“The Year of the Flood,” by Margaret Atwood

FM’s ratings:

1. Premise 9
2. Prose 8
3. Plot 7
4. Characters 8
5. Overall 8

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If you are going to write yet another Dystopian novel (or in this case, a trilogy) you had better make sure it is starkly original. Well, this is Atwood, so of course it is! The first novel in this trilogy is "Oryx and Crake" which was itself a breath of fresh (stale?) dystopian air. I covered it a while back on this site and only now got around to the next installment. To me, this is one of those rare instances where the second book in the series is even better than the first. Maybe "Maddaddam" will be even better. But looking at the Amazon. com reviews after finishing this one, it seems I'm in a distinct minority. I suspect this is nothing other than the predictable petulance of people not having their expectations met: "Boo hoo, it's not at all what I expected after the first book!" People love to whine. It makes me wonder, if it HAD been exactly what they expected, whether they would complain that it was too predictable. This book was a unique, even stunning blend of dystopian tropes, including the development of a religious cult that reveres nature, the absence of government, replaced by control-freak corporations on the macro level and gangs on the micro level, and out-of-control genetic experimentation pervading every aspect of society. Very intelligently written by an author from whom we have come to expect such things.