The Year of the Flood
Margaret Atwood’s latest novel The Year of the Flood released Tuesday, and reviews so far have been overwhelmingly positive. They do, however, raise the question of genre that came up a few weeks ago in Ursula Le Guin’s review of the book. A science fiction writer herself, Le Guin thinks Atwood should cop to writing in that genre, but Atwood insists on the term “speculative fiction.” The Year of the Flood is a re-telling of the apocalyptic events in Atwood’s 2003 novel Oryx and Crake, which involved a bio-engineered species of semi-humans called Crakes created to mend the world. This time around, the story is told by two human women, Toby and Ren, whose friendship and memorable characterizations are earning praise from critics. Since it’s hard to see the distinction here between speculative and science fiction, let’s just use the term “SF,” or better yet, admire the prolific, creative writer whose work goes beyond classification.
“For all the unreality of her imagined universe, Atwood grounds her story in the bedrock of good storytelling: our shared, if endangered, humanity.” – Thom Geier, Entertainment Weekly
“Atwood is funny and clever, such a good writer and real thinker that there’s hardly any point saying that not everything in the novel works. Why should it? A high level of creativity has to let in some chaos.” – Jeanette Winterson, New York Times
“Throughout her complicated and rather sensationalistic plunge into the nefarious uses of science and technology, Atwood unflinchingly holds aloft the sanctity of life.” – Rayyan Al-Shawaf, Chicago Sun-Times
“Probably what I will remember from the book in a year’s time will not be its grim events, but the two women, Toby and Ren.” – Ursula Le Guin, The Guardian
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