Good Octavia Butler book to start with?

[kraftcheese]

I've heard the name a lot, and have a vague idea of what kind of themes present in her books, but I'm really not sure which one to start with. Any suggestions?

[JeenLeen]

The only book of hers that I have read is Wild Seed, and I found it very good. From looking at its Wikipedia page, though, I see it is part of a series. But nothing in the book hinted that to me, and I don't think I was missing any info from previous books.
So I recommend it, but note I have none of her other books to compare it to.

EDIT: after reading more of the Wikipedia page, I see Wild Seed is the first novel in the series, although not the first one published.

On second thought, I may have read or started another book of hers, but I forget the details and don't think I liked it as much.

[Ranxerox]

Kindred is very good, and is a good introduction to the author. It does, however, have a Young Adult literature feel to it, and I don't know how you feel about that sort of thing.

If you are looking for something meatier, I would suggest Dawn and the Xenogenesis trilogy. I remember this series made me very uncomfortable but in a good way. My mind could tell that it was being asked to see the world in a new way and reconsider assumptions that it did not even know it was making. I gained a lot from this series.

[Knaight]

I really liked Parable of the Sower.