Part of MaddAddam, book 1
First published 2013
Jimmy wraps himself in bed sheets and perches in a tree, calling himself Snowman now. Around him, pigs carry strange modifications, and wolves and raccoons bear alterations that nature never intended. The voice of Oryx, a woman he once loved, speaks to him with teasing whispers. Green-eyed children who belong to Crake have become his charge, though he struggles to understand why this burden fell to him. These Children of Crake depend on Snowman for reasons that connect to a world that no longer exists as it once did. Oryx's presence lingers in his thoughts while he navigates this transformed landscape where familiar animals have become something else entirely. Snowman must tend to these unusual children while haunted by memories of the woman whose voice continues to reach him. The responsibility weighs on him as he tries to survive in a place where genetic tampering has reshaped the natural order.
Genres: fiction, science-fiction, dystopia, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Africa
Period: 21st-century
436 pages · Paperback · Virago
Content warnings: body-horror, death