Dystopian Fiction Exercises the Imagination
Mandel explains that beyond functioning as warnings like '1984' or 'The Handmaid's Tale,' dystopian novels exercise the imaginative muscle needed to envision a better world.
Emily St. John Mandel
Canadian
Born 1979
Emily St. John Mandel is a Canadian novelist and essayist. The books named for her include Exit Party, Station Eleven (2014), The Glass Hotel (2020), and Sea of Tranquility (2022). Of the dated titles, Station Eleven is the earliest and Sea of Tranquility is the latest. Station Eleven has been translated into 33 languages and was adapted into a limited series on HBO Max.
The Glass Hotel was translated into twenty languages and was selected by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2020. Sea of Tranquility was published in April 2022 and debuted at number three on The New York Times Best Seller list. Together, these details cover translation, adaptation, a public recommendation, and bestseller-list placement for the named books.
On LuvemBooks, we've reviewed 2 of Emily St. John Mandel's books, including Exit Party and Station Eleven.
2
Books ReviewedIn Emily St. John Mandel's own words
Emily St. John Mandel joins Ali Velshi on the Velshi Banned Book Club to discuss 'Station Eleven' and preview her novel 'Exit Party'.
Uploaded by MS NOW, 2026 · Watch on YouTube ·
Pandemic Nostalgia for the 'Lost Paradise' of 2019
Mandel notes that during the pandemic, people looked back on 2019 as an idealized lost paradise even though it was not an easy year politically, illustrating the natural human impulse to romanticize the pre-crisis past.
Finding Hope in Mutual Aid and Community
Mandel argues that noticing small moments of joy and people caring for one another in the most harrowing flashpoints around the world is essential for maintaining the hope required to carry on.
Also in this interview
On Exit Party
Emily St. John Mandel books in order
7 books; 2 reviewed on LuvemBooks. Dates and covers from Amazon.
2009The Singer's GunAmazon ↗
2009Last Night in MontrealAmazon ↗
2012The Lola QuartetAmazon ↗
2014Our review →
2020The Glass HotelAmazon ↗
2022Sea of TranquilityAmazon ↗
2026Our review →
Exit Party
4.3/5
reader rating · 2,828 ratingsExit Party is Emily St. John Mandel's seventh novel, following ex-convict Ari Waker through a post-civil-war California in 2031, where a man vanishes at a party and a mystery of doubles, shadow worlds, and fractured timelines unfolds across continents and into space. Publishers Weekly (starred review) calls it "masterful" and "a tour de force," and Ron Charles declares it "the kind of novel you'll be desperate to talk about."
Reviewed Oct 20, 2026
Station Eleven
4.3/5
reader rating · 72,080 ratingsEmily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic literary novel that traces interconnected lives before and after a devastating influenza pandemic, anchored by a quiet insistence that art and human culture are worth preserving at any cost. Originally published in 2014, it won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Toronto Book Award, was a National Book Award finalist, and had sold 1.5 million copies as of 2020 — a testament to its broad and enduring appeal across literary and genre readerships alike.
Reviewed Mar 28, 2026
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