Oryx and Crake

The first novel of the MaddAddam trilogy opens in a ruined, dangerous landscape. A man who calls himself Snowman seems to be alone, watched over only by gentle, strange creatures. As he struggles to survive, he looks back on his earlier life.

The story moves between this bleak present and a past dominated by corporate compounds, genetic engineering and a widening gap between the privileged and everyone else. It follows his friendship with the brilliant Crake and his bond with the enigmatic Oryx. A darkly comic and unsettling speculative novel, it considers science without ethics, consumer culture and what it means to be human.