Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel

Station Eleven

By Emily St. John Mandel

  • Release Date: 2014-09-09
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
Score: 4
4
From 2,886 Ratings

Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • A PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST • Set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity. • Now an original series on HBO Max. • Over one million copies sold!

Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.

Look for Emily St. John Mandel’s bestselling new novel, Sea of Tranquility!

Reviews

  • Searching for Belonging

    4
    By Richard Bakare
    Emily St. John Mandel is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Her style of science fiction is so grounded in the human experience of the setting and doesn’t get lost in the scene setting that happens to some authors. In this one we get a deeply personal view of what the end looks like and potential rebirth of civilization. Even with that bleak premise Mandel pushes us to hope against hope. Developing characters and plot lines that lure you in deeper and deeper. Through these protagonists and antagonists we see how you can lose parts of yourself in order to survive. Mandel prompts us to think of where we go for hope when the foundations of what we understand crumble? The answer I took away lies in the power of community to create belonging. That conclusion is portrayed to us through clever use of time shifting and perspective swapping that feels like a jigsaw puzzle coming together. Mandel also subtly shows us how the creations we put out create permanence even if their meanings change. Much like her own marvelous books.
  • Fantastic

    5
    By zdazzle
    I’m not a great writer but all I need to say is read it and you won’t be disappointed.
  • What a story!

    5
    By jillhardy2
    Good thing COVID didn’t hit us like the virus in this story! Very well-written. The story could definitely be a series…
  • Great characters and storyline

    5
    By VTbike
    This book caught me completely. Not the happiest story but one on the best in a long time.
  • Super Good❗

    5
    By CLHubbard
    This story is very very very good. O kept thinking while I read, “Wow... What If?”
  • Loved it

    5
    By stop_Stop_Stop
    There’s something in the prosody that feels like home.
  • Station Eleven

    2
    By 132 winn
    Usually I enjoy a book more than the movie or series but in this instance I feel the series was more enjoyable than the book. If I have question or need more info I read the book but in this instance they were nothing alike.
  • Started off good…

    1
    By Hlrw
    So the sample pages were pretty interesting. It seemed like after that everything went down hill. Don’t waste your $$$
  • Description doesn’t do it justice

    5
    By Alg...
    Yes, it’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi, but it’s soooo much more. Great characters, great story, couldn’t put it down.
  • Well-crafted, entertaining read, particularly in these Covid times.

    5
    By LBtotheZ
    Recommended.