I can’t believe I never got around to writing about “A Handmaid’s Tale”, but I’m fine with that now because honestly, I liked “The Year of the Flood” much better. This book reminded me a lot of “The Windup Girl“, which I quite liked. “The Year of the Flood” is a book set in a dystopian future. In this future, mega corporations run the planet. They provide the police force while at the same time running the local gangs. The planet is full of disease and pollution. Everything is engineered and plasticized.

The book tells the tale of “the Gardeners”. They are a cult that believe in a return to nature. They live in abandoned buildings and create gardens on the rooftops for their sustenance. They are vegetarians and advocate a way of life that does not hurt other creatures of any kind. They are generally reviled for their beliefs, but see themselves as the salvation of humanity. They believe that God will send a flood that will wash away all of humanity and the damage that has been done to the planet and only they will survive.

The story is told through the perspective of two of the members. One is Ren, who as a young girl was pulled out of her rich life in a corporate facility by her mother, who decided to run away with a Gardener. Ren learns to accept the Gardener way of life and her perspective is very interesting as a child growing up in this group. However, when the story first finds her as an adult, she is working in a high end strip club, Scales and Tails. It is quite a story as to how she got there.

The story is also told from the perspective of Toby. She was a normal girl, living a normal life, until tragedy struck her family and she found herself on the street. Her situation went from bad to worse, but she was rescued by the Gardeners. At first she stays with them out of need and guilt, but eventually becomes part of the fold.

This book is a very interesting look into the possible future. It is easy to see the perspective of the Gardeners in light of the commercialization and persecution of their world. I enjoy a good futuristic book and this one is well written and interesting. It is apparently part of a series that covers larger views of that world, and I look forward to exploring the other books, but this one can be read at any time, no need to have read anything else first.

Check it out!