Review: The Year of the Flood (Book #2 Maddaddam Series)

 

Margaret Atwood’s Maddaddam Dystopian Trilogy Book #2 (2009): The Year of the Flood continues with the theme of man’s self-inflicted destruction of the world.  The novel follows some of the lives of a group of Gardners in America before and after the waterless flood of mankind.  When the author writes about the present, she describes the world as a much smaller place because of a global pandemic.  When she switches to the past, she describes the world after a previous pandemic.  Much America has divided itself into almost tribal-like groups that are determined by mindset, education, and misfortune.  

The Gardner group is kind of like a cult.  High-ranking members are numbered Adam #1, #2, #3, etc. and Eve #1, #2, #3, etc.  The numbers do not correspond to how high they are on the totem pole, but rather what their specialties are.  Some Eves are great bee-keepers, and some Adams are great at teaching the children about herbs and medicine, etc..  The Gardners are vegetarians who aspire to be experts in agriculture.  They remind me of a Zen-Tree-Hugger-Doomsday Prepper.

Some of the background of the book goes into the abuse of genetics like Oryx and Crake, Book #1.  There are many spliced, engineered species that were created after the extinction.  Engineered genes are used throughout the book for many frivolous things, especially with altering human appearances. Food is also genetically engineered (like super-GMOs), especially meat.  Natural vegetation and bugs are the food of choice for the Gardners. 

All the characters in the Gardner group have back-stories that date before the waterless flood/pandemic.  This cult consists of former strippers, students, rich housewives, burger flippers, military, and high-techies.  A Gardner could essentially be anyone.  They have hymns, sacred holidays, and spiritual instructions from their leader, Adam 1.  They also believe in God, or at least their version of God which greatly correlates with God in the Bible as evidenced by several Biblical verses and stories.  Gardners do things for the good of the group, the good of the Earth, and the good of mankind.  They are the protagonists of the story.

Oryx, Crake, and Jimmy the Snowman from Oryx and Crake-Book #1 are not really good-guys. They are part of the science/tech crowd who want to play God, especially Crake.

Some other groups are the PainBallers (this dystopian world’s way of making someone a prisoner in a warped legal system), pleebs (street people), Helthwizer (the tech company that also works as a compound with all of the world’s elites), and other competing or allied cults.

In this book (Book #2), there isn’t a striking conflict (yet).  The main problems that the Gardners face are survival and autonomy.  They do not have any power in this dystopian world, but they are somewhat tolerated.  They know their days are numbered.  When the waterless flood/pandemic sweeps, the power structure between all of the groups is once again levelled.  The Gardners’ survivor skills some into play.

My Review: The book was a 5 Star No-Brainer.  I love Margaret Atwood and I also love this series.  Her book is extremely entertaining, but it is also a warning about the potential misuse of genetics, neglect of Earth, dependence on pharmaceuticals, animal cruelty, and the exploitation of women and little girls.  The book has a year time stamp at the beginning of most of the chapters.  This I found a little confusing as she goes back and forth in time.  She also uses original phrases that took me awhile to catch on to meaning.  That aside, the story is amazing.  She has a certain style that makes the reader work as a detective to follow along.  If you love sci-fi and dystopian fiction, you will love this series.  I can’t wait to read the last book, Maddaddam.  I really hope this series makes it to the movie theater or a streaming service.