Goodeads review of "Station Eleven"

[mount_oregano]

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


We’re all going to die, but probably not almost all of us at once. We may be prepared for our own death, even if it comes suddenly, but not the sudden deaths of almost everyone we know. We all have personal failures that we can come to terms with during our lives or as we see death approaching — but how can we come to terms with the failure of so many deaths at once?

Emily St. John Mandel explores these questions in Station Eleven through intertwined lives and deaths that take place before and after a sudden flu kills 99.6% of the world’s population. Science fiction? Yes. A literary novel? Yes, and more literary than science fiction, more character than action. I love both kinds of novels, and I loved this.

For my tastes, the ending works a little too hard to tie a lot of loose ends together into a somewhat optimistic ending, but not too much work to weaken the book for me. The truth of the emotions withstand a hint of forced optimism. If our world ends, the fragments of art that survive might sustain us, and our new lives will give new meaning to the art that the artists never intended. Amid desolation, this can give us strength.



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Comments

[asakiyume]

I keep hearing things about elements that are also present in this story that seem like a real turnoff, and yet everyone says wonderful things about the book. I don't doubt it's well written, though, and teh elements that aren't the things that turn me off attract me, so .... maybe one day.

[mount_oregano]

Any question I could answer for you?

[asakiyume]

Is this the novel which has cultists/a questionable religion? I seem to recall from other reviews/discussions that that's an aspect of the story.

[mount_oregano]

Yes, there's a cult, necromancy to be exact, although not much like an Earth cult -- magical rather than dogmatic, and the magic works.

Also, there are a lot of swords. It seems they're good for killing demons as well as humans.

[asakiyume]

*nodding*

Necromancy is almost as big a turn-off for me as zombies--which is not to say I'll never like a story with that/those element(s) in it. I enjoyed The Girl with All the Gifts, for example. But I think probably, in spite of its being well written, this one is not for me.

[mount_oregano]

Fortunately for us all, there is no shortage of good books. Right now I'm reading "This Is How You Lose the Time War," which won a Hugo last night. So far, it's excellent, and no cults. No zombies. Violence, though -- it is a war. But I'm beginning to suspect it's really a love story.

[asakiyume]

Yes!! Yes it is--that's it precisely. I liked that one A LOT.