A speculative fiction trilogy beginning with Oryx and Crake, chronicling the end of human civilization through bioengineered plague and the emergence of the gentle, post-human Crakers. The series explores corporate dystopia, genetic engineering, environmental collapse, and ultimately what it means to be human through multiple perspectives, concluding with survivors attempting to build a new society in the ruins.
Snowman apparently the last human being alive watches over a community of engineered post-human creatures called Crakers and recounts how the world ended, revealing the story of his genius friend Crake who created a plague to reset humanity, and the enigmatic woman Oryx whom both men loved. A darkly comic, furiously inventive novel about biotechnology, corporate power, and the human capacity for destruction. The first volume of Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy.
Told in parallel with Oryx and Crake from the perspectives of two women who survived the plague Toby, a middle-aged woman sheltering alone, and Ren, a young woman trapped in a high-end sex club the second MaddAddam novel expands the pre-apocalypse world through the lens of the God's Gardeners eco-religion. The novel deepens the trilogy's world without requiring prior familiarity with the first book. Rich in dark comedy and genuine emotional weight.
The trilogy's conclusion follows the surviving human and Craker community as they attempt to build something sustainable in the post-plague world, while Toby tells the Crakers the story of their creation through an evolving mythology, and the human survivors must confront a lingering threat from dangerous survivors. Less apocalyptic in energy than its predecessors but deeply satisfying as a conclusion. The warmest and most hopeful volume in the trilogy.