Emily St. John Mandel

2014

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A well-crafted post-apocalyptic tale of how civilisation would collapse promptly in the face of a major epidemic. This is very much in the path of A Canticle for Leibowitz, albeit set in the immediate rather than far future. There are also shades of Robert Heinlein's novella ""If this goes on" as religion re-emerges in a particularly malign form.

The best scene, in my opinion, is the almost banal account of how a group of people behave when stranded in a rural airport, dealing with the sudden realisation that civilisation isn't coming back, help isn't coming, and they'll have to fend for themselves.

5/5. Finished 30 May 2017.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)