I wanted to like this more than I did. The concept is remarkably strong; the opening as well. But by the middle it honestly starts to drag a little bit and while I finished the last half in a single sitting it didn't really stick with me in a substantial way.

This may ultimately come down to personal preference, but I felt like the nature of the story made it so that it was ultimately very repetitive with themes and emotional beats struck multiple times. Additionally this was a book that felt a lot like being invited into someone's 2 AM research deep dive and with those kinds of books, your mileage will often vary. So if you're really into (or could be into) mostly American, European and Russian history surrounding the early 1900's specifically focused on the rocket programs then this might be for you? The notes at the end confirmed that a lot of the names and situations are highly specific for a reason -- they are literally references to actual people and events. But the interest in that is kind of lost in the telling.

I enjoyed the way that the author included a soundtrack with their work - it honestly helped to set the tone for the work.

I may still check out the future books in this series; I could see it going interesting places. But I'm honestly a bit iffy on this initial outing.

When I heard Sylvain Neuvel had a new book releasing, I was beyond excited as I was a big fan of his Themis files. I started reading the galley as soon as I was approved for it but even after days I could barely any headway. Even though the first two chapters were intriguing, the interest soon fizzles out. I couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters or the plot even with the unique and interesting premise. I finally had to dnf the book at 70% as I found myself slipping into a slump. I am sorry to say, this book was not for me.

A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel is, in my opinion, a fascinating blend of historical and science fiction with a dash of action and adventure. This first installment in what is to become a series focuses on mother and daughter duo Sarah and Mia Freed, the 99. They are the descendants of a line of women, the Kibsu, with a shared face and single-minded purpose - to take humanity to the stars. But who are the Kibsu, really? And why did they come to Earth in the first place?

I wasn't sure how to feel about this decidedly unique tale when I first picked it up. While I was intrigued by the premise and the author's clearly extensive research, the writing felt choppy and dispassionate - as if I was being held at arm's length from the narrative.

But at some point, maybe a third of the way in, I realized I had become deeply invested in the characters and their mission. Mia, especially, felt deeply human (though her humanity is perhaps in question) and real. She struggles with the path laid out for her by her mother, Sarah, with very little explanation. She agonizes over the violence she has seen and participated in. She wonders if humanity is truly deserving of their help or beyond redemption. And along with these larger questions of morality and purpose, she goes through the same coming of age experiences so many of us have shared - who is she, really, and what does she want out of life?

While Mia was by far my favourite character, there were several others of interest throughout the novel. In fact, even characters with comparatively little page time such as Von Braun, The Tracker, Hsue-Shen, Billie, and Korolev jumped off the page and straight into my imagination. There are no "good" and "bad" guys in the novel, only shades of grey - and that is exceptionally interesting to read.

This story is set predominantly in Germany and Russia from the end of the Second World War through the Cold War and has a clear focus on rocket science. I can't say I have ever read a work of fiction that told the history of the development of modern space travel from this perspective, but I have certainly had my appetite whetted for it!

Interspersed between chapters continuing the primary narrative is a series of Entr'actes exploring past generations of the Kibsu. These Entr'actes were wonderfully immersive vignettes adding depth and nuance to our understanding of these women and their place in history, and I loved them all. They do, however, tend to be extremely violent (as does the primary timeline), so please keep that in mind and check content warnings if you need them (I have included some at the end of my review).

I discovered after finishing the book that there is a playlist associated with it - one song per chapter. I would highly recommend listening to the playlist while reading, as each song evokes the time, place, and mood of each chapter in a delectable way! I ended up skimming through the book again as I listened to get the full experience, and it was just wonderful. I have a feeling that if I had known of the playlist and listened along the first time through, I may have enjoyed the early portion of the book much more.

I would highly recommend this novel to Sci-Fi and history lovers who have an interest in the exploration of human nature and the development of the technology required for space flight. It is perhaps a niche concept and likely won't work for everyone, but for those of us it does work for this could easily become a new favourite! I know I can't wait to read the rest of the series when it becomes available.


Trigger warnings: Suicide, murder, violence, extreme gore, body horror, the Holocaust, war, homophobia and conversation therapy, torture, imprisonment, racism, miscarriage, sexual assault

As soon as I saw that Sylvain Neuvel was coming out with a new novel I was pumped. I didn't care what the topic was going to be - after aggressively crushing through The Themis Files, I was ready for whatever he was going to release. So, what a pleasant surprise that the topic of this book seemed right up my alley! Thank you to Netgalley and Tor.com for a virtual copy of this book, as I have been waiting in anticipation for this novel.

While I don't normally find historical fiction all that interesting, this made me want to stop reading at certain points to fact check things throughout the book. Lots of "there's NO WAY that was a thing..." and yet it was. I agree with the main synopsis of this book in that fact is definitely stranger than fiction. I was blown away by the meticulous research put into this book, and by the fact that the 3000 year battle between an alien race wasn't the scariest, weirdest part of this work of fiction.

The plot of this book was extremely interesting to me - something I was able to sit up late reading and crush through the last half until the wee hours of the morning. Mia and her mother did an incredible job explaining the adversity they faced from being "different" (MUCH different,) than everyone around them. My only complaint with the plot itself is that the timeline jumps didn't always seem to blend with the plot. The reflections of the past often added knowledge about the alien race that Mia and her mother were a part of, but oftentimes they felt jarring to the plot and I had to reset my frame of mind when returning to the main story line. The storyline also sped up significantly after the 2nd act of the book and I found this pace a little more difficult to follow than earlier in the book and it left me wanting a more in some cases.

I have read through some other reviews for this book and have seen a lot of people condemning the gore, violence, etc in this book as well as the technical details regarding rockets and science. I feel that these all contributed to the book in a major way and the story wouldn't have been the same without them. The gore and violence were so integral because they were REAL. There were real people doing these very real things not that long ago in our history. It's terrifying and it's difficult to read but the point is that IT HAPPENED. Now that's scary. I think Syvlain Neuvel did a great job bringing some of these things to light while also giving credit to the names of people that tried to be on the right side of things.

I can see why this book wouldn't be for everyone, but I will absolutely be waiting in anticipation for the rest of this series!

I'm a die-hard fan of Sylvain Neuvel's Sleeping Giants trilogy and I hold him in the highest regard as a result. For that reason, I was perhaps overly hyped about this book, and thus slightly let down by the pacing. It was enjoyable enough and I am intrigued by the premise and how it will flesh out over the course of the series. But this book didn't feel like *enough* as a stand-alone. I wanted more to happen. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to the other books as they come available,

The nitty-gritty: Sylvain Neuvel's latest is an ambitious look at the history of the space race with an intriguing, speculative twist.

This is an odd book that I think is going to have a tough time finding an audience, but I absolutely loved the concept, and I think Neuvel probably achieved what he set out to do. 

The gist of the story is that a matriarchal race of people called the Kibsu, who have been on Earth for nearly one hundred generations and consist of mother/daughter pairs, have been tasked with influencing and pushing the human race towards the stars. The latest generational pair is Sara and her daughter Mia, the Ninety Ninth generation, and their story takes place near the end of World War II, when the development of rockets was in its infancy. Spanning the globe from Germany to Russia to America, Sara and Mia must hide their identity while subtly pushing the world’s most famous and important scientists (before they were famous and important) in certain directions, which will ultimately lead to critical discoveries in the “race to space.” Mia has specifically been tasked with shadowing a young German named Wernher von Braun, but at the same time, Sara and Mia are being followed by a shadowy figure called the Tracker, who apparently wants them dead.

Neuvel’s idea is fascinating, and writing this book was clearly a labor of love for him. A ton of research obviously went into it, as Neuvel uses real life people and events to show how the race to get a rocket into space might have played out if aliens were involved. I loved his mentions of German and Russian scientists, places like Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech, and the historical launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik. I also loved the subtle ways that Mia tried to influence the space race by making sure of one country’s success in order to foster an atmosphere of competition with the other countries. In this way, progress was made, slowly but surely. 

And while there are some exciting scenes, especially the ones where the Tracker catches up to Mia and Sara, much of the book is more of a fractured narrative and demands that the reader pay close attention in order to figure out what’s going on. The format is odd as well. For example, Neuvel doesn’t use quotation marks for dialog, which is a stylistic choice I don’t really care for. The chapters alternate mostly between Mia’s and Sara’s POVs, and in this way we come to understand their mission as Kibsu and how dangerous their lives are. Still, I never really came to feel much for any of the characters, strangely enough, and I think the overall structure of the story had something to do with that.

I did like that the Kibsu are an all female society, but there is quite a bit of mystery surrounding their origins. I personally thought of them as aliens, sent back in time to ensure the survival of the human race, which apparently can only happen if they leave Earth at some point and head for the stars. Clearly Mia and Sara already know the history of rocket science and space travel, but they also know something bad is coming. Because of this, their mission takes on a frantic quality as if time were running out. This gave the story some excitement and tension, even if you don’t quite know why getting to space is so important. 

