The follow up to Oryx and Crake tells the story from a different perspective. While the first volume was male, from inside the Corps, this one is predominantly female, and its story develops outside, in the unruly pleeblands. Characters and events from the first volume intertwine and show up in fleeting glimpses, completing the picture for the reader, but at the same time highlighting how fragmented and incomplete the pieces are for the characters.
It is a great exercise in storytelling. The post plague world painted by Atwood takes better shape and the female characters drive the story.. making them justice after neglecting them severely in the first volume.