"Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood

Three Stars - I liked it.

This book is an excellent example of why I usually always listen to my friend C's book recommendations (I say usually because there was that instance of "Giants of the Earth" from high school. I still don't get it.). I have been meaning to read Margaret Atwood's other book, "The Handmaid's Tale", for a long time so when C suggested this one I checked it out the same day.

It's your typical doom-and-gloom, technology-will-destroy-us-all, sci-fi type of book, definitely not my typical read, and I was very pleasantly surprised by it. It begins by introducing the main character, Snowman, apparently the only surviving human of some great disaster that has wiped out the world. He now lives in a tree, wears only a sheet, and watches over a group of people called the Children of Crake who are a type of genetically enhanced human, physically perfect but minus all of the intellectual and emotional issues that inevitably lead to social problems.

The story is told sort of in reverse through Snowman's memories and I really enjoyed the writing style. The narrative jumps between Snowman's present and his memories, which slowly tell the story of what happened to the human race and how he ended up taking care of the "children". His memories also reveal the secret of who Oryx and Crake are and how their three lives intertwined with each other and the fate of the world.

I've decided to keep my reviews shorter, so I'm not going into detail or giving spoilers, but I highly recommend this book. It moves at a steady pace that keeps the reader interested, and has a nice balance between Snowman's past and present storylines. It definitely fits the genre of "Sci-fi for people who don't like Sci-fi."