Octavia E. Butler is a name I’ve known for some time. Various people, most of whom I don’t know, had recommended her books, particularly Parable of the Talents. It turns out to have been one of the scariest novels I’ve ever read. It’s not horror—it’s science fiction. It’s scary because it’s just too plausible. The first inkling I had that something was amiss was when I read how Andrew Steele Jarret ran for president to “make America great again.” Jarret pretends to be Christian to get the vote and America suffers terribly ...
