Oryx and Crake

More about the book

A stunning and provocative new novel by the internationally celebrated author of "The Blind Assassin," winner of the Booker Prize, Margaret Atwood's latest work is utterly compelling, prescient, and terrifyingly relevant. Readers may find their worldview forever altered after experiencing this narrative. The story follows Snowman, who opens the tale sleeping in a tree, clad in an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and best friend Crake while slowly starving. He scavenges in a wasteland overrun by insects, pigoons, and wolvogs, remnants of a world where ordinary people once thrived. As he seeks to understand the collapse of civilization, the narrative shifts to decades earlier, unraveling how everything fell apart so swiftly. Alone, except for the green-eyed Children of Crake, who view him as a monster, he embarks on a dual journey—into his past and back to Crake's high-tech bubble-dome, where the Paradice Project began and the world met its demise. With breathtaking command and sharp wit, Atwood immerses us in an outlandish yet believable realm filled with unforgettable characters who linger in our minds long after the last chapter. This is Atwood at the peak of her powers.