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:

Other things mentioned:

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

Monk & Robot Series

Find Becky online at OtherScribbles.com

Recommendations from Becky Chambers (from this episode)

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 [email protected]

Please include:

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:

Other

Find Maria Postema online

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:

Find out more about Joel Rochester

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

Honourable mentions (that didn’t quite fit the brief)

Other books and things mentioned

Find out more about Sarah Jean Horwitz

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

Deadline: March 25th

Email your voice clip to [email protected]

Please include:

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:

Other things mentioned:

Jean’s Thoughts on YouTube

More from Leena 

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

Deadline: March 25th

Email your voice clip to [email protected]

Please include:

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:

Other things mentioned:

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:

Other things mentioned:

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 [email protected]

Please include:

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)