The MaddAddam trilogy is no easy ride. For all the satirical, wink-and-nudge humour that Atwood injects into the series, theres twice as much death and desolation. This comes as no shock in fairness: The series is about a world devastated by a biological disaster, and follows a select few survivors who often fall victim to an Earth no longer fit for human consumption. If the terrifying animal splices dont come after you, then its tornadoes. If not inclement weather (understatement), then its gangs of ex-cons that love nothing more than a spot of rape and torture. That isnt even touching on daily issues like finding food and shelter. The three books are violent, frightening, and intensely bleak. Whilst a compulsive read, its OK to put the book down when you become overpowered by gloom. On a TV show it could become unflinchingly harrowing, possibly to the point that it is unwatchable. Its one thing being told about crowds of people pouring blood from every orifice, but its quite another thing to be shown it. A lot of recent TV shows have focused on hyper-violence, but if this hyper-violence is shown in the MaddAddam trilogy it could just come off as violence for violences sake. Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, and MaddAddam are emotionally hardcore, so its going to take a steady hand to balance out the bleakness.
