Nature, Science and Religion Are Coming Together.

At CNN, Todd Leopold talks to Margaret Atwood about her new novel, "The Year of the Flood," which is meant as a sequel to "Oryx and Crake," a book I've had on my "to read" pile for a few years now. The interview made me pull out the book from the bottom of the stack primarily because of the following bit:

"Flood" is, in some ways, a continuation of "Oryx and Crake," which introduced much of its world. The characters Oryx and Crake, the latter a genetic engineer, have small but pivotal roles. Atwood says she decided to continue the story because "so many people said, 'What happens?' ... I didn't know the answer, and therefore had to think about that."

A number of the issues raised in "Oryx and Crake," she continues, piqued her interest, particularly since they parallel what's going on in real life. "One of those is the way that nature, science and religion are coming together," she says, noting the popularity of the film "Avatar." "The interesting thing to me is [the] various trends, and my religion in the book is kind of what it would be if people just got a little bit more organized, though they might not go for those [shapeless] outfits."