MaddAddam: Book 3 of The MaddAddam Trilogy

By Margaret Atwood

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testamants—this final volume of the internationally celebrated MaddAddam trilogy "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" (The New York Times Book Review).

The Waterless Flood pandemic has wiped out most of the population. Toby is part of a small band of survivors, along with the Children of Crake: the gentle, bioengineered quasi-human species who will inherit this new earth.

As Toby explains their origins to the curious Crakers, her tales cohere into a luminous oral history that sets down humanity’s past—and points toward its future. Blending action, humor, romance, and an imagination at once dazzlingly inventive and grounded in a recognizable world, MaddAddam is vintage Atwood—a moving and dramatic conclusion to her epic work of speculative fiction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9780385537834

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood, whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries, is the author of over fifty books, including fiction, poetry, critical essays, and graphic novels. In addition to The Handmaid’s Tale, now an award-winning television series, her works include Cat’s Eye, short-listed for the 1989 Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; The MaddAddam Trilogy; The Heart Goes Last; Hag-Seed; The Testaments, which won the Booker Prize and was long-listed for the Giller Prize; and the poetry collection Dearly. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Franz Kafka International Literary Prize, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award. In 2019 she was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in Great Britain for her services to literature. She lives in Toronto.

Reviews for MaddAddam

[melissarochelle_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read from July 25 to August 21, 2013It took me a long time to get in sync with this book, but I didn't want to give up because I love the ideas Atwood presents in her writing. I'm glad I stuck with it. It is a satisfying conclusion to an amazing series by one of the best authors on the planet. If you have time, read the first two books again before picking this one up -- I wish I had.I still think there were problems with the book, but I also have to acknowledge that I was in a reading funk when I started it. By the halfway point, I was invested in the book though and no longer full-on reading slump. So 3 stars for the first half (maybe there was a Toby and me disconnect), 4.5 stars for the second half (Zeb's story finally got meaty and interesting.).

[thelostentwife · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Given how different from each other Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood were, I wasn't sure what to expect going into MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood. I knew a few things though: 1. I would be highly entertained, 2. I would finally get some answers, and 3. I would experience fantastic writing. All three counts were expected and fulfilled easily. But I want to elaborate more on the first one.Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on September 3, 2013.

[donna828 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wrapping up a trilogy can be a difficult task, but Ms. Atwood is up to the challenge . She begins with short summaries of the first two books which was a very helpful memory refresher before she unites the characters in the books. She cleverly uses storytelling as a device to both tell the backstory of how the characters and events fit together and to create a new mythology to bond the genetically engineered Crakers with the humans that survived the pandemic that threatens the future of life on earth.Atwood brings back some characters from the previous books and introduces some new ones.The survivors are thrown together in this book to work together to ensure that the human race prevails. Zeb's story gives us more information about Adam One, although I would have liked to know him better. Jimmy is deathly ill and is cared for by Toby with her knowledge of herbs and flesh-eating maggots and the "purring" of the peace-loving Crakers. I know that sentence is gibberish to those who haven't read Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood. I strongly advise reading those two books first. I liked this book very much even though it lacked the novelty and urgency of the previous books. There was more humor and gentleness between the characters. The character of Blackbeard learning the art of writing from Toby was both an example of Atwood's affective writing and a great source of hope for the future. For lovers of words and books, these words of Blackbeard make the heart soar:"Now this is the Book that Toby made when she lived among us. See, I am showing you. She made these words on a page, and a page is made of paper. She made the words with writing, that she marked down with a stick called a pen, with black fluid called ink, and the made the pages join together at one side. and that is called a book...And she showed me, Blackbeard, how to make such words on a page with a pen, when I was little. And she showed me how to turn the marks back into a voice, so that when I look at the page and read the words, it is Toby's voice that I hear...And in the book she put the Words of Crake, and the Words or Oryx as well, and of how together they made us, and made also this safe and beautiful World for us to live in."

[elizabethbevins · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was the final book in Atwood's trilogy. I had a hard time getting into the final book. It felt a bit flat.

[toddj_373344 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great finish to a wonderful trilogy. These books introduced me to the author and demonstrate what a masterful novelist Margaret Atwood is. I will not hesitate to read anything of hers I come across in the future.

[steadfastreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is still great. I think it's a great commentary on technology, capitalism, religion, and of course, the environment and how we as humans commune with it. There's also an exploration on what it means to be human, is it specifically our DNA? Is it possible organisms that share less than 100% of human genetic make-up still be human?

'MaddAddam' lacks the power of 'The Year of the Flood' and the horror of 'Oryx and Crake', still it's a fine Margaret Atwood novel and 100% enjoyable.

[stephenbarkley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I closed my review of The Year of the Flood (the previous book in the series) with, "We can only hope this turns into a trilogy." MaddAddam is the third book I hoped for.Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy is the story of a dystopian future where human greed and pride have clashed to unleash a plague that wipes out the vast majority of humanity. The first two books in the series tell of this"waterless flood" from two different perspectives. They loosely cover the same amount time. In MaddAddam, these two stories converge and the timeline moves forward, albeit with frequent flashbacks.At its core, MaddAddam follows the relationship between Toby and Zeb, two people who try to come to grips with their past lives as they live in the apocalyptic remains of their world. These characters are complex and surprising. Their past lives allow Atwood to explore themes like religious cults, the authority of large corporations, the ethics of genetic manipulation, and the role of law in a radically subverted context.Atwood's exploration of this world is shocking and even cringe-worthy at times, but her analysis left me thinking about important themes long after the novel was put back on the shelf.

[gwendydd · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My only big complaint about the first two books of this trilogy was that their endings were unsatisfying. This book finally provides the satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.MaddAddam covers a lot of the same events as the first two books, again from a different perspective. It also portrays what happens to the small handful of humanity that remains after the apocalypse brought on by Crake.Although this book is grim, like the rest of the trilogy, it also has a lot of humor in it. The humor largely revolves around the naivete of the Crakers, who are portrayed very convincingly. There are some laugh-out-loud funny moments in this book.Atwood is a master of her craft, and that made this book a pleasure to read.I listened the the audiobook, and the cast was generally very good, although the guy who read Zeb's parts has a really weird rhythm to his sentences that got annoying.

[jenlamoureux · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great finish to an epic trilogy. Atwood leaves the reader not only with closure after tying up all the loose ends from the previous two books, but also gives us an insight into the history being created as the storytelling within the story passes from one generation to the next.Favorite quote from the book... because it seems very relevant these days:"By extension, anyone who liked smelling the daisies, and having daisies to smell, and eating mercury-free fish, and who objected to giving birth to three-eyed infants via the toxic sludge in their drinking water was a demon-possessed Satanic minion of darkness, hell-bent on sabotaging the American Way and God's Holy Oil, which were one and the same."

[neftzger · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the final book in Margaret Atwood's post apocalyptic trilogy. If you haven't red the first two books, there are summaries at the beginning of this one (also useful for those of us with short memories).Atwood does a great job story telling and making the tale believable. In our current culture it's easy to see how politics and big pharma could eventually result in the downfall of society. What I like about the book is how it provides an outsider's view on some of our everyday habits, and it's often done with a tongue in cheek approach. Some things are permanently destroyed when the political structure fell, but some things remain the same and others persist in a new form. In many ways, the book is a study of human nature, and I found it fascinating.

[thewasp_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The final book. The world's population has been destroyed by a virus hidden in BlyssPluss pills and only a handful have survived - some of The MaddAddams and God's Gardiners., who are also caring for the Crakers, (a newly engineered race of people ) and the murderous Painballers. The Pigoons and other genetically altered animals are also on the loose.This book begins by summarising the previous two, a good thing as alot goes on, and expands on how the survivors got to where they are. It also gives an incite into how life will be in their future.An entertaining trilogy. Good not to leave too much time between reading each book.

[kewing_12 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The first two books of this trilogy (Oryx and Crake and Year of the Flood) were like excellent meals that nonetheless left me hungry. MaddAddam is an intelligent, bright, and witty conclusion to the trilogy. The narrative voices were distinct and felt honest. This read like a return to epic storytelling, with deep back stories to fill in the voids. The end is solid, an emotional and haunting transition to a new world; a fitting end to a gourmet feast. Overall, I thought it brilliant. I'm not sure why Margaret Atwood is not yet among the Nobel authors.

