MaddAddam

A Novel

By: Margaret Atwood

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne, Bob Walter, Robbie Daymond

Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

Audie Award Finalist, Science Fiction, 2014

A New York Times Notable Book

A Washington Post Notable Book

A Best Book of the Year: The Guardian, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, The Globe and Mail

A GoodReads Reader's Choice

Bringing together Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, this thrilling conclusion to Margaret Atwood's speculative fiction trilogy points toward the ultimate endurance of community, and love.

Months after the Waterless Flood pandemic has wiped out most of humanity, Toby and Ren have rescued their friend Amanda from the vicious Painballers. They return to the MaddAddamite cob house, newly fortified against man and giant pigoon alike. Accompanying them are the Crakers, the gentle, quasi-human species engineered by the brilliant but deceased Crake. Their reluctant prophet, Snowman-the-Jimmy, is recovering from a debilitating fever, so it's left to Toby to preach the Craker theology, with Crake as Creator. She must also deal with cultural misunderstandings, terrible coffee, and her jealousy over her lover, Zeb. 

Zeb has been searching for Adam One, founder of the God's Gardeners, the pacifist green religion from which Zeb broke years ago to lead the MaddAddamites in active resistance against the destructive CorpSeCorps. But now, under threat of a Painballer attack, the MaddAddamites must fight back with the aid of their newfound allies, some of whom have four trotters. At the center of MaddAddam is the story of Zeb's dark and twisted past, which contains a lost brother, a hidden murder, a bear, and a bizarre act of revenge.

Combining adventure, humor, romance, superb storytelling, and an imagination at once dazzlingly inventive and grounded in a recognizable world, MaddAddam is vintage Margaret Atwood - a moving and dramatic conclusion to her internationally celebrated dystopian trilogy.

©2013 Margaret Atwood (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"The final entry in Atwood’s brilliant MaddAddam trilogy roils with spectacular and furious satire.... Her vision is as affirming as it is cautionary, and the conclusion of this remarkable trilogy leaves us not with a sense of despair at mankind’s failings but with a sense of awe at humanity’s barely explored potential to evolve." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Ten years after Oryx & Crake rocked readers the world over, Atwood brings her cunning, impish, and bracing speculative trilogy - following The Year of the Flood - to a gritty, stirring, and resonant conclusion.... Atwood is ascendant, from her resilient characters to the feverishly suspenseful plot involving battles, spying, cyberhacking, murder, and sexual tension.... The coruscating finale in an ingenious, cautionary trilogy of hubris, fortitude, wisdom, love, and life’s grand obstinacy." ( Booklist)

A Fine Finish

Any additional comments?

If you loved the first two, this will be no disappointment. Lots of new viewpoints, questions answered, loose-ends tied, and completion.

Interminable; tarnishes first 2 books' brilliance

I devoured Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, fascinated with their brilliant and prescient creation of a dystopia in the near future. I was greatly looking forward to MaddAddam but was sorely disappointed in every way. The plot just ran out of steam, dragging on interminably about characters' prior lives. It also started to pile up a massive amount of gratuitous violence, repetitive and pointless. I also did not like the two main narrators. They both sounded like very annoying voiceover artists; they probably ARE voiceover artists. The woman reading the part of Toby sounded like one of those treacly female voiceovers in a laundry detergent commercial. The man reading the part of Zeb sounded like the growly, deep male voiceover in a futuristic action movie starring Bruce Willis: "In a world . . . Where humanity faces extinction . . . One man . . . Can save them . . .". That got really hard to take after five minutes or so. My recommendation is if you are hooked by the first two books in the series, check this third book out of the library, or sit and glance through it at Barnes & Noble without buying it. You can speed read the plot to see what happens, whereas with an audiobook you are forced to sit through it.

brilliant cautionary tale

I'm a huge atwood fan. her writing is eerily insightful and subtly biting. she is a master at world -building and character development without becoming trite or verbose. I've followed her since the early 90s and love this trilogy. hope she decides to do another because she's an incredible storyteller

Not as good as O&C or The Flood

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This book was an interesting end to the Oryx and Crake series. It delves into the background of some of the minor characters from the first two books. It also diiscusses what happens with the Crakers. As such it was a good final chapter. But the story was a little slow and the main plot was not very compelling.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

It would have been better if the author spent more time on the Crackers, pigoons and some of the aftermath of the Great Flood, rather than the issue with the Painballers.

Would you listen to another book narrated by the narrators?

The narrators were good. I would listen to them again.

Do you think MaddAddam needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I think it was a fitting end to the O & C series.

The final battle - maybe

This is the third book in the Maddaddam Trilogy.

Most of this book is the backstory of the history of Zeb and Adam One, and how they came to be involved with Crake and Pilar. However, it also tells how Toby trains one of the Craker children, a little boy called Blackbeard, to write, so that he is able to take up the task of writing the history of the Maddaddamites and the Crakers. It also tells how the conflict with the Painballers is resolved. And most surprisingly, it tells how, with Blackbeard as their interpreter, the Maddaddamites and the Pigoons come to an understanding and agree to work together on the hunt for the Painballers and to cease hostilities between each other. Although some parts near the end are sad, the overall tone of the book is hopeful.

Great narration.

The Oryx and Crake trilogy.

Absolutely one of the best stories ever. Thank you to Margaret Atwood. Each book better than the one before.

weakest of the trilogy

i'm sorry but for me there is little or nothing salvageable from this one. I had high hopes being Atwood, a writer I have respect for, but unfortunately she is rehashing ground already rehashed to an extent in 2nd one Year of the Flood. Had this novel not gone backwards yet again with the Zeb backstory in detail it may have been better. I had hoped that she was going to go on after the events that ended Flood/Oryx and present the world she created in the next stages. Alas, no. I would much rather she had channeled her efforts toward something unrelated and given us another classic.

Happily Suprised

Any additional comments?

I loved "Oryx and Crake", but "The Year of the Flood" was only mildly interesting. I couldn't live with listening to 2/3 of the series, so while I wasn't expecting much, I gambled on "MaddAddam". While it lacked the novelty of "Oryx and Crake", it ended up being a great listen, and wrapped up the story nicely. I'm glad I stuck with it.

I guess it is very true about the second book in a trilogy being the weakest.

Don't give up, if your on the fence.

Meh.

I read all 3 books in this trilogy and was super excited for this one but by was it slow. Jeb wasn't even a main character and neither was Toby so I'm not sure how they just took over this story but...it was a tough read until the last handful of chapters. The ending was very special and emotional so that made up for some of lag, but overall, this was a book that could have easily been incorporated in on of the other books.

Loved and Hated

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

As much as I loved many aspects of this book, I found myself often annoyed by Toby's ruminations on her relationship with Zeb. It was like Atwood was exploring some post-middle-aged romance when I really wanted the plot to be more about the Crakers and the post-apocalyptic atmosphere they now all inhabit.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I missed the Jimmy from Oryx and Crake. Hearing his part read by the female narrator, who made him sound like a sick old lady, was extremely disappointing. He spends most of the book unconcious and then when he wakes up, his character is poorly developed. I had such high hopes for his character and in the end... well, I don't want to spoil it, but highly disappointing!

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I liked the narrator who read Zeb's part the best, but Bernadette Dunne, though she is a good narrator, makes me feel like the book should be for retired women.

Was MaddAddam worth the listening time?

Yes. I could never have NOT read the third in this series. Oryx and Crake had such an impact on me.