Station Eleven

Station Eleven deals with the time before and after a terrible flu wipes out 99% of humanity. When pretty much everything we have become used to is gone and it’s all about staying alive, a group of actors and musicians decide to live by one simple rule: Survival is insufficient! This, as well as a few other key lines, still stick with me months after reading the book. There are words and lines and entire chapters in this story that are almost too perfect. Like when you realise that holyfuckingshit, there is no more internet, and the author simply states at the end of the chapter: “No more avatars.”

Centered around actor Arthur Leander (who drops dead in chapter 1), we follow a cast of characters before and after the apocalypse. This is the Anti-Walking Dead! It’s not about stealing scraps of food from each other, about killing whoever you meet, about building shopping malls out of wood and a Q-tip. It’s about what happens after that first time of chaos, when humanity tries to pick itself up and get its act together again. It’s about rebuilding and keeping memories alive. It’s about art and people who love art. I get all weepy just thinking about it.

To be honest, I forgot most characters’ names, but I clearly remember Mandel’s poignant, vivid language. How she chooses to focus on the small things, rather than the obvious ones. You won’t read about people’s last brutal moments succumbing to the Georgia Flu, you won’t find epic battles or government conspiracies. This is a quiet story about people who have seen the world collapse and are trying to move on. It’s beautiful and terrifying, gutting and upbeat, all at the same time. I tend to agree with George R.R. Martin that this would have well deserved a place on the Hugo shortlist.

RATING: 9/10 – Close to perfection