SO, I’ve been reading/listeneing to quite a bit of Octavia Butler.

Obviously, I like the writing.

Right now, I’m almost finished with the Parable of the Sower. It’s terrifing that in 1993, she was so close to the truth of what things could be like in 2025.

She certainly has a good understanding of the possibilities of human behavior.

My only problem with the book is that she states everyone gives up dogs and pets because they cannot afford them. It seems to me that in this type of dystopia—dogs would be a necessity. For all the traditional reasons man partnered with dogs.

It’s a problem I have with a lot of fantasy/sci-fi books. They leave out the pets.

I can’t imagine a merchant space ship without cats —can you? I mean, like old trading ships —you got food, you got vermin, therefore you need cats.

I’d think you’d need at the very least cats in space—on sterile, ships in cold space, pets could do much to maintain human sanity on long interstellar flights.