And while I mentioned before that I didn’t have an emotional reaction to the individual characters, I did love the relationship between Mia and Sara. They are just one generation in a hundred, and the rules are very clear: there can only ever be two at a time, never three, meaning that the “two” are mother and daughter, but when it’s the daughter’s turn to have her own daughter, her mother can no longer be part of the mission. Mia grows up knowing that someday her mother will have to die, and this was emotional and heartbreaking.

But so much of the story is never explained, and although I loved parts of it, I’m still frustrated by the lack of information. Neuvel refers to Mia’s unusual necklace throughout the story, dangling bits of information about it and why it might be important. But again, by the end of this book, we still don’t understand exactly what it is. If it’s a hook to get me to read the next book, then I’ll have to admit that Neuvel’s plan worked!

A History of What Comes Next won’t be for everyone, but discerning readers, especially those with a passion for the history of rockets and space travel—as well as those who aren’t intimidated by unusual story structure—will definitely find something to love about this book.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

3.5 stars

After largely enjoying his Themis Files trilogy, seeing that Neuvel had a new book coming out that delves into an alternate history of the space race immediately piqued my interest. In this new series of books (presumably a trilogy), Neuvel explores the idea that humans were aided in their push to go off-planet all along.

Urged by the will and knowledge of females known as the Kibsu, whose own history is largely lost to them, Neuvel tracks the beginnings of the journey to the stars with the events leading up to World War II. What really is astounding in this book is the amount of research Neuvel did and how seamlessly he not only wove the pieces of history together that were true, but how he was able to construct his fictional narrative in and around these truths. I'm not one who always reads author's notes at the end, but when I do, I like 'em to be like Neuvel's. I am, however, one who does a lot of sidebar with the internet to see about these real people while I'm reading. So whatever I didn't know ahead of his author's note, I really enjoyed reading through, in addition to his thought process and the incorporation of everything that went into this book, perhaps most especially the information about the Kibsu.

The two Kibsu we know best, who narrate, in turn, almost all of the main timeline, and who are known to the reader as Sarah and Mia for the majority of the book — they assume aliases, but never really drop these birth names — play two sides of the same coin, quite literally actually ... in a figurative sense. (Wink, wink.) The Kibsu women only give birth to daughters and though they need a male to initiate the process, their bodies shed all of the male's DNA and use only the female's, thus creating a long line of complete duplicates of each other. Their internal drive to survive at all costs and take them to the stars are forced along by their ancestors, all of whom, in essence, reside in the body and mind of the older of the pair of mothers and daughters throughout the centuries these duos have spent on Earth.

There's more to it, and it's an incredibly interesting concept and execution, for the most part — but it takes a while for Neuvel to get the reader to a more comfortable place and until then, it's mainly just spotty information when all you want is more, making for a confusing opener for these incredible women.

In contrast to the Kibsu are the men hunting them, known as the Trackers. At least one of these guys narrates, a brother named Charlie, but their ancestry and history is mostly a mystery. Which I presume will be told more in upcoming books. However, they are as mission-oriented as are the mother-daughter teams throughout the decades that we learn about through the cuts in the story that Neuvel inserts. In these, Neuvel helps establish the basis for a long history for the Kibsu on Earth and their fight to stay alive and reach their goals. I really look forward to learning more about them in the next installment.

That being said, there was a large portion of this book where I wasn't sure I even wanted to finish it. A History of What Comes Next started off strong and ended strong, but from about 15% through 60%, I had trouble wanting to pick this one back up. The characterizations of Sarah and Mia were okay, but they were slow to build — and for Mia, they were very action dependent. In addition, Mia had a very pithy wit that took a long time for Neuvel to write beyond ... to allow her more depth, which was welcome once he got her there. But a lot of it for me had to do with both the tone and the style. Aside from the historical segments about the past Kibsu lives, Neuvel chose to write this in present tense (even perfect present at times), which is not something I enjoy. For me, this is a gimmicky and fast way to get the tension and pace desired, and though I don't mind if a book dips its toes in for a scene or two, not many books can stand up to the constant threat and demand of being in the now.

This feeling of being trapped in the present moment never feels true and only makes me bored and incredibly aware of the author. Also, making it hard for the flow for me was Neuvel's choice to punctuate the dialogue (which was often rather choppy anyway) with a leading hyphen rather than the standard quotation marks — other than once during a flashback Mia experiences as she's assaulted by a lost memory. This even made it difficult, depending on the scene, to figure out who was speaking and when, on top of it all feeling like bullet points of speech.

