I picked up Parable of the Sower at the library last week. I was actually looking for a historical novel about Richard III, but didn't see it and wandered over to the science fiction section.
Lauren Olamina is an African American teenager living in a walled community outside Los Angeles with her father, stepmother, and stepbrothers. The world is ravaged by climate change, poverty, and unemployment. Lauren explains that outside walled communities, most of the street poor (squatters, winos, junkies) are dangerous--desperate, crazy or both.
Lauren's mother used drugs during her pregnancy leaving Lauren with hyperempathy syndrome or sharing. She feels sensations, especially pain, that she sees in others.
When Lauren is 18, outsiders invade and destroy her neighborhood. Lauren is able to escape the fires and violence and later sees two other neighborhood survivors Harry and Zahra. The three head North together with no particular destination but with hope to find a better place.
While on the road, they find others to share their journey. Lauren shares her new religion, Earthseed. Its core tenets are that God is change and that humans can shape God.
Lauren's story continues in Parable of the Talents.
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