I’ve read many apocalypse books over the years, but Margaret Atwood‘s trilogy was a bit different. The story takes place close to our own time and involves technology that is being used or close to being used right now. Some trends and policies happening today can easily evolve to create the world in this story. In this way, one could say this book series is a warning for us today.
This trilogy was written from the point of view of multiple characters, with many flashbacks through the story. These were introduced very organically. The first book in the series, Oryx and Crake, is told by the Snowman, who is one of the few to survive a plague which took out most of humanity. Moving onto The Year of the Flood, we see how the plague started from the point of other characters and then MaddAddam shows a new beginning of sorts for Earth.
The Snowman had a very interesting journey, from growing up to surviving in a post-apocalyptic world. Similarly, other characters introduced in The Year of the Flood, such as Toby, Zeb and Ren have their own stories about avoiding the plague and living in the new world. I try to write reviews with as few spoilers as possible. But I can say the characters were very memorable. Near the end of the last book, MaddAddam, I started to slow down reading so as to keep the story going. But, unfortunately, all good things come to an end.
