I have long wanted to teach a course in which I could give Octavia Butler’s novels The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Talents the detailed attention they deserve. For anyone interested in the intersection of religion and science fiction, these novels are inevitably going to be fascinating. The main character, Lauren Olamina, is the daughter of a Christian minister but ends up creating her own religion called Earthseed. The text that collects her sayings and insights comes to... Read more