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

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