Oryx and Crake
by Margaret Atwood
(science-fiction)

This book was recommended to me by a co-worker, and so I picked it up with some hesitation. I never know how a rec is going to be coming from someone who barely knows me.

I was quite pleasantly surprised. It is a good book, well written with good character depth. The issues in the book are relevant and creepy in their possibilities. Some parts are definitely sci-fi in their reach, but other aspects are quite possible in the not-so-far future. Which, of course, is what makes the book so creepy. No one *really* is comfortable reading an apocalypse novel about a future that could actually happen.

Snowman/Jimmy is the main character in the book. His is the only POV voice, and he delivers the story of the End Of The World As We Know It in a series of flashbacks interspersed with clips of the “present” day. The timeline is a little confusing at first, as we struggle to figure out exactly what happened to the rest of the world, but it emerges piece by piece into a rather complex and developed plot.

(I marked this in my list at the front as “liked it” rather than “loved it” because of how disturbing it is. And also because it was one where I had to stop and think about it, rather than devouring it. I would, however, highly recommend it to anyone who is even slightly interested in the plot.)