Science fiction writer Octavia Butler died at her home in Seattle over the weekend. She is one of my favorite writers. She tells magical stories about how people effect their societies.
I read all of her books as they were published, and I’ve read so many books since then, I recall few details, only impressions. I’ll re-read them all; I’ve kept them in my home and not put them into storage for that reason. Her books fall into two or three groups. One group is about failed humanity, aliens, manipulated DNA, physical metamorphosis, and telepathy. Another group is about great personal struggle and spirituality in a bleak post holocaust future.
Her writing has amazing range and power, from the sensitivity of our innermost thoughts to the most disturbing personal brutality inflicted by man. If you enjoy science fiction that is not much about technology but more about people and society, you may appreciate her work. From the wikipedia entry, her Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents recalls in some ways Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale.
The world has lost a prophet.