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

Each season I’ll be tackling an apocalyptic or dystopian classic that I’ve put off reading for some reason. And it only felt fitting to start with one of the most famous dystopian novels: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Join me and guest Ariel Bissett (YouTuber, Podcaster and Orwell Enthusiast!) as we talk about why this book is still so relevant today and discuss whether it’s an accessible classic.

Spoiler levels for this episode: Medium (no massive spoilers for the plot, but we do discuss a few specific scenes)

Books mentioned:

• Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
• Penguin Modern Classics edition
• Shepard Fairey edition
• Audiobook read by Peter Capaldi
• Audiobook read by Stephen Fry
• Politics and the English Language by George Orwell
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Professor Shoshana Zuboff
• The Question Mark by Muriel Jaeger
• We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, translated by Clarence Brown
• The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder

Other things mentioned:

• Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) with John Hurt
• ‘Alternative Facts’ article
• Boost in sales for 1984
• The Matrix (1999)

More from Ariel Bissett:

Books Unbound Podcast

Ariel Bissett on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ArielBissett

Listen to my guest episode on Books Unbound: #84 Eerie Dystopians!

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. Follow the podcast on Instagram @endoftheworldbookclubpod

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 https://bit.ly/BrowseEndOfTheWorldBooks

In the very first episode of The End of the World Book Club we’re discussing Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel and what’s it like to read pandemic novels during an actual pandemic.

“Sure, but in what other life would I get to perform Shakespeare?”

Spoiler levels for this episode: low

Books mentioned:

• Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel (the ISBN of my hardback copy is: 9780385353304)
• The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh
• Severance by Ling Ma
• The Death of Grass by John Christopher
• The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• King Lear by Shakespeare
• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel

Other things mentioned:

• Leena’s Podcast: No Books on a Dead Planet
• Film: Contagion (2011)
• Emily St John Mandel Interview

Thanks to Leena, Sarah Jean, Jen, Maia, Louise, Niamh for their voice clips for this episode, and thanks to anyone who left a note on any of the posts requesting comments about Station Eleven.

Send in your audio clips for the upcoming Severance by Ling Ma Book Club episode

Deadline: March 25th 2024

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 let me know in your email 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. Follow the podcast on Instagram ⁠@endoftheworldbookclubpod⁠

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

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.

Follow the podcast on Instagram ⁠@endoftheworldbookclubpod⁠

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/BrowseEndOfTheWorldBookClub (or search for Booksandquills + Bookshop.org on Google)