The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

It's hard to write about this book and not spoil it. It's such a satisfying conclusion to the world Atwood created with Offred. I'm going to try and keep it neutral, but just to be safe, don't read this if you're a big fan, who hasn't read the book yet.

Picking up 15 years after The Handmaid's Tale, this book strings three distinct stories together to complete the story begun with an escaped handmaid. Everything is revealed through testimony or memoir, recounted shortly after they've happened. This gives an added bonus of more reaction, not less. The storytellers have time to reflect, and that depth ups the excitement level. I read this so fast as a result.

The first story is the memoir of Aunt Lydia, a founding Aunt of Gilead. She's gotten old, she sees her end. Will she go out with a soft poof or a bang? The second story is Agnes'. She's the daughter of a Commander, whose first sexual experience, unwanted and inappropriate, turns her away from marriage. Her only salvation is to train to become an aunt herself. Raised in Gilead, she has no ill feelings toward the system even though her life has given her opportunities to hate. The third storyteller comes from outside. She's lived her life in Canada, learning about Gilead in school. Her life fully sits on the other side until an insane combination of events forces her through the border. 

Why these three and what's the connection? It would spoil everything to share, but suffice it say, these three women, with their bravery and strength intertwine in a historic way for this word. It all happens fast, so read closely.

I love being reminded that complex stories can be simply told. Atwood takes a beautifully straightforward approach to heavy events with many moving parts. She makes her characters easy to understand, and exciting to read. Her stories are emotional, chaotic pageturners that don't over complicate. Time moves fast to maintain momentum, and you feel connected to every character by the end no matter the minor part they played in the narrative. I enjoy her writing so much.

This sequel puts you right back into the crazy, male-dominated world of Gilead. The same characters are playing and fighting the system all at once. It's a power struggle, it's a freedom fight, it's about how big of a splash ingenuity and patience can make. It's fantastic.

I highly recommend this book, but only after you've read The Handmaid's Tale. They truly go together, so even rereading them back-to-back sounds like a good idea to me.

I didn't write up a review when I read The Handmaid's Tale. It was before I began this blog. However, after reading the book, I became a big fan. Here are the Margaret Atwood books I did read and review:

• Hag-Seed
• Positron Short Stories
• The Year of the Flood

The Andromeda Evolution by Michael Crichton and Daniel H. Wilson

You may think this is a strange choice for a book given the world today, but what better time to read the sequel to a book about the possibility of a pandemic than now? The story is also so different from our current reality. I guarantee it's not in poor taste to pick this up if you're a Crichton fan.

The Andromeda Strain takes place in 1967. It's about a microbe that kills everyone but two people in a small town and the scientists who go investigate, and ultimately stop nuclear devastation from happening. It was a really fun book. Catching up to now, The Andromeda Evolution is happening 53 years later. The microbe has undergone serious study. We know it's still in the atmosphere. We know it's extraterrestrial and able to mutate. In its current state, it's most dangerous to a specific material used on spaceships. Military offices and detailed operational plans are in place for the sole purpose of watching Andromeda for any new anomalies that could lead to an attack, and reacting to them.

Nobody expects a giant structure to plop down in the middle of the Amazon. Spewing out a dark and deadly smoke, the threat of global extinction returns, but it's so much more than an invisible microbe this time.

Four scientists, one with direct ties to the first Andromeda incident, head into the dense jungle to investigate and hopefully neutralize the threat before more serious action is taken. In true Crichton style, the tense moments come rapid-fire along with a quick succession of informational nuggets that keep you in the loop as the story develops. The picture of what's going on and who's doing what comes into focus at the perfect time. You, as the reader, have all the necessary pieces alongside the heroic efforts of the main characters. 

The combination of diverse characters with unique motivations, technology and some great science fiction makes this book such a fun read. You're in the thick on things on the ground, but you also head up into space in order to face this alien microbe that seems hell bent on keeping humanity from leaving the planet. At the heart of all the action and terror, even Andromeda itself is a developing character.

Like most Crichton books, this is a fast and exciting read. It's an adventure set in a reality that's not ours, but could be. Reading it is a different kind of escape than something romantic or funny, but the message within the story seems fitting. It's a situation where humanity triumphs against those forces that would try to destroy us, and that's nice to read right now.