Parable of the Talents

Parable

Content Ratings

Mild Romance

Lauren's marriage to Bankole is central to her emotional life; their relationship is loving and physical intimacy is implied; the romantic dimension is present but subordinate to the political and survival narrative.

Intense Themes

The novel is a sustained examination of Christian nationalist authoritarianism, the use of slavery in modern political power, the destruction of families by ideological violence, and the cost of resistance.

High Violence

The mass enslavement, physical torture, and re-education of a community, including children being taken from parents and conditioned, are depicted with unflinching directness; sexual violence is referenced as part of the slavery system.

Synopsis

Lauren Olamina has established Acorn, a small Earthseed community, but a fascist Christian nationalist movement seizes power over America and violently destroys her settlement, enslaving its adults and taking children to be re-educated and re-named. The second and final Parable novel is darker and more politically direct than its predecessor, tracing Lauren's survival and the fractures within her own family. A deeply disturbing prophetic novel.