Octavia Butler-inspired nostalgia

Our generation grew up during the explosion of dystopian young-adult novels. From The Hunger Games to Divergent, these types of books defined my elementary and middle school years. Reading the first four chapters of Parable of the Sower filled me with a strange feeling of nostalgia. It was almost comforting to be reading a dystopian novel with a teenage protagonist again. It was also nice to get out of Winston's brain - he was a terribly drab narrator, in my opinion.

This also got me thinking about how authors, particularly young-adult authors, often borrow themes and ideas from previously successful books. The Harry Potter series, for example, is largely based on Lord of the Rings saga, which in turn is based on a Richard Wagner opera, which is based on Germanic folklore. I wonder if some of the dystopian novels that I loved so much are based on Parable of the Sower. I'm excited to see what other parallels I can draw between this book and the more familiar, watered-down versions of my earlier childhood.

Did you also recognize some parallels between Parable of the Sower and YA dystopian books? Do you think Octavia Butler inspired series' like The Hunger Games?

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