"Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel

"Station Eleven" is a sci-fi novel written from the point of view of several different characters whose lives become intertwined as the human race faces a pandemic unlike any other. The Georgia Flu in effect wipes out 99% of population in a matter of weeks. Humanity is reduced to scattered settlements that are forced to regress to primitive life of hunters-gatherers and subsistence farmers. The novel jumps around in time - going back 30 years before the pandemic, recounting days and hours right before the disease strikes North America and days and weeks following the disaster, and then jumping 15 and 20 years into the future.

Right before the Georgia Flu overtakes Toronto and the rest of North America, a famous actor dies of a heart attack while performing King Lear on stage. A man from the audience who is training to become a paramedic unsuccessfully tries to bring him back to life. An eight-year-old child actress witnesses the death on stage. The novel then retraces the history of these three and follows the two surviving characters as humanity fails to stop the advance of the Georgia Flu.

The apocalypse aspects of the book are very realistic. I couldn't help but admire the author's well-thought out scenarios described in the book. I also really enjoyed the unexpected connections among various characters in the novel, and the way art influences, shapes or destroys them. All the main characters are extremely well fleshed out and easy to relate to. The book is both atmospheric and realistic. I was fully immersed in the world and could not put the book down. Definitely one of the best books I read in 2016. 5 out of 5 stars.