Station Eleven: A Novel (National Book Award Finalist)

Emily St. John Mandel

Sep 2014 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Kirsten Potter

About this audiobook

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An audacious, darkly glittering novel 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!

Ratings and reviews

Felt the connection between the characters were forced and there were unnecessary and tedious scenes in the book. The pandemic beginning and the traveling theater should have been the focus and those changes would have made the book outstanding.

I found the plot to be interesting, however, the story jumped around a lot and the characters were just not as well developed as I would expect. Additionally, the language was not deep enough. I did think the ending was appropriate. I thought that salvation came for the main protagonist and it was developed in a warm and kind fashion.

I read it after I'd seen the HBO series. Both are incredible in their own, medium-specific ways - highly recommend!

About the author

EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL was born in British Columbia, Canada. She is the author of three previous novels-Last Night in Montreal, The Singer's Gun, and The Lola Quartet-all of which were Indie Next picks. She is a staff writer for The Millions, and her work has appeared in numerous anthologies, including The Best American Mystery Stories 2013 and Venice Noir. She lives in New York City with her husband.