Despite these drawbacks, I was really — ultimately, perhaps — compelled to finish the story once I made it over the hump. Once Neuvel stopped with the long introduction of the Kibsu and the Trackers, you could almost feel the author sigh and stretch, and the story open up a little, as if to say, "Now we begin."

A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel is a more historic novel than I expected from the title. Most of the book is set during the end of WWII and the immediate aftermath, though there are also flashbacks to moments further back in history.

Always run, never fight.
Preserve the knowledge.
Survive at all costs.
Take them to the stars.


Over 99 identical generations, Mia’s family has shaped human history to push them to the stars, making brutal, wrenching choices and sacrificing countless lives. Her turn comes at the dawn of the age of rocketry. Her mission: to lure Wernher Von Braun away from the Nazi party and into the American rocket program, and secure the future of the space race.

But Mia’s family is not the only group pushing the levers of history: an even more ruthless enemy lurks behind the scenes.

The story here follows a mother and daughter who are from some alien(/semi-magical) line of women whose sacred duty is to make sure humanity develops space travel. So they have historically been nudging people in the appropriate scientific direction. Most recently and in the context of this book, that has involved getting Von Braun out of Nazi Germany at the end of the war and making sure the space race got started. Other plot lines were the Trackers who wanted to kill the women (for reasons that aren't very clear until the end and even then, eh) and a vague worry about climate change.

Overall, this book didn't work for me. I found it a bit dull and tedious and if it hadn't been a review book I would not have finished it. I certainly have no interest in reading the sequels. Although I don't generally mind WWII or the space race/Cold War as topics of books and media, I found their treatment incredibly uninteresting here. There were a few interesting moments but also a lot of somewhat patronising moments (e.g. frequent suggestions that humanity wouldn't get to the appropriate technological level without behind-the-scenes manipulation). The most interesting scenes were the short historic interludes, giving us snippets of history of the line of women.

I found the writing style of A History of What Comes Next to be fairly good; it was mainly the content that didn't work for me. If the above story sounds interesting to you, then I recommend picking up this book.

3.5 / 5 stars

First published: February 2021, Tor.com
Series: Take Them to the Stars, book 1 of ?
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

3/5
Quality of writing: 3
Plot development: 3
Pace: 3
Characters: 3
Enjoyability: 3
Ease of reading: 3

I've hear a lot of good things about Sylvain Neuvel's work and was excited to get my hands on his newest book. Took me a month to finish... A History of What Comes Next is not a bad book. But at one point I just got really bored.
Overall it's a decent book. Don't know where the next book will go, but I'd be interested to see. The one thing I really enjoyed was the flashbacks to previous generations. Mia as a character just rubbed me the wrong way a bit. Pacing is all over the place too.

Review copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

I want to start off by saying that while I was approved for an eARC of this book (three days before it’s release date), I actually read the finished copy that I got from my local library. So, thank you NetGalley, but technically I didn’t read the ARC. Now, 3.5 stars, that makes me a little sad because Neuvel’s previous series, the Themis Files, is one of my all time favorite series, so you could say that I was very excited for this new release. I don’t want to say that I didn’t like it because that would be a lie. I did like it. I enjoyed reading it. I thought it was interesting. But I didn’t completely love it like I thought I was going to (though I will say I didn’t really even know what it was about until after I picked up my copy from the library).
This story follow Mia and her mother, Sarah, and occasionally some bits and pieces about their ancestors. They are the Kibsu and they have been tasked with helping humanity reach the stars and successfully figure out how to travel through space. Why? I literally have no idea. Are they aliens? Time travelers? Why don’t you tell me because I honestly don’t know. (Edited to add: I’ve reread the synopsis and it says it’s a “first contact” story, so they are definitely aliens.) So, the whole time Sarah is training Mia to take over and start the next generation tasked to reach the stars, there is another alien/time traveler/whatever in play. There is the Tracker that is following them. Neither Mia nor Sarah is completely sure that the Tracker even exists. But if he does, he will kill them both if they let him find them. Some parts of the story are told from his point of view as well. I thought this was an interesting choice because it opened up the story a bit more. It gave us more insight into the history of the Kibsu (which I believe I am correct in assuming that the Tracker is also Kibsu).
Now, I think I just didn’t love this book because a lot of the finer details went right over my head. After reading the authors note at the end, it’s clear that Neuvel put so much thought and research into this book. I don’t often pick up historical fiction and that’s what this was. This is a historical fiction book with a sci-fi twist (a few characters that are aliens). I think it’s the extreme amount of detail that is what put me off the story a bit. There’s so much science that Mia is doing to help different people build rockets. But also, I feel like I was left with all of the same questions that I had while I was learning about Mia and Sarah. I feel like we didn’t really learn anything, aside from what we learned from the Tracker, but that dude murder so many people and I don’t trust him. I also think that so much information has been lost or changed through 100 generations. It’s like a game of telephone.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. Once I got past the 100 page mark, I was intrigued enough by the story to keep going. But it was dense in history and science, the writing style was a bit odd and took some getting used to, and while I learned a lot about the history of the space race I feel like I didn’t learn anything about the characters. I believe this is a series so I do plan to continue it, but I think I might see how the audiobooks are done. Anyway, if you’re a space or history nerd, you’ll probably love this.

