Walk the Vanished Earth

By: Erin Swan

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Keylor Leigh, Dylan Moore

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

"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.

©2022 Erin Swan (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Though the shifting planets and timelines bring to mind the novels of Ursula K. Le Guin, N.K. Jemisin and David Mitchell... Swan has fashioned a deeply original story that reflects on America’s founding myths, the climate damage wrought by all of us, and the many unknowns of the century ahead.” —Chicago Review of Books

“Erin Swan's debut novel enthralled me from the first page. Walk the Vanished Earth is weird, wonderful and beautifully written; I never knew what would happen next, but was deeply satisfied by each turn of the story. A floating city! Seven generations of a single family line! Life on Mars! I highly recommend this novel.” —Ann Napolitano, bestselling author of Dear Edward

“Walk the Vanished Earth is a beautiful achievement. A story of mothers and daughters, climate collapse, improbable love, space travel, disaster and redemption, destiny and choice – it’s nearly impossible to describe all the notes Erin Swan hits in this astonishing debut. Swan writes in spare, elegant prose that conjures an 1880s Kansas prairie just as vividly as a futuristic colony on Mars. Both timely and timeless, this novel will stay with me for a long time to come.” —Tara Conklin, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Romantics

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.

excellent start to finish

Beautifully painted
broad strokes trickle down into
exquisite details

Can't wait for more from this author.

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.

a psychotic pregnant 12-yr-old and her rapist...

...didn't make for great reading. I didn't finish the book.

If you're interested in beautiful language, this is the book for you. If you enjoy being confused, it's the book for you. It was not the book for me. No coherent story to be found.