History Literature / StationEleven

Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by Emily St. John Mandel and published in 2014. In the novel, a pandemic known as the "Georgia Flu" wipes out somewhere north of 99% of human life on Earth, ending civilization as we know it. Twenty years later, a band of survivors known as the "Traveling Symphony" have come together to preserve what remains of the world's music and theater, and perform it in towns that have begun to resettle the Midwestern American landscape.

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* AfterTheEnd

* ArcSymbol: Airplanes.

* YourCheatingHeart: Arthur cheated on Miranda with Elizabeth.

* HitSoHardTheCalendarFeltIt: The Georgia Flu epidemic rewinds the calendar to YearOne. The main action apparently takes place in what we'd consider the mid-twenty-first century, but it's universally known as Year Fifteen.

** Clarke and some of the other people at the airport

* NoodleIncident: The effects of the Georgia Flu are only vaguely described, other than that it has a very short incubation period and kills very efficiently. It's also stated that riots and gang violence are why Kirsten, Jeevan, and others had to abandon Toronto, but this is never shown in the actual novel.

* FamilyOfChoice: Not a happy version. Most people - including Javeen, Kirsten, and Clark - have lost their ''whole families''. Javeen remarries, Clark forms a genuinely safe community in the airport, and Kirsten joins the Travelling Symphony, but all of them remain marked by their losses.

* StuckAtTheAirportPlot: Taken UpToEleven. During the first outbreak of Georgia Flu, [[spoiler:Clark]] boards a plane that is redirected to the Severn City Airport due to the pandemic. The passengers are then stranded there for the next ''two decades''. Seeing as 99% of the population has died, and the world has become a [[AFterTheEnd post-apocalyptic wasteland]], it's not like they have anywhere else to go.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out how Elizabeth, Arthur's second wife, died (or even if she did for sure), but this is justified because in the post-pandemic world, death is cheap. Plot-relevant in the case of Kirsten's parents and Javeen's girlfriend, Laura; all they know about them is that they went into Toronto during the workday and never came back. They might have gotten ill or been killed in the descent into madness.

* ForWantOfaNail: Common, but one example would be the death of Kirsten's brother, Peter, who dies after stepping on a ''literal nail'' and some deaths in the airport. He doubles as a HeroOfAnotherStory for how much he protects Kirsten from.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out how Elizabeth, Arthur's first wife, died (or even if she did for sure), but this is justified because in the post-pandemic world, death is cheap. Plot-relevant in the case of Kirsten's parents and Javeen's girlfriend, Laura; all they know about them is that they went into Toronto during the workday and never came back. They might have gotten ill or been killed in the descent into madness.

* WildChild: A common fate for survivors. Kirsten is an example.

''Of all of them at the bar that night, the bartender was the one who survived the longest. He died three days later on the road out of the city.''

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out how Elizabeth, Arthur's first wife, died (or even if she did for sure), but this is justified because in the post-pandemic world, death is cheap. Plot-relevant in the case of Kirsten's parents; all she or her brother know about them is that they went into Toronto during the workday and never came back. They might have gotten ill or been killed in the descent into madness.

* EveryoneIsConnected: Downplayed, but the vast majority of characters are connected in some way via Arthur.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out how Elizabeth, Arthur's first wife, died (or even if she did for sure), but this is justified because in the post-pandemic world, death is cheap.
* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Several chapters are composed entirely of flashbacks, jumping back and forth between the pre-pandemic lives of Miranda, Jeevan, and others, as well as the exploits of the Traveling Symphony before their arrival in St. Deborah at the Water.

[[caption-width-right:300:''Survival in Insufficient'']]

Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by Emily St. John Mandel and published in 2014. In the novel, a pandemic known as the "Georgia Flu" wipes out 99% of human life on Earth, ending civilization as we know it. Twenty years later, a band of survivors known as the "Traveling Symphony" have come together to preserve what remains of the world's music and theater, and perform it in towns that have begun to resettle the Midwestern American landscape.

