"The Year of the Flood" by Margaret Atwood


In the near future, the world is run by corporations with names like HelthWyzer, ReJoove and SeksMart. Order is kept by the corrupt police force known as CorpSeCorps. Many of the animals we know now are extinct and the world is inhabited by new genetically engineered species such as Rakunks, Liobams and Mo'Hair sheep. Social and environmental stability are nearing an end.

Inhabiting this world, apart from mainstream society, is an eco-cult named God's Gardeners. Their beliefs combine religion and science, dedicating themselves to the preservation of plant and animal life. Their leader, Adam One, has long been predicting a natural disaster that will forever change life on earth. And now, it has occurred.

The Waterless Flood has wiped out most of human life on earth. But two women have survived. Ren and Toby are both God's Gardeners. As they search for other survivors, they navigate through a changed world and begin a new life as a part of a new human race.

The Year of the Flood is an incredible and astonishing work. It is an excellent commentary on the future of our earth, the moral compass and the frightening path that science can take. And so many other things. The book is packed full of thought-provoking subjects.

It jumps between the present and past, in a way that is not only easy to follow, but slowly and deliberately reveals information about the God's Gardeners, Ren and Toby, and how the earth came to be in its present state.

Love, fear, power, science and religion weave their way through this fascinating futuristic and apocalyptic tale. What emerges is a dark world, with glimpses of beauty, that will speak to any reader and move you to examine the world we currently inhabit.

Comments

  1. JosephApril 3, 2010 at 9:01 PM

    Nice review. Joseph, http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. HeatherApril 4, 2010 at 12:04 PM

    im' sure I'll get to this one yet. Nice review.

    ReplyDelete
  3. NicoleApril 4, 2010 at 6:41 PM

    This sounds like thee weirdest novel yet! Not in a bad way. Is it one of those books that you read all the way through without putting it down? Seems like it would be. Whenever a book is that intriguing I cannot put it down.

    Cool review!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ShanApril 5, 2010 at 7:34 AM

    It is definitely one you can't put down. And whats nice about the structure is it's not long chapters, it's written in short bursts. So I would find myself thinking "ok, I need to put the book down, I'll just read to the next break" and then I would think "ok, next break" and keep doing that.

    ReplyDelete
  5. JessicaApril 7, 2010 at 2:29 PM

    I read and loved Oryx & crane and have been waiting for the year of the flood to come out in paperback, thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ShanApril 7, 2010 at 7:00 PM

    Jessica - I did not read Oryx & Crake (and now want to read it) but from other reviews I have read of Year of the Flood, people really liked O&C and like this one even more. Hope you enjoy it!

    ReplyDelete

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