1. Lauren Olamina has a syndrome that makes her “share” both the pain and the pleasure of those around her. How has this illness made Lauren different from other people? Why do you suppose it is significant to the story that she has this illness?

2. Do you think it is significant that Lauren’s “illness” is a congenital disease that she contracted because her mother was a drug abuser?

3. What do you make of Lauren’s father? Do you see similarities between his and Lauren’s way of thinking?

4. In Chapter 5, Lauren has a conversation with her friend Jo about the future, and her plans “to survive.” Why do you think Lauren is able to be hopeful and determined when the rest of the community seems resigned to the state of the world?

5. Why does Jo react so negatively to Lauren’s concerns about being better prepared as a community and as individuals to face crises?

6. Why do you think Lauren has held back from telling Curtis about Earthseed or about her hyper-empathy?

7. Is Earthseed a system of beliefs that appeals to you? What excerpts from Earthseed’s “Book of The Living” did you find profound or touching?

8. According to Lauren, “The Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars.” Do you think space colonization is a logical end goal for Earthseed to pursue? Why or why not?

9. How do the characters of the two women, Lauren and Zahra, compare? What does each bring to the unit they’ve created?

10. While Lauren and Zahra seem to slip into survival mode quickly, Harry has more trouble abandoning his morality to survive. Which character do you think you would be the most like? How quickly would you be able to adapt to survive?

11. Why does Lauren immediately trust Bankole, but is wary of the two women Allie and Jill? What factors are at play?

12. What do you make of the ending of this book, with the formation of ‘Acorn’? Is this a hopeful ending?

13. This book was published in 1993 and set in the 2020’s. The author has said that she came to this vision of the future by imagining our current woes progressing unchecked to their logical ends. How close to reality was the author’s vision of society in today’s world?

14. Considering that Lauren rejected her father’s traditional Baptist teachings before going on to teach Earthseed, it’s an interesting twist that the book is titled after the biblical Parable of the Sower. Why do you think this is?

In the Bible, Mark 4:3-41 tells us the parable of the sower:

“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,

and ever hearing but never understanding;

otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’[a]”

Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”