The Year of the Flood

By: Margaret Atwood

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne, Katie MacNichol, Mark Bramhall

Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The long-awaited new novel from Margaret Atwood. The Year of the Flood is a dystopic masterpiece and a testament to her visionary power. The times and species have been changing at a rapid rate, and the social compact is wearing as thin as environmental stability. Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners - a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, as well as the preservation of all plant and animal life - has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have survived: Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, a God's Gardener barricaded inside a luxurious spa where many of the treatments are edible.

Have others survived? Ren's bioartist friend Amanda? Zeb, her eco-fighter stepfather? Her onetime lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers, survivors of the mutual-elimination Painball prison? Not to mention the shadowy, corrupt policing force of the ruling powers...

Meanwhile, gene-spliced life forms are proliferating: The lion/lamb blends, the Mo'hair sheep with human hair, the pigs with human brain tissue. As Adam One and his intrepid hemp-clad band make their way through this strange new world, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move. They can't stay locked away...

By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and uneasily hilarious, The Year of the Flood is Atwood at her most brilliant and inventive.

©2009 Margaret Atwood (P)2009 Random House

A great book, but the music is annoying

Any additional comments?

I really love this book. In the audio version, the use of multiple narrators works well to communicate the different characters' viewpoints. My one complaint is about the hymns of the God's Gardeners cult (there are 8 or 10 of them included throughout the story). The music to which they've been set is very cheesy and doesn't reflect the mood of the Gardeners very well, in my opinion. I would have preferred if the hymns had just been spoken rather than set to music. Anyway, that's a small complaint, and others may not find it to be so jarring. And the story is definitely worth a listen!

This book stays with you

Don't you like a book that stays with you? I can't give you one of those perfectly detailed reviews because it's been almost a year since I've listened to it. But the characters, the storyline and some of the quirky patron "Saints" have stayed with me since. I think it's an interesting example of how time and legend can turn history into a mixture of truth and fiction. Very listenable as well. I do know that it made my day broken into two parts "allowed to listen to The Year of the Flood" and "NOT allowed to listen to the Year of the Flood". (at work and at play)
Listen to it! I think I will again just for the fun of it. Any audiobook that you listen to 2 or more times is definitely worth a download.

Excellant Followup to Oryx and Crake

If you like or love sci-fi do you self a favor and get this series.

dangerously true to what is happening in the world

I had nightmares after the first two books
so much in the book is prediction of what is happening and where the world is headed

not so funny version of Isocracy

Laggy audio

Downloaded this with data and it was Laggy. Deleted it and re downloaded it on 17mbps. Still Laggy. Bad quality for a good listen. Ruins the fluidity of the story, and I really like oryx and crake.

Compelling story

Compelling dystopian tale though some of the social commentary isn't the most nuanced or complex. I liked the recurrence of characters from Oryx and Crake and a further explanation of the events leading up to the first book. I could not stand Adam 1's songs in this audiobook. The music was painfully cheesy. Perhaps that was intentional...

Fantastic book! Great series! Really bad songs.

I love this book! the series is phenomenal! It's so compelling with so many little webs through out the three books that I could listen to them again and again! The narrators do a really fantastic job!

The only complaint I have is that there are songs through out the book that are just absolutely terrible. They are contextually relevant hymns that for some reason the director chose to present as fully produced songs with full back up and instrumentation even when that makes no sense plot wise. They are just awful, tacky, cheesy, over the top and unnecessary. I had to skip over every one. Once you skip them it doesn't hurt the plot at all so they don't really hurt the story. it just sort of take you out of it a bit.

Totally worth the listen!

Oh, Snowman

I love this series. I don't think this is as strong as "Oryx and Crake" but it was fascinating all the same. I'm glad I had just re-read O&C before this because there are a lot of subtle details to catch in this book that tie in.
The performers were decent. Some of the accents and inflections were distracting at times. My expectations were high after Campbell Scott absolutely nailed Snowman/Jimmy. The recorded God's Gardeners songs were a little much for me as well. I think reading the lyrics might have been more meaningful than the corny songs.

Come for the Dystopia, Skip The Songs

Co-narrators Ren, Toby, and Adam One are all deftly performed, lending even more sympathy to these characters than immediately leapt off of Atwood’s pages. The somewhat mocking “Christian Rock” of the God’s Gardeners’ Hymns is amusing at first, but it becomes cloying as the story progresses. When they came I found myself reaching for the skip button around the second verse or so. All in all, though, this was a worthwhile listen and a wonderful companion to “Oryx and Crake”

Wow

With this, I am now totally hooked on Margaret Atwood. Combine this story with oryx and crake and you can see how differently and vividly she can tell the same story from two completely different perspectives. Then add hand maidens tail and you can see deep versatility in storyline. I am sure Margaret has much more to offer, and I’ve seen more myself already. But this is a good corner stone of the three books I just mentioned.