[c.archer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

MaddAddam was a nice conclusion to the trilogy ( along with Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood). It tied things together pretty well for such a strange story and world, and it finished with some hope for the future. For a dystopian tale, it was almost believable which occasionally was a bit disturbing. The author did a nice job of character development, and this book helped interlace the characters and complete their stories.. The storyline lagged a bit in some places for me, but all in all, it was a well done conclusion to a remarkable story.If you have the slightest interest in future world tales, I would highly recommend this series. Margaret Atwood has written a masterwork, and the trilogy will keep you in exciting reading material for a good long while.

[jscape2000 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Margaret Atwood's last installment was neither as good as Year of the Flood (the best book of the trilogy, and among the best of the decade), nor as interesting as Oryx and Crake. MaddAddam wraps up the series with a bow. It doesn't quite answer the long term question of if or how humans might survive the waterless flood, and it features an epilogue worth of a Victorian novel- fast forwarding an undisclosed number of years and telling what ultimately happened to the main characters. My biggest complaint was how small the world is; in the end, it turns out that everyone crossed paths with everyone, and that over the course of three books we actually met everyone at the top of the food/ information chain.

[joeyee-4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed the first two books in the series, and the third lived up to my expectations.

Received the book free from First Reads.

[annejacinta · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a very satisfying conclusion to the trilogy beginning with Oryx and Crake. It focuses largely on Toby and Zeb, with a subtle approach to filling in past events. Present conditions develop the Crakers' role; their viewpoint is given a voice in the appealing young character Blackbeard. Living conditions are much reduced by the demise of the modern world. There are hostile forces to be faced, with good and bad results. Atwood creates a compelling vision of this world. Much of our world and its consequences for the environment and the human race is presented negatively, but she does so with acute judgement and a hugely inventive imagination. She delights in forming new words to describe things eg prostibots, an obvious advance on the blow up doll! I do wonder why , in the new world, characters dress everyday in a fresh bed sheet, appropriate for the mood or event- seems surprisingly awkward as a practical garment doesn't it. Her clever language use and flowing narrative pace ameliorate the grimness of the story as it develops to a momentous finale.

[4leschats · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The final installment in the trilogy that began with Oryx & Crake looks more closely at Zeb's history with Crake, Adam One, and the MaddAddamites. Many years after Crake kills off the human population, Snowman-the-Jimmy falls ill and is carried to the compound now housing the MaddAddam survivors and some of the God's Gardeners, in particular Toby, the focus of the 2nd book, The Year of the Flood. Through flashbacks, Atwood reveals the interconnections of the various participants which on the surface could seem contrived but ultimately seems to be more a message of humanities interrelations. The main focus is on Zeb who acts a lynchpin between the groups. While the survivors attempt to rebuild a semblance of existence, they must continue to battle the lingering evil of the escaped Painballers while protecting the Crakers who have no sense of the threat these humans pose.This series looks at the evil that humanity can perpetrate on the environment, other species, and even each other, but this final book ends on a poignantly hopeful note of rebirth.

[pghdragonman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

MaddAddam is the conclusion, for now, of the Waterless Flood story begun with Oryx and Crake. This saga begins after the cliffhanger conclusion of The Year of the Flood, shortly after Snowman encounters another group of people on the beach, near the Craker encampment.What follows, is told through both a linear progression and a series of flashbacks, outright reminiscences, from the viewpoint of some of the main characters. As for the plot itself, there are some new elements that are carried to completion, but this story is mostly about tying everything together.I am trying not to introduce any spoilers, but the plotline involving one of the Craker children, Blackbeard, does not seem finished. He became significant enough that some of the story is conveyed from his direct viewpoint, in his own words. This is why I feel there may be more material, at least another book, to come.This is a very dark future written as only Margaret Atwood can perceive it. If you are a fan of the world of Oryx and Crake, you need this book to complete the cycle. Also suggested for fans of Dark Speculative Fiction in general and Science run amuck especially. The only thing that keeps this from a full five stars is there is some plot pacing slows to a plod about two-thirds of the way through the book. The finish, however, is worthwhile: four and a half stars.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Maddaddam is the final installment in Margaret Atwood's dystopian trilogy. Society's downfall is not caused by nuclear war, aliens, or paranormal love triangles, but the result of genetic engineering gone astray and the greed of the Corporation. Hmmm... doesn't sound that farfetched, does it? Atwood labels this series as speculative fiction instead of science fiction because all of the technology in this book is available today. Bitingly sarcastic, Atwood pokes fun at human nature and the greed and obsessions of our society. I really loved the end of this series. The first book, Oryx and Crake was disturbing and dark, but I found this one to still be an excellent critique of our world, but it was instilled with hope and possibilities.