Sylvain Neuvel delves into history’s hidden secrets and conspiracies in A History of What Comes Next, a first contact science fiction thriller meets alternate history. Set during the World War II era of the space race, Neuvel explores uncharted depths in Mi'a, a nineteen-year-old with a destiny: take them to the stars. Her fate is not without cost, however. As Kibsu, Mi'a is expected to follow six rules to the letter or face extinction, and while she dreams for individuality, she will never truly be free to explore her goals or desires as the Ninety-Nine. One face amidst identical generations, of which there can never be more than two: mother and daughter.

What unfolds is a slow burn, first person space race spanning three distinct POVs – mother, daughter and other – offering a glimpse into history, letters, and the Trackers, men who seek to halt progress, to destroy the Kibsu at all costs, all while the women do everything in their power to further scientific discovery. Written against the backdrop of World War II, we witness as Sara and M’ia traverse the world in a race against time, beginning with Operation Paperclip, where Neuvel deftly dips into the space race on both sides through plausible means: thwarted plans and unexpected threats. What begins as a trip to Germany to lure Wernher von Braun into American custody turns into a study of Russian progress under Sergei Korolev, where Mi'a is instructed to help push progression of the rocket along, beginning with von Braun’s failed V-2 and ending with the R-6 – a rocket made in joint efforts between Mi'a and Korolev, who just so happen to be in a romantic relationship, the young adult fitting snugly into the rocket scientists’ real, tumultuous history of affairs, as she is living life as Nina in his presence.

These small nuggets, glimpses into real history that bend just slightly to fit Mi'a, a girl forced to assume identities at will to meet her end goal, are the true gem of Neuvel’s latest novel. Meticulously researched and crafted with genuine care to encompass history over the course of twenty-three years, A History of What Comes Next is nothing short of genius, if you’re willing to put in the effort. A work that gives credit to women in science, all while exploring the fight for freedom, identity and individuality across generations tasked with the near-impossible.

While I, in the past, have been a huge Neuvel fan, I could not get into this book. My normal try is 100 or so pages and then I give up. That's what I had to do here. It just wasn't the book for me. I will probably give it another go in the future, but for now it was a DNF. I found it very boring and I couldn't connect to it at all.

2/5 Stars

Provided by the publisher, Tor, in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating - 4.5 Stars

I have loved every book I've read from Sylvain Neuvel and this is no exception. A History of What Comes Next is a historical science fiction novel that takes place in the dying days of World War II. We follow two characters, a mother and daughter, who are something quite special. They, and their female ancestors, have spent three thousand years guiding humanity forward so that they might reach the stars before destruction comes to Earth. Sarah and Mia are the 99th generation of the Kibsu. Not only are they identical in appearance, but their mental and physical prowess pushes certain major historical players into what we now know today as The Space Race.

Composed similarly to Neuvel's Sleeping Giants trilogy, we are told the story primarily through dialogue sequences. This tends to make for awkward fight scenes but incredible everything else scenes. I really felt attached to both Mia and Sarah and their plights, not only as they worked among dangerous people in dangerous situations, but due to the mysterious "Tracker" that lives to seek out and eliminate their kind.

I absolutely loved the amount of historical accuracy and truth there is to be found in the story. Of course, we know that the Kibsu weren't the shadowed guiding hand behind all of these events, but the majority of these events really did happen. In fact, Neuvel included an entire section at the back of the book sharing some of his research about the veracity of the story elements he chose to include. Werner von Braun and Sergei Korolev, two important characters that Mia engages with, are two very real historical figures. Even the key failures and successes of early rocket experiments were factual historic events. I truly enjoy any time and author can deal with history in a respectful and honoring way, refusing to delete hard truths, while mixing in an element of fantasy and sci-fi that I crave in my reading.

