Classic 5/5

 

Offred, having survived the apocalypse with her reproductive organs intact, is forced to be the handmaid to a high-placed bureaucrat and his wife—meaning she must bear a child for them to raise as their own. Not only is this novel conceptually amazing and prophetic, the tension on every page, from fraught mundanity, kept me on the edge of my seat. The coda at the end says it all.

I think I’m writing it a bit long, but I can cut on the second pass.

Classic 3/5

A series of short stories builds a world harbouring a nostalgically delicate civilization which morphs over time. The student of science fiction needs to read this book, but it is a product of its time.

33,700k. Novel is going well!

Horror 4+/5

Dog, a boy born with genetic abnormalities, is raised in an abusive institution, but he joins with others of his mutant peers to rise up against the society that fears them. Well written and thought-provoking, as well as engaging through an accelerating plot.