Dark Futures

Emily St. John Mandel's best-selling 2014 novel, Station Eleven, wears its wish fulfillment on its sleeve. Most of the planet's population gets killed off by a superflu, leaving the survivors to pick through the remnants while fending off marauders and creepy doomsday cults. The novel focuses on a band of traveling players who cater to the public's renewed appreciation of Shakespeare and Beethoven now that the mass-media trash that once diverted them has been switched off. Scenes of the troupe's adventures alternate with scenes from before the pandemic, all related to the life of an actor, Arthur Leander, who dies on the eve of the outbreak. Once creatively ambitious, Arthur became corrupted by fame and celebrity culture, losing his ability to be genuine even with those he professed to love.