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

Favorite of 2015 so far!

This is quite a performance! The songs really made it for me. They were just the right amount of cheesy to fit their purpose. I love Atwood, and this is definitely an amazing series.

Good story... bad music

If you’re this far along in this trilogy, you already know that these books are beyond weird, and you’re totally ok with that. In fact, you probably really enjoy it.

That being said, thank goodness for the skip forward button, because the music added to this story is unlistenable. The first one was bad in an amusing way.... at first. But then it was soooooo looooong. After that I just hit the skip forward button every time Adam said “let’s sing.” Many. Many. Times. It was like a bad SNL skit making fun of a new age retreat that just never ended.

In summary, make sure you have your skip button at the ready, and it’s a good book!

Toby is my girl

I can only hope to be S wise and useful as Toby in such an event. Love her practicality and maternal love for Ren. :)

Time Jumps and Numerous Characters Were Confusing

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to anyone that kies reading about a mad scientist's version of the future. I enjoy reading, listening and watching possible pathes that our future could take. But I found this one a little confusing. I wasn't sure that the timeline was supposed to be.

If you’ve listened to books by Margaret Atwood before, how does this one compare?

Out of the the four that I have read and/or listened to this would be the 4th.

Which scene was your favorite?

Margaret Atwood's books are suspenseful and imaginative which makes them interesting. She gives peeks into the future and then fills in the story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Nothing

Any additional comments?

The is the 2nd of a 3 book trilogy. I don't think it could stand alone.

very unique

one of the most interesting audio books I have ever listened too, music, 3 readers, etc. but the story was almost too strange for me to become attached.

Loved the story but

Found the musical numbers very annoying and unnecessary. The narration was really great besides that.

Enjoyed it

I enjoyed this book. The songs were a little corny, but I think that was due to the churchy sound of them - appropriate but annoying.

The Hymns are hilarious.

Who would have thought that a dystopian novel could have you in stitches? This one did. Every time there was a sermon followed by a hymn on the same topic, I lost it. Is there ANYTHING this woman can’t write? Can’t wait to go on to the third book in this trilogy. I will go back and listen to the hymns in this one quite often. What a great listen.

Good but not comfortable

Attwood is always great but also leaves me feeling kind of sad; for the characters and for us.

Slow start and annoying

The first half is very slow and tedious with lots of irrelevant filling. The way she pronounces Corp se corps as "corpse see corpse" is distracting and irritating. The sing song sections and church sermons were unnecessary and annoying. Oryx and crake got really good towards the end and was really hoping Atwood would continue that story. Unfortunately that was not the case.