93. Station Eleven

93.  Station Eleven. Emily St. John Mandel. 2014. Knopf Doubleday. 352 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, speculative fiction, adult science fiction, apocalyptic]

First sentence: The King stood in a pool of blue light, unmoored. This was act 4 of King Lear, a winter night at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. 

Premise/plot: There isn't 'one' central character in Station Eleven. It is a premise-driven novel. The premise: what if there was a pandemic that killed 99% of the earth's population. How would that surviving 1% live in the following days, weeks, months, years, decades following the collapse of life as we knew it. The book primarily focuses on two clusters of the population: a traveling troupe of actors and musicians known as "The Traveling Symphony" and a more sedentary bunch the "Museum of Civilization" located at Severn City Airport. Central characters are Kirsten Raymonde, Clark Thompson, Miranda Carroll, Elizabeth Colton, Arthur Leander, and the Prophet. 

The novel opens and closes with Arthur Leander on stage. At least, I'm 98% sure that is how the novel closes. (It has been a day since I finished it.) "Dr. Eleven" is a graphic novel in two volumes that is rare, limited editions printed by the author, Miranda Carroll, to give to a select few. Kirsten, a child actor who is in Arthur Leander's play, receives copies of these two right before the collapse of civilization. Arthur's son receives another set. Kirsten does in some ways become fixated on the story and characters within the graphic novels.

All characters can be traced indirectly back to Arthur's life, though for some, the connection is extremely brief. (For example, a few vignettes of Jeevan Chaudhary who conveniently has many jobs: a paparazzi, a journalist, a paramedic, a 'doctor' post-collapse. He takes pictures for gossip magazines of Alexander and his wives; he later interviews Arthur for a magazine; he later attempts to save Arthur on stage while he's having a heart attack.) Two of the characters are his ex-wives. Another, Kirsten, is his co-star (though the role is small). He comes to almost be a symbol for LIFE BEFORE because celebrity really doesn't make the transition in this new world. Kirsten is obsessed with finding newspaper and magazine clippings about Arthur. Clark, another important character, is a 'friend' of sorts to Arthur who does survive and almost thrive in the new world. [In the book, he is not in any way villainous.]

My thoughts: I first read Station Eleven in January 2015. I recently watched the ten part mini-series from 2021/2022. The book and adaptation are SO DIFFERENT. There are things I absolutely LOVE about the book that were changed significantly by the adaption. There are things in the adaptation that I absolutely LOVE. The mini-series made main characters out of characters that were mentioned in passing a couple of times. This is particularly true of the Traveling Symphony. There were a few people in the book that were fleshed out significantly and made important. There were characters that were portrayed as being Kirsten's absolute best friends in the Traveling Symphony in the book that did not make it into the adaptation. Jeevan and Kirsten maybe spend five or six minutes together in the book. Maybe. In the movie, their connection spans at least a year, and, is one of the most emotional connections in the whole adaptation. In the book, as I mentioned, he's almost a footnote character. In the adaptation, he's IMPORTANT. However, the greatest change might be what they did with Clark Thompson.

The book is beautifully written. I liked the world-building. I especially liked Miranda's creation of the graphic novels Station Eleven. I liked what little description we get of Dr. Eleven and his situation. I wouldn't have minded more. It actually would be a graphic novel that I'd want to read if it existed. I liked what the two graphic novels meant to Kirsten.

I would definitely recommend this one.

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews