Humans, Bow Down by James Patterson

Humans, Bow Down by James Patterson, 373 pages

I saw this book on the shelf and thought it looked interesting. The book has pictures which I though was unusual for James Patterson.

Though, I have to say, I did not care for this book.  I really wanted to stop reading it.  The beginning sucked me in and then I felt the book became bland and predictable.  The premise of the book is that the robot nation won the Great War and humans are banished to the Reserve.  Six is a feisty young lady with a friend named Dub, who try to fight back against Micky Bo, a Robocop.  I think James Patterson was trying to write a good dystopian novel but I believe it was an epic failure.

Maddaddam, by Margaret Atwood

 Maddaddam, by Margaret Atwood, 416 pages

This is the third in the Maddaddam series, and most of the "loose ends" are tied up .  The future is still uncertain, but then again, it always was.  I was pretty sad about the ending, but all good books leave you sad at their endings.   I would recommend this to adults who like post-apocalyptic/dystopian sci-fi.  

The Giver, by Lois Lowry

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, 192 pages

Jonas lives in a society with no pain, no color, no choices, and no memory that things were ever different.  When Jonas' destiny is revealed to him, everything he thought he knew about his past and future begin to change.

I recently discovered that this book is actually followed by three other books, in a sort of series.  I was confused, because (spoiler alert, but not really, apparently) I remember having the impression that the main character dies in the end.  And... I still get that impression upon re-reading it.  Weird.  But anyway, this is a pretty good introduction to dystopia and science fiction for kids, who probably don't realize that is what they are reading.  But I think that adults, too, might enjoy revisiting this book.

The Year of the Flood (MaddAddam #2), by Margaret Atwood

The Year of the Flood (MaddAddam #2), by Margaret Atwood, 448 pages

This story takes place in a near future, where corporations run the world, most animals we know are extinct, and science has achieved god-like power.  The story centers around a small cult-like group, called the Gardeners, who shun the system and believe that a waterless flood will soon come and wash away the evil and give the world a new start.  It is told from the point of view of Ren and Toby, two women who take different life paths but find themselves in a similar predicament, and the preachings of their one-time leader.

I listened to this on CD, so I didn't realize that it was the second book in a trilogy.  Surprisingly, though, I didn't feel like I was missing anything until the very end.  And even at that, I was okay with it.  The audio narration was very well-done, and I'm glad they went with 3 narrators since there were alternating voices.