A review by bookwisp86
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 What if a super flu took out 98% of the human population and instead of people becoming lawless rebels or tiny fiefdoms or uptight religious communes (though some do!) a group of people formed a theater troupe called the Traveling Symphony and did a circuit around the Great Lakes performing Shakespere theater and music to the leftover masses? This is the book that answers that question!
 
Skipping back and forth through time from right before the flu and 20 years later this book follows a few different survivors and their interactions both before and after the flu hits. The characters are the focus of the story, not the event itself though the flu does drive everything that is going on. I really enjoyed this book both because the author is very good at writing unique people with their own driving forces and personalities and because not many post apocalyptic books focus on the middle period between “the end” and generations in the future. The only other one I can think of that does so is The Postman by David Brin. I recommend this to people that want a good dystopian novel that focuses more on humanity and characters then the dystopia itself. 
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