and her writing took a more light-hearted turn rather than continuing this series.