[mojomomma_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The saga continues. We see the back-story of the trilogy and learn the origins of Crake and Oryx, Zeb and Toby and the Crakers.

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful! All the characters from the first two books come together in this final book of the trilogy which moves the plot forward showing us the present situation of the world and how the remaining humans and the genetically altered humans and animals are existing together. The second book, The Year of the Flood, is the weakest in the trilogy but I very much enjoyed those characters' return in this story. They were familiar faces and their characters were wonderfully developed in this book. It was also fantastic to finally get to know the "Crakers" so well, and a very important character develops from that group. Tension comes from the threat of three Painballers, gladiator-type survivors from a fight-to-the-death reality show, pre-Apocalypse. I was pleased to find no heavy emphasis on the eco-nonsense here and found Atwood's vision of her post-apocalyptic world quite plausible. I always enjoy Atwood's writing whether I'm thrilled with her books or not and this one is a page-turner that kept me glued to the book. I still think Oryx and Crake is the best of the trilogy, but this is a satisfying conclusion to the story.

[norabelle414 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

We've heard the story of The Waterless Flood twice now - the Crakers' story (via Jimmy) and the eco-cultist God's Gardeners'. Now these two stories have come together along with another - two vile, sadistic painballers intent on raping and pillaging the few remaining women on earth. As anthropologists currently wonder about the Neanderthals and the Cro-Magnons - will these groups interbreed, or exterminate each other? Who will be the founders of the rebirth of humankind? Just like the previous two books, copious flashbacks make this Maddaddam much more world-building than plot-driven. There are an infinite number of questions about the past desperate to be answered, both by the characters and by the reader. What kind of planet was this to lead Crake to take such drastic action? Did he do the right thing? How close is our planet to that tipping point? What will the future hold? Will all of Crake's work have been in vain? What more can I say? If you enjoyed the first two then you're already desperate for an ending. If it sounds like you'd like it, go read the first book. In terms of the world as a whole, this is a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. We can clearly see the direction this world is headed in. On a character-basis, however, the lives of the people the reader has come to understand so deeply just fizzle out, almost as if they were real people and this was a real future. Almost as if half the things Atwood made up in Oryx and Crake have come true already.

[bonniemarjorie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

MaddAddam is the long-awaited conclusion to the trilogy which began with Oryx and Crake. It's the story of Crake, a man who played God and developed a plague to wipe out the human race in order to usher forth a new, more advanced species called the Crakers. The MaddAddam introduction shows the few surviving humans converging with the Crakers in hopes that their combined efforts can ensure their survival in the harsh and ravaged world they are left with after the plague. In MaddAddam, it's slow going but the Earth is on point to regenerate itself with an increase in thunderstorms and the growth of plants to help sustain their diets. Animals are even adapting to life among their genetically modified cousins, the rakunks, liobams, wolvogs and pigoons. The surviving humans are a combination of geneticists and environmentalists and we're given several, separate stories that end up all integrating and explaining their roles from the beginning of the plague."There's the story, then there's the real story, then there's the story of how the story came to be told. Then there's what you leave out of the story. Which is part of the story too."MaddAddam is primarily told from the point of view of Toby, as it was in The Year of the Flood, however we receive much back-story about Zeb. Toby spends much time telling the story of Zeb to the Crakers, who have developed a strange fascination with Zeb. Much is left out and is transformed into a myth of sorts for them, just like the stories that Jimmy used to tell them.Considering this is the final installment in a trilogy, I was personally expecting more of an engaging ending. It's a slow-build of an ending and doesn't exactly amount to much, but I believe that to be due to the way it was written. Most of the current happenings are told after the fact or retold in the form of a story rather than a step-by-step accounting of occurrences. We finally get all of our lingering questions answered regarding what led up to the plague being released on the world and how each character came to be where they are now in the story. While this managed to make it slightly less satisfying it was no less compelling. The MaddAddam trilogy is a unique interpretation of a dystopian world that is not only brilliantly imaginative but is shockingly possible.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

