The End of the World Book Club

In this book club episode (warning: more spoilers than usual!) I discuss Severance by Ling Ma with StoryGraph Founder Nadia Odunayo. We talk about the themes of work, family, routine, capitalism and as always, the end of the world.  Note from the editor (aka me): there are a few tiny audio pops in the first 5 minutes, but they disappear very quickly. 👍 Thanks to everyone who sent in their voice clips for this episode. About Severance by Ling Ma: Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine: her work, watching movies with her boyfriend, avoiding thoughts of her recently deceased Chinese immigrant parents. So she barely notices when a plague of biblical proportions sweeps the world. Candace joins a small group of survivors, led by the power-hungry Bob, on their way to the Facility, where, Bob promises, they will have everything they need to start society anew.  Books mentioned: * Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandell * The Stand by Stephen King * My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh * Bliss Montage by Ling Ma Other things mentioned: * Severance, the Apple TV show Check out The StoryGraph to document your reading (and get great recommendations here: https://app.thestorygraph.com/ Follow The StoryGraph on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/the.storygraph/] Follow Nadia on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/nodunayo/] The Ling Ma interview I read [https://longreads.com/2018/08/28/working-through-the-apocalypse-an-interview-with-ling-ma/] The End of the World Book Club is a podcast about apocalyptic and dystopian literature, hosted by Sanne Vliegenthart. Join me in discovering sci-fi classics, reading climate books and diving head first into the huge realm of speculative fiction, all with the theme of the end of the world and what might come after it. Sanne Vliegenthart is the creator of Books & Quills, author of a Book Club Journal, and a freelance Social Media Strategist and Literary Event Host in publishing. You can find her literary explorations of the UK and reading recommendations on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok at @booksandquills. Patreon Support this independent podcast on Patreon, where you can listen to the Extra Broadcast bonus podcast with more sci-fi recommendations and behind the scenes, or join our book club chats and disaster film watch-alongs. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/endoftheworldbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.patreon.com/endoftheworldbookclub] Buy a book You can also support the podcast by ordering books through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-end-of-the-world-book-club-a-sci-fi-literature-podcast?] page (ad, affiliate link). On this page you can browse all the books we'll be discussing this season: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Browse the books [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-end-of-the-world-book-club-a-sci-fi-literature-podcast?]

Becky Chambers discusses what it means to be human (in space), accessible science fiction, self-publishing, and which Ursula K. Le Guin book to start with. Spoiler levels: low Becky Chambers' books Wayfarer's Series * The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet * A Closed and Common Orbit * Record of a Spaceborn Few Monk & Robot Series * A Psalm for the Wild-Built * A Prayer for the Crown-Shy Find Becky online at OtherScribbles.com [https://www.otherscribbles.com/] Recommendations from Becky Chambers (from this episode) * The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin * Contact by Carl Sagan * To watch: Star Trek, Star Wars and Farscape Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton/HodderScape for arranging the opportunity to talk to Becky Chambers during the release of Record of a Spaceborn Few. Send in your audio clips for the Severance by Ling Ma Book Club episode: Email your voice clip to endoftheworldbookclubpod@gmail.com Please include: * SUBJECT: Severance Book Club * Name (first name only please) and feel free to include pronouns * The 30-45 second audio clip as an attachment (you can include your name in this clip too, or leave it out) * If your clip is a bit too long or there are pauses or mistakes, I will edit them a bit, so don’t worry about getting it perfect! Anyone sending a voice clip is consenting to their clip being used in an episode of The End of the World Book Club. If you don’t want your name read out, please include this in the email. The End of the World Book Club is a podcast about apocalyptic and dystopian literature, hosted by Sanne Vliegenthart. Join me in discovering sci-fi classics, reading climate books and diving head first into the huge realm of speculative fiction, all with the theme of the end of the world and what might come after it. Sanne Vliegenthart is the creator of Books & Quills, author of a Book Club Journal, and a freelance Social Media Strategist and Literary Event Host in publishing. You can find her literary explorations of the UK and reading recommendations on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok at @booksandquills. Patreon Support this independent podcast on Patreon, where you can listen to the Extra Broadcast bonus podcast with more sci-fi recommendations and behind the scenes, or join our book club chats and disaster film watch-alongs. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/endoftheworldbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.patreon.com/endoftheworldbookclub] Buy a book You can also support the podcast by ordering books through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-end-of-the-world-book-club-a-sci-fi-literature-podcast?] page (ad, affiliate link). On this page you can browse all the books we'll be discussing this season: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Browse the books [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-end-of-the-world-book-club-a-sci-fi-literature-podcast?]

