Station Eleven

Dystopian novels are all over the place these days, yet this one, for many reasons, is easily the best. Yes, I said it, THE best. Emily St. John Mandel has created an absolute masterpiece out of familiar elements and brand new ones, resulting in a gripping novel not only about an apocalypse but about art, memory and what we value most in our lives.

The novel very cleverly interweaves many different narrative strands from the epicentre of the "Collapse", when a new strain of flu (written in a very believable way) wipes out 99% of humanity. After initially jumping around through time, links begin to be made to form an incredibly satisfying conclusion. One character is a member of "The Symphony", travelling classical musicians and Shakespearean actors who move between post-apocalyptic settlements to perform - an absolutely genius idea and one totally down my street. Throughout, both the flashbacks to before the "collapse", describing the ins and outs of characters' lives, and the narratives after the "collapse" remain gripping and beautifully written. There's so much in there that it would almost be a crime not to put this on English A level courses, as the more you think about it, the more there is to understand. It would also be a crime not to make this into a film, I think. I can imagine it now...

The writing style is deeply gripping, beautiful and clever, with moments that are absolutely breath-taking and speak volumes about how we find meaning in our lives. The characterisation is fantastic, with characters fleshed out without the reader even particularly noticing, with genuine empathy created right from the start. And the pacing is perfect, with the plot thickening at just the right times to make this extremely gripping and entertaining. I would go as far as to say that this book is serious competition to the best Patrick Ness novels, and for those of you that know me, that would seem impossible. I honesty cannot recommend this enough.

11/10 (see what I did there?)