Kirsten Raymonde was eight years old when she landed her first theatrical role in a Toronto performance of King Lear, starring famed actor Arthur Leander in the titular role. That night, Arthur died of a sudden heart attack while onstage, just as the Georgia Flu arrived in the city. Kirsten survived the deadly disease, wandering throughout what was once Michigan for some time before joining the Traveling Symphony at fifteen, inspired by her memories of Arthur. Twenty years after the pandemic, several of her fellow actors and musicians from the Traveling Symphony are abducted near St. Deborah by the Water, a town that has been taken over by a violent, mysterious prophet and his followers. In an attempt to find and rescue her friends, who Kirsten believes may have fled to a mysterious "Museum of Civilization", Kirsten is separated from the Symphony, and must survive the wilderness and the new cultists in order to save her friends and herself.

The novel also uses flashbacks to describe life before the pandemic, detailing the lives of those close to Arthur Leander. Particular attention is given to Arthur's first wife Miranda, the author of a graphic novel series called "Station Eleven" which has found its way into Kirsten's hands so many years later, Clark, Arthur's oldest friend, and Jeevan, a paparazzo-turned-paramedic who faces his own struggle to survive and find fulfilment in a radically changed world.

Station Eleven has won several words, and is both a National Book Award finalist and a Pen/Faulker Award finalist.

The novel also uses flashbacks to describe life before the pandemic, detailing the lives of those close to Arthur Leander. Particular attention is given to Arthur's first wife Miranda, the author of a graphic novel series called "Station Eleven" which has found its way into Kirsten's hands so many years later, Clark, Arthur's oldest friend, and Jeevan, a paparazzo-turned-paramedic who faces his own struggle to survive and find fulfillment in a radically changed world.

The novel also uses flashbacks to describe life before the pandemic, detailing the lives of those close to Arthur Leander. Particular attention is given to Arthur's first wife Miranda, the author of a graphic novel series called "Station Eleven" which has found its way into Kirsten's hands so many years later, and Jeevan, a paparazzo-turned-paramedic who faces his own struggle to survive and find fulfillment in a radically changed world.

* StuckAtTheAirportPlot: Taken UpToEleven. During the outbreak of Georgia Flu, Clark boards a plane that is redirected to the Severn City Airport due to the pandemic. The passengers are then stranded there for the next ''two decades''. Seeing as 99% of the population has died, and the world has become a [[ AFterTheEnd post-apocalyptic wasteland]], it's not like they have anywhere else to go.

!This novel contains examples of:

* Arranged Marriage: The prophet takes a new bride whenever he enters a new town.

* Every Scar Has A Story: Survivors tattoo a knife on their forearm whenever they've murdered anyone. A major plot point is that it's nearly impossible to live your whole life in the post-pandemic world without killing.

* Knight Templar: The prophet and his followers, who all believe they were spared from the pandemic because they were chosen by God for some greater purpose. They often kill or exile villagers who refuse to be assimilated into their cult.

* Noodle Incident: The effects of the Georgia Flu are only vaguely described, other than that it has a very short incubation period and kills very efficiently. It's also stated that riots and gang violence are why Kirsten, Jeevan, and others had to abandon Toronto, but this is never shown in the actual novel.

Station Eleven has won several words, and is both a National Book Award finalist and a Pen/Faulker Award finalist.

Kirsten Raymonde was eight years old when she landed her first theatrical role in a Toronto performance of King Lear, starring famed actor Arthur Leander in the titular role. That night, Arthur died of a sudden heart-attack while onstage, just as the Georgia Flu arrived in the city. Kirsten survived the deadly disease, wandering throughout what was once Michigan for some time before joining the Traveling Symphony at fifteen, inspired by her memories of Arthur. Twenty years after the pandemic, several of her fellow actors and musicians from the Traveling Symphony are abducted near St. Deborah by the Water, a town that has been taken over by a violent, mysterious prophet and his followers. In an attempt to find and rescue her friends, Kirsten is separated from the Symphony, and must survive the wilderness and the new cultists.

The novel also uses flashbacks to describe life before the pandemic, detailing the lives of those close to Arthur Leander. Particular attention is given to Arthur's first wife Miranda, the author of a graphic novel series called "Station Eleven" which has found its way into Kirsten's hands so many years later.

Station Eleven follows the intertwined stories of Traveling Symphony actress Kirsten Raymonde, as well as the friends of the late actor who inspired her, Arthur Leander. The book also frequently uses flashbacks to reveal what life was like before the pandemic.