MaddAddam

MaddAddam[1][2] is a novel by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, published on 29 August 2013.

MaddAddam
First edition cover (Canada)
AuthorMargaret Atwood
Cover artistMichael J Windsor
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
GenreSpeculative fiction
PublisherMcClelland & Stewart (Canada)
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
Publication date
27 August 2013 (Canada)
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages416 (first edition, hardcover)
ISBN0-77100-846-5 (first edition, Canada)
OCLC829950166
Preceded byThe Year of the Flood 

MaddAddam concludes the dystopian trilogy that began with Oryx and Crake (2003) and continued with The Year of the Flood (2009). While the plots of these previous novels ran along a parallel timeline, MaddAddam is the continuation of both books. MaddAddam is written from the perspective of Zeb and Toby, who were both introduced in The Year of the Flood.

Plot

The novel continues the story of some of the same characters in the wake of the same biological catastrophe depicted in Atwood's earlier novels in the trilogy. The narrative starts with Ren and Toby (protagonists in The Year of the Flood) rescuing another survivor (Amanda Payne) from two criminals, who had been previously emotionally hardened by a colosseum-style game called Painball. Ren and Toby meet up with Jimmy, the protagonist from Oryx and Crake. These characters reunite with other survivors, develop a camp and start to rebuild civilization with the Crakers, all while the vengeful criminals (Painballers) stalk them.

Similarly to the previous two books, the narrative switches periodically into the past. After Zeb and Toby become lovers, he tells her about his previous career. Zeb and Adam One (from The Year of the Flood) grew up as half-brothers. Their father, a preacher ("The Rev"), advocated a corporate-friendly message that espoused petroleum and shunned environmentalism. Disgusted by his father’s ethics and hypocrisy, Zeb hacks into his father's accounts and empties them. Knowing their father's political influence, Zeb and Adam leave home, take on different identities and separate in order to avoid detection. Ultimately, Zeb and Adam re-unite and work together in building God's Gardeners, the central organization in The Year of the Flood.

Critical reception

Andrew Sean Greer said in The New York Times, "Atwood has brought the previous two books together in a fitting and joyous conclusion that's an epic not only of an imagined future but of our own past".[3]

James Kidd of The Independent said, "Atwood's body of work will last precisely because she has told us about ourselves. It is not always a pretty picture, but it is true for all that."[4]

gollark: Nope!
gollark: You said you couldn't explain it well in English.
gollark: Oh, that was fixed ages ago, I think.
gollark: Why do *you* believe in Islam, then?
gollark: This is troubling, the tool I use to bundle potatOS is interacting badly with... another tool one of the libraries is bundled with, because of course.

See also

References
  1. Profile - MaddAddam Bloomsbury Publishing
  2. Heads Up: MaddAddam The Independent
  3. Final Showdown NYTimes
  4. Review: MaddAddam, By Margaret Atwood The Independent
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