Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel (Spoilers?)

The writing in this book reminded me a bit too much of this book - it seems like it should be better than it actually is. I think I can better express my thoughts about this book in list form:

Good things:
1. This was a really fast read - it kept me turning pages and it read really quickly.
2. I like post-apocalyptic settings and/or stories about people surviving in a place without easy access to food, water, technology, etc. so the premise was interesting to me.
3. I didn't mind the shifting back and forth in time in the storytelling - but it was a bit dragged out here and there. I did like seeing the characters making connections and making connections in my mind as I read.
4. For some reason I had a very easy time mentally casting a few of the characters - not sure why but it enhanced my reading.

Not-so-good things:
1. Parts of the ending were anticlimactic. Things were built up but then didn't come to much. On the other hand, it might have been too cliche if they had.
2. Things are brought up and dropped too easily. Much is made of the prophet's symbol but it comes to nothing. I can guess at the meaning but it would have been nice to flesh it out.
3. Speaking of the prophet, I would have liked to know more about this character... or maybe I can just guess at this too, since I watch the Walking Dead  and Game of Thrones TV shows and they have had similar characters... ?
4. I wish the author had worldbuilt a little more. So the flu didn't affect animals? Wouldn't there be packs of wild dogs and etc. then? What happened to the prophet's mother? Where did all the weapons come from - did people make crossbows or find them someplace or what?

I'll stop here but in general this was another mixed feelings book. I didn't hate it or anything, but I wanted to like it a lot more than I did.

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