Part of Earthseed, book 1
First published 2000
Lauren Olamina lives behind the walls of a defended neighborhood outside Los Angeles in 2024. The world beyond crumbles under drug violence, disease outbreaks, wars, and water shortages. Her father preaches to their small community, trying to preserve civilization's remnants. Lauren suffers from hyperempathy, a condition that forces her to feel others' physical pain as her own. When attackers set fire to their compound, Lauren watches her family die and escapes into the dangerous wasteland beyond. She joins other survivors heading north toward safety. As they travel through a landscape of roving gangs and desperate refugees, Lauren develops new ideas about survival and community. Her hyperempathy becomes both burden and gift as she learns to lead others through America's collapse. The journey tests whether her vision can offer hope in a world where traditional structures have failed.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, 21st-century, apocalyptic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, survival
Setting: Los Angeles
Period: 2024
345 pages · Paperback · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: violence