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

Interesting, imaginative

This was really good and thought provoking. I am looking forward to reading the next one. The narrators played their roles well. They helped build the characters. However I hated the sermons and gardener religion songs. They are why I gave the book and story 4 stars instead of 5. I sincerely hope that does not continue.

excellent

I love this book and how it goes into more detail about each character and what happens to them after reading Oryx and Crake

wow...

Well, I think I'm hooked. I listened to this before the other two. I have heard that Maddaddam is the first, but I liked this one without that background. Very interesting read. I love that the songs of the gardeners are actually put to tune. Itwas pleasant and unexpected.

Great production

This was honestly one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to - the musical elements were such an unexpected surprise!!

A letdown after book 1

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The first book in this series was great. I stuck with this hoping that it would get better but ultimately was disappointed. I will try book 3 three, but I'm prepared to bail early if it does not deliver.

An okay tale. Nothing great.

I expected more considering this is an Atwood story, but I'd rate it as average overall. Further, the songs were annoying as hell. Thank god for the fast forward function.

Great book. Could have done without the songs

Great book. Could have done without the cheesy songs, but the rest of the audio performance was good.

For true Atwood fans

This is my second time listening to The Year of the Flood (TYOTF) and, for the most part, I am enjoying it, again. It is full of interesting characters you come to understand and even root for. Most of the characters are well-meaning but flawed, like people everywhere. It is Atwood's writing that makes the book a treat...beautifully worded and accessible. For instance, I actually enjoy Adam One's "sermons," where others find them tedious. In fact, I AGREE with most of the beliefs he espouses. Atwood is brilliant in her ability to build out philosophies such as this. That said, TYOTF is not my favorite. The story, while intentionally semi-linear, does not flow as fluidly as it could have. As a sequel to the marvelous Oryx and Crake, the connections to that previous story are sparse, until very late in the book. Like so many of you, I am bothered by the silly songs. I skip over them. But I will definitely stick with this book to the end, because I "need" to find out what happens. The fact that I can't remember what happened from my first reading is an indication that TYOTF did not completely blow me away. But it is a good dystopian novel, and the narration is excellent...so essential to our enjoyment of any audiobook. I look forward to re-listening to MaddAdam as well, the next in the series. Happy listening everyone!

loved year of the flood

I read this book when it was published and it is even more remarkable to read it 12 years later, after so many disasters due to climate change, and the ongoing pandemic. Atwood gets it right! brilliant.

Meh

Not worth your time compared to her other work. A Very long and drawn out story.