Wednesday, October 9, 2013

The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood

In The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood returns the world she developed in Oryx and Crake.  This isn't really a sequel, but a parallel story that dovetails with the earlier novel.  This story revolves around members of the "God's Gardeners," a religious group that blends eco-consciousness with a variation on Biblical Christianity.  (It's much more of the former; it would not be considered Christian by most Christian denominations of today.)  As they separate themselves from the world at large, God's Gardeners anticipate a "waterless flood" that will decimate the human race.  Readers of Oryx and Crake will, of course, recognize that this decimation is coming, not as a judgment from God, but as an expression of Crake's hubris.

We do get glimpses of the Snowman and the children of Crake, who played a large role in the first novel.  As Atwood develops this future history, she comments insightfully on cultural and scientific developments in our world.  Her view of the future of the human race is pretty bleak, but realistic enough to give pause.

Readers who appreciated Oryx and Crake will especially enjoy The Year of the Flood and will be eager to revisit this alternate future in her newest book, Maddaddam.  Enjoy!



(By the way, these books are currently ranked 825, 1124, and 369 at Amazon.  That's pretty impressive.)


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