July 1, 2018 3:00 pm
The final part of Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy brings together the bioengineered Crakers from Oryx and Crake and the eco-religious cult known as God’s Gardeners from The Year of the Flood. Picking up from where both of these books end after the human race has been almost entirely wiped out by a man-made plague, Toby takes centre stage once again, leading the small community of survivors along with Zeb, a mysterious minor character from ‘The Year of the Flood’.
The third parts of trilogies tend to climax with some sort of prolonged epic battle but an author as innovative as Atwood doesn’t provide her readers with anything as predictable as this. Rather than building up tension for a big showdown, ‘MaddAddam’ is a much more subdued book than I was expecting, mostly because much of the book is taken up with filling in the characters’ back stories, recapping events which had already happened from alternative perspectives. As a result, there is much less momentum in terms of plot compared to the previous volumes. Although we learn more about Zeb and his brother Adam (the founder of the God’s Gardeners), I had been hoping to hear more about Jimmy/Snowman from ‘Oryx and Crake’ but it turns out he is unconscious for most of this book while he is nursed back to health by Toby.
On the other hand, I enjoyed seeing how the characters adapt and exist in their new post-apocalyptic reality and Atwood continues her satirical critique of corporate control with a near-perfect balance between bleakness and humour. As she reminds us in the acknowledgements section, “Although MaddAddam is a work of fiction, it does not include any technologies or biobeings that do not already exist, are not under construction, or are not possible in theory.” Without wanting to give too much away, the book concludes on a relatively hopeful note with the cautionary message that life will probably go on, just not as we know it, and not necessarily with us in it if modern lifestyles and developments in technology continue on their current path.
For me, ‘MaddAddam’ is a mixed conclusion to the trilogy, although I think this has a lot to do with the long gaps I’ve left between reading each part. The summary of ‘Oryx and Crake’ and ‘The Year of the Flood’ at the beginning of my copy of ‘MaddAddam’ helped refresh my memory, but I wonder if reading the three books all in one go would be a more immersive and satisfying experience for the reader.
Posted by A Little Blog of Books
Categories: Books
Tags: Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Dystopia, Literature, MaddAddam, Margaret Atwood, Novels, Reading, Reviews, Speculative Fiction
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I only recently read The Year of the Flood which I really loved. I haven’t even got a copy of this yet. I’m looking forward to meeting up with Toby again as she was my favourite character. Such a great series.
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By heavenali on July 1, 2018 at 3:54 pm
Yes, overall it’s an excellent trilogy but I think Oryx and Crake remains my favourite.
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By A Little Blog of Books on July 1, 2018 at 9:51 pm
I read them back to back and loved them. I definitely think momentum helped.
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By Beth Parks Aronson on July 1, 2018 at 8:54 pm
Yes, if I ever reread them, I will try not to leave 2 years between each book next time!
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By A Little Blog of Books on July 1, 2018 at 9:52 pm
This trilogy had been on my the list for a while now. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about it! 😉
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By DoC on July 5, 2018 at 2:47 pm
I really want to read some of Atwood’s work, I’ve been meaning to for ages! Great post 🙂
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By notsomoderngirl on July 6, 2018 at 2:02 pm
Thanks!
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By A Little Blog of Books on July 8, 2018 at 9:04 pm
I have just finished reading all three books last week and i found that reading all three books was a great way to read the trilogy i think i would have struggled a bit with keeping track of the events if i had waited long periods to read each installment but i agree they are great books
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By serendipitioushenanigan on July 10, 2018 at 12:54 pm
Yes, I think it would be a good trilogy to read all in one go.
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By A Little Blog of Books on July 13, 2018 at 6:09 am
it really was i think i would have been confused if i had read them spread out
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By serendipitioushenanigan on August 18, 2018 at 3:38 pm