Station Eleven by Emily St. John MandelMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Post-apocalytic books usually talk about the nuts and bolts of surviving. This book is about the social effects of enough people being left to populated small villages in a somewhat medieval Europe set up. They're all living in Wal-Marts and airports, but only a couple of hundred at a time. And they are visited by a traveling troupe of actors and musicians who perform for pay as they pass through each town.
The book really revolves around a mid-grade movie actor who died in Toronto as the end-of-the-world plague commences. Somehow all the strands of the story spin outward from him. Station Eleven is the name of a fantasy comic book self-published by this actor's first wife. Sounds like mayhem, and it is a little hard to follow in parts--why are we reading about this woman? who is this guy anyway?--but ultimately it works. Well-written, well-thought-out. Good book.
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