The Year of the Flood

　　一場預謀的瘟疫－－無水之洪－－幾乎毀掉地球上所有的人類，一處處廢墟重新為植物覆蓋，新種生物恣意橫行。他／她徘徊在孤獨與絕望、生與死的懸崖上。

　　倖存的人類其實還有「上帝之園丁會」的成員。洪荒發生前，領袖亞當一仿效諾亞方舟，致力保全所有生命，建立了「屋頂崖伊甸園」，試圖找出新的烏托邦，但他們也只能眼睜睜看著毀滅降臨。幸運存活的人，孤伶伶面對這個世界，曾為園丁的桃碧試圖以書寫抵抗死之欲望，並漸漸找到其他倖存者芮恩，在生與死之間擺盪的孤舟，終於有了前進的可能。

　　在《洪荒年代》中，瑪格麗特‧愛特伍筆下惡夢般世界裡，揉合悲觀和希望。在霧氣瀰漫，混雜柏油與灰燼的燃燒氣味，黯淡、了無生氣的城市，女子的連結力卻讓故事增添了悲喜交加的力量。

　　★本書中譯版《洪荒年代》由天培出版。

　　Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners - a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, the preservation of all species, the tending of the Earth, and the cultivation of bees and organic crops on flat rooftops - has long predicted the Waterless Flood. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have avoided it: the young trapeze-dancer, Ren, locked into the high-end sex club, Scales and Tails; and former SecretBurgers meat-slinger turned Gardener, Toby, barricaded into the luxurious AnooYoo Spa, where many of the treatments are edible. Have others survived? Ren's bioartist friend Amanda, or the MaddAddam eco-fighters? Ren's one-time teenage lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers, survivors of the mutual-elimination Painball prison? Not to mention the CorpSeCorps, the shadowy and corrupt policing force of the ruling powers Meanwhile, in the natural world, gene-spliced life forms are proliferating: the lion/lamb blends, the Mo'hair sheep with human hair, the pigs with human brain tissue. As Adam One and his intrepid hemp-clad band make their way through a ruined world, singing their devotional hymns and faithful to their creed and to their Saints - Saint Francis Assisi, Saint Rachel Carson, and Saint Al Gore among them - what odds for Ren and Toby, and for the human race? By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful and uneasily hilarious, The Year of the Flood is Atwood at her most effective.

作者簡介

瑪格麗特．愛特伍Margaret Atwood

　　1939年出生於渥太華，是加拿大最傑出的小說家、詩人，也寫短篇故事、評論、劇本，並創作兒童文學與圖像小說。她是《紐約時報》暢銷作家、公認的「加拿大文學女王」，更是諾貝爾文學獎呼聲極高的重量級候選人，至今已發表四十多部作品，海外讀者散布四十多國。愛特伍在1985年以小說《使女的故事》榮獲「總督文學獎」，2000年《盲眼刺客》獲英國曼布克文學獎；2005年獲頒愛丁堡圖書節啟蒙獎，得獎理由是對世界文學與思想的傑出貢獻；2008年榮膺西班牙艾斯杜里亞斯親王文學獎；2016年獲英國筆會/品特文學獎。代表作「瘋狂亞當」三部曲正由美國HBO改拍為電視影集，其餘作品在世界各國亦獲獎無數。

　　愛特伍與莎翁的首次邂逅發生在1950年代，當時她在多倫多讀高中，漫長的寫作生涯中，她一直認為莎士比亞影響自己創作甚深。她說：「《暴風雨》在某些層面上，可說是一齣早期的多媒體音樂劇，要是莎翁活在今日，他想必會窮盡手邊所有特效科技來呈現這齣戲；然而《暴風雨》最引人入勝之處，正是劇中留下的許多未解問題。我用盡渾身解數來挑戰這個故事，太過癮了！」

　　Margaret Atwood is Canada's most eminent novelist, poet and critic. Her books include The Edible Woman, Surfacing, Lady Oracle, Alias Grace, Cat's Eye, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize and The Handmaid's Tale, which won both the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction and the Governor-General's Award, was short-listed for the Booker Prize and made into a major film. She lives in Toronto with the writer Graeme Gibson and their daughter.