The Hunger Games and Divergent translator Maria Postema joins me to revisit the era of the YA dystopian novel. We talk about what it’s like being at the very beginning of a YA revolution, the best and most challenging parts of translating YA dystopia, the Dutch aversion to fantasy worlds, how to escape manuscript thieves (!) and more.  Spoiler levels: low Books mentioned: * The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins * Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth * Gone Series by Michael Grant * The Giver by Lois Lowry * Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman * Uglies by Scott Westerfeld  * Kinderen van Moder Aarde by Thea Beckman (Dutch only, sorry! For now...) * Unwind by Neal Shusterman * The Knife of Never Letting Go/Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness * Matched by Ally Connie * The Maze Runner by James Dashner * Across the Universe by Beth Revis * Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill * The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew * We Were Liars by E. Lockhart * The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau * Dry by Neal Shusterman * Two Degrees by Alan Gratz Other * Marathon Man (film) * Battle Royale (film) * Writers for the Future * Frankenstein by Mary Shelley * The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers * Skandar series by A.F. Steadman Find Maria Postema online * https://www.tiktok.com/@booksofmaria * https://www.instagram.com/maria_postema/ The End of the World Book Club is a podcast about apocalyptic and dystopian literature, hosted by Sanne Vliegenthart. Join me in discovering sci-fi classics, reading climate books and diving head first into the huge realm of speculative fiction, all with the theme of the end of the world and what might come after it. Sanne Vliegenthart is the creator of Books & Quills, author of a Book Club Journal, and a freelance Social Media Strategist and Literary Event Host in publishing. You can find her literary explorations of the UK and reading recommendations on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok at @booksandquills. Patreon Support this independent podcast on Patreon, where you can listen to the Extra Broadcast bonus podcast with more sci-fi recommendations and behind the scenes, or join our book club chats and disaster film watch-alongs. ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/endoftheworldbookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.patreon.com/endoftheworldbookclub] Buy a book You can also support the podcast by ordering books through our ⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠ [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-end-of-the-world-book-club-a-sci-fi-literature-podcast?] page (ad, affiliate link). On this page you can browse all the books we'll be discussing this season: ⁠⁠⁠Browse the books [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-end-of-the-world-book-club-a-sci-fi-literature-podcast?]

