“There’s a part of me that feels like the life of Station Eleven was something like being struck by lightning or winning the lottery,” says author Emily St. John Mandel, reflecting on the success of the novel that served as the focus for this year’s NEA Big Read at UCF. Translated into 31 languages, a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award, and the 2015 recipient of the Arthur C. Clarke award for best science fiction novel, Station Eleven certainly defies conventional literary odds.