I wasn’t kidding when I talked about how much I liked Oryx and Crake. And boy is that a tough act to follow.
Publication date: September 2009
Genre: Speculative fiction, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Novel
Format: Audio book read by Lorelei King
Adam One, the kindly leader of the God’s Gardeners – a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, the preservation of all species, and the tending of the Earth – has long predicted the Waterless Flood. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life.
Two women have avoided it: the young trapeze-dancer, Ren, locked into the high-end sex club; and former SecretBurgers meat-slinger turned Gardener, Toby, barricaded into a luxurious spa. Have others survived? And what are the odds for the human race?
By turn’s dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and uneasily hilarious, The Year of the Flood is Atwood at her most effective.
Book two in the MaddAddam trilogy is as compelling and perfectly executed as its predecessor.
SIDE NOTE: The name of this second instalment had me puzzled for a while: why MaddAddam, why not MadAdam? Then I realised that ‘MaddAddam’ is a palindrome and could actually be a clever representation of the reflection the series shows of contemporary human life. Or maybe it’s just a random spelling choice. Who knows?
So let’s jump right in here. Pace wise, I had zero qualms. Much of the novel takes place along the same timeline as the first with a large chunk consisting of a sort of prequel style narrative. The style suited the subject matter well and allowed for a comprehensive exploration of human behaviour and of Atwood’s vision of the end of the world. It’s a technique I found added detail and complemented the pace of the writing rather than drawing it out. This was mostly because so much happens over that time-frame that there is no need for repetition, and there is very little. There’s a few relevant anchor points in time shaping the narrative but beyond that it’s all 100% brand new information.
We get a host of new characters too! Alongside young Jimmy (Snowman) and young Glenn (Crake) their contemporaries are also growing up and headed for doom. Toby and Ren are two very different female characters at the centre of the story in this sequel. Toby is a young woman who suffers horribly in her early life and who grows to be both a kind and considerate woman and a force to be reckoned with. Ren is a trapeze dancer at Scales and Tails (an upmarket brothel where women wear scales) who we later discover has a story that intertwines somewhat with Jimmy’s. I found Toby was my favourite but the character development throughout was spot on, particularly in the cases of life-changing events.
In terms of theme, there’s definitely a continuation of that ‘Frankenstein-esque’ science vs. nature vs. religion debacle that I mentioned briefly in my review for Oryx and Crake. This is drawn into sharp relief at various occasions throughout the book with the most obvious example being the God’s Gardeners: A quasi-political, outcast cult group of human beings who don’t eat meat, and live off the earth. Other notable examples include the implicit cannibalism satirised in Atwood’s description of fast food chain ‘SecretBurgers’, and the human/lizard sex workers at the club: Scales and Tails. Again though, technologically speaking, nothing seems all that far fetched. So much of Atwood’s theoretical advancements are all reflections or tangents from something we, as humans, are already working on, or thinking about or trying to prove.
Having listened to this book on audible it’s worth noting that the reading is wonderful and the voices were so convincing I built characters around them in my head. (lets all pretend that’s a reflection on the readers’ conviction and not that of my barely functioning mind!)
Again the satire and tone are consistent and overall I found the book to be both entertaining and thought provoking. I think I would always recommend you giving this series a go (even if it’s a new genre for you!)
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4 out of 5
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