The Year of the Flood

By: Margaret Atwood

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne, Katie MacNichol, Mark Bramhall

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

no songs please

If there were not songs in the book I would give it a 5. But I do not listen to audio books to hear bad singers sing songs.
Other than that it is great.

Decent story, terrible narration

This story takes a while to get off the ground. It didn't get interesting until about halfway through. The terrible narrators did not help the situation. From mispronouncing important words to having pretty much no emotional inflection in their voices, they were woefully miscast as Wren and Toby. However, the book fills out Oryx and Crake very well and what makes me want to read the next installment in the series. Only read if you are committed to reading the trilogy.

Great listen

Excellent reader...very good book...went back and listened to Oryx and Crake again after listening to "Flood"....enjoyed it more! Atwood is funny and right on.

Brilliant view of possible future

Margaret Atwood continues to amaze me with her inventiveness, her humanity, her incredibly creative mind, in this well-read, wonderful novel. The two main women are flesh and blood people, their experiences forming their lives, their reactions determining the flow of those lives. The future she draws is so scary and yet so possible, just a continuation of what is going on in these early days of our 21st century. I haven't read Oryx and Crake, so can't compare the two, but this book has piqued my curiosity!

Slow going at first, but gets better

At first I thought the dystopic future was a bit unimaginative, but the story gripped me soon enough. I liked the way different narrators told different angles of the story. I'll definitely read it's companion book.

Atwood never fails

Good story. Dystopia less grim than hand maidens. Some silly singing. Very attached to the characters.

Amazing Story

I really did love this! dystopic world thriving again! I think that the audible version made it much better than just the paper back.

Entertaining

Would you listen to The Year of the Flood again? Why?

The readings were well done. However, the religious musical interludes (which I skipped over) were rather strange and detracted from the narration of the story. As always, Atwood's descriptive details were fabulous.

What other book might you compare The Year of the Flood to and why?

I cannot think of any.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The grammar of this question is incorrect!! It should read: What do the narrators bring to the story...Anyway, I liked how each character had his and her own narrator; it made it easier to follow.

Who was the most memorable character of The Year of the Flood and why?

Ren was the most memorable character because her name was used most, and her journey was more unique.

Any additional comments?

I wish the ending had more closure.

disturbingly brilliant

First, you don't need to read Oryx and Crake to follow and appreciate this one. You could even read this one first. Margaret Atwood is an extraordinary author. She truly knows how to capture the characters and gravity of the situations they must endure.

The audio book is fantastic. All the readers (there are multiple, plus actual music ) deliver perfect performances capturing their respective characters with ease.

Can't wait to finish the next novel.

Great parallel follow up

I loved the parallel storyline from the girls perspective. I've always wanted authors to do this. To tell the story from another, less seemingly important characters perspective. It took me a few mentions to realize that jimmy was really THE jimmy from Oryx and Crake. I wished I had the physical copy of the books so I could go back and see what he had thought and said and did at the same time. Very much looking forward to MaddAddam. One thing, I could have done without the music but it DID add to the story. I felt it gave deeper insight into the Gardners life and views (as if we didn't know enough already.) I agree with other reviewers that it is rather slow in the beginning but it pays off about halfway through and there really is no other way to set up the situation without all of the first half.