Pink_Blue1214 OP t1_jcr7qek wrote on March 18, 2023 at 10:59 PM

Reply to comment by awkwardturtledoo in Lauren Oya Olamina from Octavia E. Butler’s “Parable of the Sower/Talents” - is she a Mary Sue? by Pink_Blue1214

I read the second one because I wanted to see what happened, or because I particularly cared about Lauren Nothing really happened to change my opinion of her in the sequel

awkwardturtledoo t1_jcr9wci wrote on March 18, 2023 at 11:15 PM

As far as Lauren goes, I can see why the students see her as a Mary Sue. She seems to have all the right answers most of the time, and I don’t think she was challenged enough. I think if the character (his name escapes me) who was very critical of her Earthseed ideas had pushed it a bit more and maybe even defected, it would have made the story and Lauren a bit more compelling. On her hyperempathy ability, I honestly kept forgetting she had it. I wanted to learn more about it and see it develop into more than just a problem Lauren/the group has to deal with as they travel/now defend their territory.

cordelaine t1_jcr87d4 wrote on March 18, 2023 at 11:03 PM

Yeah, I struggled through the first and DNF’ed the second.

I read Kindred a few months later and loved it. Haven’t read anything else by her yet.

georgealice t1_jcrp1dk wrote on March 19, 2023 at 1:11 AM

Wild Seed is amazing but I didn’t care for any of the rest of the Patternist series