Station Eleven
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Genre: Science Fiction
Year: 2014
Rating: 7.5 of 10
An enjoyable tale of post-apocalyptic survival surrounding a traveling group of musicians and actors. The books spans many decades and covers the lives of many main characters, I liked how it jumped around through time but it was a bit much for a book of only three hundred some pages. I also felt that it could have used a few less characters. The depictions of what humans would have to go through after a major plague are vivid and at times realistic, yet I couldn’t help but feel that the author overlooked human ingenuity and capacity for engineering. It was interesting to follow a group of artists through the barren world, but surely this wouldn’t be the only cultural endeavor left. It was neat how she populated the world with religious zealots but again twenty years after the collapse I would think that many of the technical problems avoided in the book would potentially be resolved. That being said it was a very human story and a fun read.
Purchase: Buy!