Oryx and Crake
Very interesting novel about the end of humankind due to mad genetic engineers trying to improve life. Told by Snowman, who appears to be the only survivor, as he remembers his life and the events that lead to the disaster. Although there are no explicit dates, it is in the near future (perhaps Snowman was born on the 2010s…).
The scenario before the catastrophe is a fairly typical dystopia for our times. The world has already suffered from global warming and an unexpectedly early and high rise on sea level. New York is no more, but we have New New York instead. Giant corporations have all the power and are like represive city-states where the well-to-do people live. The rest live in the “pleeblands", which are dirty and anarchic.
Something odd is that, despite the incredible advances in biology, they still use CDs, which in my opinion are not likely to be common after 2010. But this is not a very “technical” type of science fiction, so I didn’t care that much. Along those lines, I’ve seen people criticize the author for her made-up words for the new genetic creations, such as pigoons, wolvogs, rakunks, and chickienoobs. Although I also found those words unlikeable, I think they are realistic when one thinks about the kind of names that marketing comes up with in the real world.
Is such a future plausible? I doubt it, but it’s good to remember that humans may now an be an endangered species, of our own device.
Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood