sideways | (Reply)

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You didn't mention whether you read Sandman: Overture or not, but if you haven't, I wholeheartedly recommend it--probably my favorite Sandman story to date, full of gorgeous illustrations and Endless family drama, and I think it helps with the original ending of "The Wake" by turning the whole thing into an ouroborus.

I read Parable of the Sower when I was fourteen and it was so intense, so vivid, and so disturbingly plausible; it definitely shaped me, and watching it come closer and closer to reality since then has been existentially terrifying. The sequel utterly broke me, and while it ends on a hopeful note, I wish Butler had been able to write more in this series. I also recommend the Xenogenesis trilogy, Wild Seed, and Mind of My Mind, all of which wrestle with similar themes of what makes humans tick and if/how we can drop our hierarchical tendencies to form a healthy society.