The Electric State

Stålenhag is an internationally celebrated author and artist from Sweden, best known for his highly visual sci-fi/apocalyptic works. His latest is a graphic novel, and the audiobook version is the perfect accompaniment for the print edition. Listeners get a PDF of images that go along with the story, and it’s highly recommended to view those while listening to this production. The novel follows a teenage girl and her robot as they travel through the ruins of the United States. As they pass trashed battle drones, weird discarded technology, and the disturbing emptiness of the continent, a growing sense of unease and dread forms. What has become of civilization? This deeply unsettling, postapocalyptic story, which is at times puzzling and feels sparse, has its illustrations brought into focus by Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Sura Siu’s calm, steady narration.