MaddAddam is the final book in Margaret Atwood's post-apocalyptic trilogy, following Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood.In many ways, MaddAddam is a quiet denouement to the frenzied dystopia depicted in the previous two books in the series. MaddAddam takes up right where both the previous books left off, joining Snowman-Jimmy and the bioengineered post-humans called the Crakers with the remnants of the God's Gardeners cult who survived the plague that wiped out most of the human race. The remaining humans decide to live with the Crakers and protect them from the last threat: other surviving humans, particularly the vicious Painballers who they know are lurking nearby. A lot of the story is taken up by flashback, relating the back stories of brothers Zeb and Adam, founder of the God's Gardeners, and answering many of the questions left hanging in the previous two books. This storytelling technique leaves the reader feeling removed from much of the action and not fully invested in the outcome. For instance, when Zeb and the others decide to go take out the Painballers, those events take place "off-camera," related only as a story to the Crakers, which steals a lot of suspense from the climax.I suspect this is purposeful on Atwood's part, who seems to be painting the picture of a near-perfect utopia in her post-apocalyptic world. A utopia which, I might add, doesn't really need men -- at least, not non-Craker men. Other than Zeb, the most fully realized characters are the surviving women, with Toby (a major character from The Year of the Flood) providing their voice. Most of the women eventually become pregnant by the Crakers, giving the reader the assumption that human and post-human will eventually merge, eliminating the traditional male qualities like aggressiveness, jealousy and ego. That's all well and good if we're fantasizing, but it doesn't make for a particularly exciting read. Also, I found it a bit problematic that even though the post-apocalyptic society seemed to be forming itself along matriarchal lines, the bulk of the story still focused on male characters. It was a jarring contrast. Oryx is the character who has gotten short shrift in all three of these novels, as she has now literally been turned into an unknowable goddess.Atwood is a terrific writer, and her books are always enjoyable. But I can't help feeling that she ran out of steam with this idea. In my opinion, Oryx and Crake remains the best book of the trilogy, a significant contribution to the post-apocalyptic genre. MaddAddam can't quite measure up to that.

[albertgoldfain · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nicely ties together the threads of "Oryx and Crake" and "The Year of the Flood", while at the same time taking a different perspective on the artificial origin myth told to tthe genetically modified "Crakers". The act of storytelling as a world-building device is used very effectively and inventively throughout.

[ratastrophe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I don't generally find my vocabulary lacking, but I don't have the words to describe how much I loved this entire series. This is a perfect ending to a fantastic trilogy.

[robinwebster · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book clears up a lot of the mysteries of the previous books and tells a brilliant tale of betrayal, friendship, and dystopian struggle. This series is one of the best dystopian science fiction works I have ever read.

[fuzzy_patters · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

MaddAddam is the third book in Atwood's Maddaddam Trilogy. I suggest reading the first two books before reading this one.If you have done that, I think that this book is worth reading even if I didn't find it to be quite as engaging as the other two. It did provide a resolution to the story and answered some unanswered questions; however, it didn't quite have the same magic as the first two in that there was not that much new to learn about the characters. Atwood tried by providing a lot of backstory on Zeb and Adam, but it seemed thin to me and fell a bit flat.

[abbeyhar · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved the parts which dealt with understandings of origin and verbal, then written, creation myths. Seeing how Toby revised (but didn't lie) about the origins of the Crakers and the new world they all live in ais remarkably similar to the creation myths we turn to today. Also seeing the evolution of oral into written storytelling at the end was really touching - the idea that writing is explained as a way for a person to communicate their voice to you after death, and after your death, and after your children's death, etc.

Plotwise, it didn't do much for me. Yes, the first book of the trilogy left a couple questions unanswered, but I was okay with that. The second two books had a lot of repeated plotlines from different angles.

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An enjoyable conclusion to the Trilogy with the death of the old world and birth of the new that still includes some humans but it seems clear the Crakers and Pigoons will be the new dominant powers.