Walk the Vanished Earth

A Novel

By: Erin Swan

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Keylor Leigh, Dylan Moore

"This rich, endlessly engaging novel is, one hopes, the first in a long career for an author who has the talent and imagination to write whatever she wants." --The New York Times

In the tradition of Station Eleven, Severance and The Dog Stars, a beautifully written and emotionally stirring dystopian novel about how our dreams of the future may shift as our environment changes rapidly, even as the earth continues to spin.

The year is 1873, and a bison hunter named Samson travels the Kansas plains, full of hope for his new country. The year is 1975, and an adolescent girl named Bea walks those very same plains; pregnant, mute, and raised in extreme seclusion, she lands in an institution, where a well-meaning psychiatrist struggles to decipher the pictures she draws of her past. The year is 2027 and, after a series of devastating storms, a tenacious engineer named Paul has left behind his banal suburban existence to build a floating city above the drowned streets that were once New Orleans. There with his poet daughter he rules over a society of dreamers and vagabonds who salvage vintage dresses, ferment rotgut wine out of fruit, paint murals on the ceiling of the Superdome, and try to write the story of their existence. The year is 2073, and Moon has heard only stories of the blue planet—Earth, as they once called it, now succumbed entirely to water. Now that Moon has come of age, she could become a mother if she wanted to–if only she understood what a mother is. Alone on Mars with her two alien uncles, she must decide whether to continue her family line and repopulate humanity on a new planet.
A sweeping family epic, told over seven generations, as America changes and so does its dream, Walk the Vanished Earth explores ancestry, legacy, motherhood, the trauma we inherit, and the power of connection in the face of our planet’s imminent collapse.
This is a story about the end of the world—but it is also about the beginning of something entirely new. Thoughtful, warm, and wildly prescient, this work of bright imagination promises that, no matter what the future looks like, there is always room for hope.

Couldn't finish it

Difficult to follow timelines. I didn't enjoy the characters or the subject matter. Quit after a few chapters.

Interesting case of whiplash

The drastic change in timelines makes for some head hurting. When the story comes together in the end the satisfaction was minimal.

Predictive Programming? | Spoilers

We’ll-written and great narration, IMHO
HOWEVER…the rapid increase in storms mentioned in this book are attributed to the ‘man made climate change’ theory. WAKE UP PEOPLE- look up at #ChemTrails and let’s try to #StopChemTrails and stop H.A.A.R.P. so they don’t use the climate change legislation as a way to grab more money and control over the Sheeple.

Fresh new story

It's been awhile since I've come across a story that was different than so many others. It truly absorbed me into the plot I listed practically straight through without stopping. time jumps were handled well so as to be thrilled with each story rather than plodding through to get back to other parts.. whether it be past present or future all characters were interesting and well developed and all time segments handled skillfully. It kept me guessing unable to figure out what came next. you won't be sorry...it's a great read/listen! the narrators did and excellent job not only with smooth clear easy listening but it the various voices of characters. nothing overdone, just right.

excellent start to finish

Beautifully painted
broad strokes trickle down into
exquisite details

Can't wait for more from this author.