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Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower strikes a note that our other readings have not. The setting is not some vague, distant future like Brave New World or Caves of Steel, nor is it a clear fabrication of the past, like Herland Or Utopia. Instead, Butler gives us concrete dates, beginning in July 2024. The vision of a world where communities must wall themselves for safety, the primary use of petroleum is arson, and so much else seems all too real for a book set to begin just five years from now.