The End of the World Book Club Sanne Vliegenthart

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

Follow Nadia on Instagram

The Ling Ma interview I read

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

Buy a book

You can also support the podcast by ordering books through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ page (ad, affiliate link). On this page you can browse all the books we'll be discussing this season: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Browse the books

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

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

Buy a book

You can also support the podcast by ordering books through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠ page (ad, affiliate link). On this page you can browse all the books we'll be discussing this season: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Browse the books

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

Buy a book

You can also support the podcast by ordering books through our ⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠ page (ad, affiliate link). On this page you can browse all the books we'll be discussing this season: ⁠⁠⁠Browse the books

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
Fictional Fates on TikTok
Fictional Fates on Instagram
All These Sunken Souls

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

Buy a book

You can also support the podcast by ordering books through our ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠ page (ad, affiliate link). On this page you can browse all the books we'll be discussing this season: ⁠⁠Browse the books

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

Find out more about Sarah Jean Horwitz


Sarah Jean’s website
The Demon Sword Asperides by Sarah Jean Horwitz
Sarah on Instagram

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

Buy a book

You can also support the podcast by ordering books through our ⁠Bookshop.org⁠ page (ad, affiliate link). On this page you can browse all the books we'll be discussing this season: ⁠Browse the books

In this episode Leena Norms and I talk about apocalyptic books that take place in the British countryside, featuring my personal favourite: The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

Spoiler level: Medium (for The Day of the Triffids only)

*Any book links in the description are affiliate links to Bookshop.org

Books mentioned:


The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Resistance by Owen Sheers
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Dracula by Bram Stoker
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
The Beach by Alex Garland
The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
The Death of Grass by John Christopher
Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ron
The Children of Men by P.D. James
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Feral by George Monbiot
Salt Lick by Lulu Allison
The High House by Jessie Greengrass
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

Other things mentioned:

Jean’s Thoughts on YouTube

More from Leena 


Leena on YouTube
Poetry collection: Bargain Bain Romcom
Podcast: No Books on a Dead Planet
My guest episode on Leena's podcast, about 'The Water Will Come'



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

Buy a book

You can also support the podcast by ordering books through our Bookshop.org page (ad, affiliate link). On this page you can browse all the books we'll be discussing this season: ⁠https://bit.ly/BrowseEndOfTheWorldBooks