I really enjoyed Oryx & Crake (the first book in this series), found 'Year of the Flood' hard going, and thought this third instalment of the trilogy somewhat frustrating. And I write as a big Atwood fan.

The world she conjures is interesting, but she does not really build on the basic the story that she outlined in Oryx and Crake. The book reads as sort of annex to the first novel, as if it is comprised of her extra notes and ephemera. Perhaps it was.

That said, the book is very funny in parts, and I am not quite sure why. Parts of it read like a comedy monologue in the style of Joyce Grenfell ("George, don't do that'" becomes "Please don't sing now"). Which is why I still enjoyed reading the book, but I just wish she had developed the ideas further. We assume the humans get wiped out and the Crakers take over, living in harmony with the pigoons, rakunks and liobambs. And I guess Toby's written journal becomes the creation myth for the new race. But we still don't know why Crake did what he did. Or if Adam succeeded or failed.

And if the whole human race has been wiped out, why is it so hard for the tiny band of survivors to find basic provisions? For instance, I refuse to believe that they would ever run out of pencils.