4. Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler (Warner Books, 1993)

I finished the first selection of the Apocalypse Blog Book Club (more info how to join HERE) and I have to say, wow, what a fantastic book, so glad I read it and have been able to have this shared experience with other people in the club.

I’m going to write more on my thoughts after we have in-person/ online discussion of the book at the end of the month. For now I just want to share some parallels to my non-fiction book I’m working on.

-Climate change! This book was written in 1993 and mentions the detrimental effects of climate change. I know climate change research has existed for decades, but was a little surprised to see references from 1993.

-Prepper culture! Preppers refer to a backpack ready to roll in case of emergency as a “bug-out bag” and a safe haven as a “bug-out location.” They study a wide range of survival disciplines including survival while on the move, the benefits of having a small community of people surviving together in a secure, isolated location. All of this was depicted in the novel.

-Civil unrest! A common theme in prepper theory and dystopian literature. Here we have marauding gangs of people who shave their heads, paint their faces, do a drug called pyro that gives them a sense of ecstasy from committing arson. Preppers want to be the group living safely in a fortified community to escape the burning world of savages surrounding them.

I definitely am interested in reading the novel’s sequel in the future, but first I have to catch up on some other reading and get a copy of the club’s March selection, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Recommended? HELL YES.

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The Apocalypse Blog explores the topics of Tea Krulos’s third non-fiction book, which is about doomsday predictions, prepping, and pop culture. It’ll be published in 2018 (if the world survives that long). His first two books, Heroes in the Night (2013) and Monster Hunters (2015) are available from Chicago Review Press here: http://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/krulos–tea-contributor-296670.php