This week Joel Rochester (Fictional Fates on YouTube) joins me to discuss the award-winning The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin (which starts with The Fifth Season). We chat about climate refugees, racism, motherhood, world-building and how best to tackle this series if you feel a bit intimidated. P.s. I am currently unable to find the PDF I mention on any of my audiobook apps, so I'm not sure what happened there, but it’s the same summary that comes in the back of the physical books Spoiler level: surprisingly low! Books: * The Broken Eartly Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin (obviously) * The Locked Tomb Series by Tamsyn Muir * The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean * The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler * The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins * The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott Find out more about Joel Rochester * Fictional Fates on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@fictionalfates] * Fictional Fates on TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@fictionalfates] * Fictional Fates on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/fictionalfates] * All These Sunken Souls [https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/04ff6ddd-a0e3-4bff-803b-ffa53fee3df2] The End of the World Book Club is a podcast about apocalyptic and dystopian literature, hosted by Sanne Vliegenthart. Join me in discovering sci-fi classics, reading climate books and diving head first into the huge realm of speculative fiction, all with the theme of the end of the world and what might come after it. Sanne Vliegenthart is the creator of Books & Quills, author of a Book Club Journal, and a freelance Social Media Strategist and Literary Event Host in publishing. You can find her literary explorations of the UK and reading recommendations on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok at @booksandquills. Patreon Support this independent podcast on Patreon, where you can listen to the Extra Broadcast bonus podcast with more sci-fi recommendations and behind the scenes, or join our book club chats and disaster film watch-alongs. ⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/endoftheworldbookclub⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.patreon.com/endoftheworldbookclub] Buy a book You can also support the podcast by ordering books through our ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠ [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-end-of-the-world-book-club-a-sci-fi-literature-podcast?] page (ad, affiliate link). On this page you can browse all the books we'll be discussing this season: ⁠⁠Browse the books [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-end-of-the-world-book-club-a-sci-fi-literature-podcast?]

The alternative title for this episode was ‘post-apocalyptic fiction for readers who don’t like sad books’. This week’s guest is middle-grade author Sarah Jean Horwitz and our mission is to find some great recommendations in the realm of apocalyptic fiction that aren’t filled with dread and disaster. We turn to the genre of Hopepunk and sample a selection to discover what’s out there! Spoiler level: no heavy spoilers for any of the books mentioned Books * A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers * Wayfarers Series by Becky Chambers (+ The Long way to a Small, Angry Planet) * Binti Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor * Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir * Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey * The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James * World Running Down by Al Hess * Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel Honourable mentions (that didn’t quite fit the brief) * Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel * An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green * A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen Other books and things mentioned * Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin * The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood * The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler * Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien * The Loneliest Girl in the World  by Lauren James * Climate Fiction Writers League Newsletter [https://climate-fiction.org/] Find out more about Sarah Jean Horwitz * Sarah Jean’s website [https://www.sarahjeanhorwitz.com/] * The Demon Sword Asperides by Sarah Jean Horwitz [⁠https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/99464e84-1fca-4162-814f-779934f456a1⁠] * Sarah on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sunshinejh/] Send in your audio clips for the Severance by Ling Ma Book Club episode: Deadline: March 25th Email your voice clip to endoftheworldbookclubpod@gmail.com Please include: * SUBJECT: Severance Book Club * Name (first name only please) and feel free to include pronouns * The 30-45 second audio clip as an attachment (you can include your name in this clip too, or leave it out) * Any additional info that would be helpful for me to have. * If your clip is a bit too long or there are pauses or mistakes, I will edit them a bit, so don’t worry about getting it perfect! Anyone sending a voice clip is consenting to their clip being used in an episode of The End of the World Book Club. If you don’t want your name read out, please include this in the email. The End of the World Book Club is a podcast about apocalyptic and dystopian literature, hosted by Sanne Vliegenthart. Join me in discovering sci-fi classics, reading climate books and diving head first into the huge realm of speculative fiction, all with the theme of the end of the world and what might come after it. Sanne Vliegenthart is the creator of Books & Quills, author of a Book Club Journal, and a freelance Social Media Strategist and Literary Event Host in publishing. You can find her literary explorations of the UK and reading recommendations on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok at @booksandquills. Patreon Support this independent podcast on Patreon, where you can listen to the Extra Broadcast bonus podcast with more sci-fi recommendations and behind the scenes, or join our book club chats and disaster film watch-alongs. ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/endoftheworldbookclub⁠⁠ [https://www.patreon.com/endoftheworldbookclub] Buy a book You can also support the podcast by ordering books through our ⁠Bookshop.org⁠ [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-end-of-the-world-book-club-a-sci-fi-literature-podcast?] page (ad, affiliate link). On this page you can browse all the books we'll be discussing this season: ⁠Browse the books [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-end-of-the-world-book-club-a-sci-fi-literature-podcast?]