Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Post-apocalyptic fiction seems to fascinate us as a society, from The Walking Dead to the Fallout games, to the sitcom "The Last Man on Earth". In Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel gives us a future world that is realistic enough that she objects to it being called science fiction, since it doesn't depict any advanced technology.

There has been a pandemic called the Georgia Flu that has wiped out most of the world's population. The novel jumps around in time, showing moments both before and after the fall of civilization, and follows a number of different characters in Toronto, Chicago, and beyond. Despite the changing perspectives, it's always made very clear at what time a chapter is taking place. We first meet Kirsten Raymonde when she's in a production of King Lear, and at eight years old she witnesses the on-stage death of her castmate Arthur Leander. This signals the beginning of the pandemic, and twenty years later she still remembers Arthur and the graphic novel written by Arthur's first wife titled "Station Eleven."

Scattered throughout the book are excerpts from an interview of Kirsten conducted by a librarian in the town of New Petoskey, fifteen years after the flu hit. These give more insight into what she has been up to in the intervening time since the collapse, including her joining the traveling group of musicians known as the Symphony. She barely remembers the conveniences of technology that the world is now without, such as air conditioning and airplanes, and children younger than her never experienced them at all. Kirsten and her friend August end up seeking the Museum of Civilization in the Severn City airport that they've heard rumors about.

On Day One of the pandemic, when Arthur died playing King Lear, entertainment journalist Jeevan Chaudary was there to write a story about the play, and attempted futile CPR on the actor. Jeevan had covered Arthur's film career and personal life for years, and serves as a secondary protagonist in this novel. It's through Jeevan's eyes that we experience what things were like within the first few months of the Georgia Flu.

Station Eleven was an engrossing read. All the transitions between past, present, and future were integrated into the story so they weren't jarring, and the characters experiencing the worldwide disaster felt realistic in their relationships and concerns.

To buy the book or get more information, visit the author's website.

Fool and The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore

 I first encountered Christopher Moore with the book Lamb, which Liz reviewed earlier this year. In that book, the protagonist Biff gives us an irreverent and sex-obsessed view of Biblical times. In Fool and The Serpent of Venice, the jester Pocket provides a similar look at a more Shakespearean era.

Fool is basically a retelling of King Lear from the jester's point of view. Pocket is in love with Lear's youngest daughter Cordelia, and when she does not get a share of the kingdom that is left to her sisters, Pocket schemes to exact revenge on the king and win Cordelia's heart. If you're not familiar with Shakespeare's original play, well I'm not going to go into the whole plot here. Suffice it to say, in Fool it turns out that Pocket (with help from his dimwitted apprentice, Drool) was behind most of the tragic occurrences and jealousy among the three sisters, as he shags the lot of 'em. He obtains three doses of a love potion from the witches of Macbeth fame, and uses these to manipulate the women to desire whoever is most convenient.

The more recent novel The Serpent of Venice combines elements of Othello and The Merchant of Venice with the Edgar Allen Poe story "The Cask of Amontillado." Pocket remains our main narrator, though some passages are told in third person, and an omniscient Chorus pops in to introduce certain scenes and otherwise annoy the other characters in a fourth-wall-breaking manner. Not long after finding out his beloved Cordelia has died, Pocket's misfortune continues when he's thrown in a dungeon.

These books will appeal to Shakespeare fans who don't mind the idea of the Bard's plays being ripped apart and thrown together by a prankster. As I have implied, both are occasionally sexually explicit when Shakespeare was subtle about such matters. It's a sense of humor that will appeal to the naughty teenager in you. I don't think Christopher Moore is for everyone, but for those who like a combination of highbrow and lowbrow, there is nobody like him.

For more about the author and his books, check out Christopher Moore's website.