It's not a perfect book. It won't stylistically work for many people. But I was enamored. I didn't find myself bored once. I am so excited that this is just the first book of a planned series. I can't wait to read about the 100.

Always run, never fight.
Preserve the knowledge.
Survive at all costs.
Take them to the stars.

Strange but engaging scifi novel about 99 generations of women committed to helping humanity off the planet while evading their constantly-in-pursuit archenemy.

Instantly drawn into this historical scifi (?) story that meshes fact with fantastical. Unfortunately despite many pluses (Olga of Kiev cameo!!) the overall impact is marred by a few unfortunate choices. The chaotic action scenes and utter lack of use of any quotation marks make for hard reading. Why?! Why would you do that?!

★★★½ out of 5 but I would be thrilled to see what happened next/before to the Kibsu.

This book came in to my store the other day. I jumped around excitedly.
Everything Sylvain Nuevel makes you think so much and you NEVER know what's coming. I love it so much.

The concept was interesting and i thought the flashbacks to older generations were great, however i think this was just way too technical for me to really get immersed in the story, I loved Sylvain Neuvel's Sleeping Giants series but unfortunately this one just didn't grab me!

I haven't read any of this author's books before, but I have only heard great things about them. I am so glad I was able to finally read something, because I LOVED THIS BOOK. I saw that it was classified as a "Sci-Fi Thriller" and I knew I needed to read it.

I recommend going into it knowing as little as possible so that you get caught off guard by everything like I did. There were multiple times I had to put the book down and scream because of how intense it was.

I can't wait to pick up everything Sylvain has published and devour them just like A History of What Comes Next

I'm not quite sure what to make of this yet. The story and history of the Kibsu was incredibly fascinating, and I really enjoyed the mix of sci-fi/historical fiction. However, most of the book dragged on and was quite slow, with everything happening in the last 50 pages. I desperately wanted to know more about the Trackers, I feel like there was a missed opportunity to focus on them more, like the Kibsu. The writing was very curt; each sentence seemed very rigid and matter-of-fact, and it took some getting used to. Overall I'm intrigued enough to continue with the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A History of What Comes Next, written by Sylvian Neuvel, is almost certainly one of the most unique historical fiction novels I've ever had the opportunity to read. It blurs the lines between fact and fiction, in beautiful yet subtlety horrifying ways.

Mia and her family have spent generations, a hundred of them, in fact, shaping a course for the human race to follow. From scientific advancements to impossible decisions, and everything in between. Her family is connected to all of it.

The end goal? To get humans out into space. Any effort that pushes the space race is a worthy one, in this dark and twisted satirical novel.

“We'll never know if we played a part in any of these things. Perhaps some of our research from the past...It did not matter.”

I'll admit it, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with A History of What Comes Next. On the one hand, it is so creative and so wonderfully written. On the other hand, there's something decidedly uncomfortable about reading fiction surrounding real people – about seeing their real lives changed for the sake of a story.

The end result is something fairly unsettling, which actually feels like the intent behind A History of What Comes Next. The satire is impossible to miss, and it absolutely succeeds in hitting home on more than one occasion.

If you are fascinated by alternative histories, by the events of the World Wars, by the space race, then this might just be the perfect novel for you. It isn't ashamed or afraid to dive into the technical aspects of those worlds, and thus anybody enjoying those facts will flourish alongside the writing.

All things considered, I don't regret reading A History of What Comes Next. It had an impact on me, even while I didn't fall in love with the narrative. I'm undecided on if I'll read the next two novels or not. It may just depend on how curious I'm feeling at the time.

Having read the Themis files before, I knew I was in for a treat when this showed up on my Netgalley feed. Mia and Sara are two women who are part of a familial line called the Kibsu. Their knowledge and scientific acumen was passed down from mother to daughter (of whom there can only be two at a time...) since before the common era. The story begins at the height of World War II, when the two women are trying to escape from their mortal enemy, the "Tracker" who has been following someone in their line for over a thousand years.
This was a very quick read, and so well-researched and thought out that I was sure most of the characters were based on historical people. They were, and the intricacy and attention to historical detail by @sylvainneuvel was absolutely mind-blowing. I felt myself wondering if the Kibsu possibly existed.
I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed scientifically based novels such as The Martian, or fans of Neuvel's other work, or just anyone who enjoys a fast-paced historical novel.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.