The Ballad of Zeb and Toby

I've just finished the recently published 'MaddAddam' by Margaret Atwood, the last in the superlative 'Oryx and Crake' trilogy. Must've been good for me to finish it in just a week!

'MaddAddam' by Margaret
Atwood  (Bloomsbury, 2013)

'MaddAddam' begins as 'The Year of the Flood' ends. The human race has been largely wiped out by a mysterious virus, but a handful of outsiders have survived. Many are former God's Gardeners, a Christian Environmental sect that values nature and cultivates self-reliance, or members of MaddAddam, a terrorist group that dispensed with the Gardener's pacifism and used genetic know-how to cause disruption to the ruling corporations.  But they are not the only people left alive. Two psychotic competitors from the Painball games have escaped the plague and want nothing more than to torture, rape and kill.  Having saved Amanda from them once, with the help of Ren and the unexpected arrival of Snowman-the-Jimmy, Toby lets down her guard and the Painballers escape.  Will Toby and the other survivors find them before it's too late? How can they protect the innocent Children of Crake? And what of the mysterious Zeb?

Atwood has pulled off a fantastic hat trick with these three books and 'MaddAddam' is the captivating conclusion to a thrilling trilogy. While books one and two told the stories of Glenn, Jimmy, Ren and Toby, here we find out about the enigmatic Zeb and spend more time with the Children of Crake, the genetically modified replacement for human beings.  Once again, Atwood juggles the varied voices involved fantastically and it's easy to forget that they all come from the mind of one author.

'MaddAddam' is probably the most surreal and fanciful of the three books, but it is set after the apocalypse and feels right for the world that Atwood has created.  Or should I say predicted?

The ending did leave me feeling bereft, but, as any reader will tell you, that's not unusual when you've enjoyed a book and grown attached to the characters involved.

Overall, I would really recommend the Oryx and Crake trilogy to anyone who enjoys thought provoking books which challenge the way we see the world. This is Speculative, rather than Science, Fiction at its best.

Now, back to Bernard Cornwell's Saxons vs Danes Round Five: Pride Comes Before a Fall. I'm only on page 48 and I think I can see where this is going! Really don't mind though. Honest.