This series plunges readers into a chillingly plausible future where humanity grapples with the consequences of its own unchecked ambition. It masterfully explores the dark intersections of genetic engineering, corporate power, and ecological collapse. Through interwoven narratives that span before, during, and after the apocalypse, the story reveals the fragility of civilization and the enduring, albeit altered, spirit of humanity. These are profound meditations on survival, loss, and what it truly means to be human in a world remade.
With breathtaking command of her shocking material and with her customary sharp wit and dark humour, Atwood projects us into a conceivable future of our own world, an outlandish yet wholly believable place left devastated in the wake of ecological and scientific disaster and populated by characters who will continue to inhabit your dreams long after the book is closed
Set in the near future, Attwood's dark, thoughtful and at times funny novel finds two women who have survived a cataclysmic environmental disaster - a young trapeze artist locked in a sex club and a 'God's Gardener' hiding in a luxury spa - and both must find their way out.
The sun brightens in the east, reddening the blue-grey haze that marks the distant ocean. The vultures roosting on the hydro poles fan out their wings to dry them. the air smells faintly of burning. The waterless flood - a manmade plague - has ended the world. But two young women have survived: Ren, a young dancer trapped where she worked, in an upmarket sex club (the cleanest dirty girls in town); and Toby, who watches and waits from her rooftop garden. Is anyone else out there?
Toby, a survivor of the man-made plague that has swept the earth, is telling stories. Stories left over from the old world, and stories that will determine a new one. Listening hard is young Blackbeard, one of the innocent Crakers, the species designed to replace humanity. Their reluctant prophet, Jimmy-the-Snowman, is in a coma, so they've chosen a new hero - Zeb, the street-smart man that Toby loves. As clever Pigoons attack their fragile garden and malevolent Painballers scheme, the small band of survivors will need more than stories. Welcome to the outrageous imagination of Margaret Atwood 'A haunting, restless triumph . . . A writer of virtuoso diversity' Sunday Times 'Wit and dark humour combine with a compassionate tenderness . . . whirling as brilliantly as the bits of glass in a kaleidoscope . . . Atwood the conjuror remains in firm control' Michèle Roberts, Independent 'There are few writers able to create a world so fiercely engaging, so funny, so teeming - ironically - with life. MaddAddam is ultimately a paean to the enduring powers of myth and story, and like the sharpest futuristic visions, it's really all about the here and now' Daily Mail
Vol. 1: Oryx and Crake: At once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey - with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake - through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining