Why Octavia Butler's sci-fi dystopia is still relevant

If you love science fiction, then you love Octavia Butler.

Born in 1947's Pasadena, Butler came from humble beginnings and was raised by her mother and grandmother after her father died when she was seven. Though she was diagnosed with dyslexia, she was engrossed in books and was writing stories for herself at a young age.

She started exploring the sci-fi genre after watching what she called a "bad movie": the 1954 cult classic "Devil Girl From Mars."

"My response to the movie was 'Geez, I can write a better story than that,' and I thought … 'Geez, anybody can write a better story than that,' and my final assumption, however erroneous, was 'Somebody got paid for writing that story,' " Butler said during a 2002 panel discussion at the University of California, Los Angeles.

And write a better story she did. Multiple.

Despite the 15 novels and two short stories she wrote, it wasn't until 14 years after her death that Butler made the New York Times Best Seller List in 2020, with her 1993 novel "Parable of the Sower" — 27 years after its publication. The following year, she also made USA Today's Best-Selling Books list.

It was a recognition she foresaw long before her death. Butler used to write affirmations in her notebooks, one of which read "I shall be a bestselling writer."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2022/02/23/octavia-butler-why-her-science-fiction-stories-remain-relevant-today/6652253001/