Terrestrial History is an ambitious sci-fi novel that brings together time travel, multigenerational stories, and political tensions with an interesting exploration of space colonization (Who gets to leave Earth? Who gets left behind?) in the context of worsening climate change. Joe Mungo Reed writes a diverse and well-developed cast, including strong LGBT characters, and finds the perfect balance between personal struggles and larger societal issues.
However, some aspects of this book didn’t fully work for me. The writing leaned a bit too much toward literary fiction at times, and away from the "classic" science-fiction I was hoping for. The ending also felt rushed, and could have - in my opinion - used a few more pages to really wrap-up all plotlines. I don't want to give away spoilers, but I was especially frustrated by the book’s handling of time travel : while one character clung to the hope that the future could be changed, the story ultimately (in my opinion) suggested otherwise, making that hope feel futile rather than meaningful.

Still, overall, Terrestrial History is a great character-driven sci-fi novel with a definitive literary touch. If you've liked Station Eleven, or Sea of Tranquility, I'd definitely recommend checking it out.

a haunting and powerful story about how one family experiences the impacts of a changing political and ecological landscape, spanning 85 years and four generations. i loved the multigenerational story, jumping POVs and timelines, how each voice was undoubtedly distinct and how their stories ultimately weaved together in a beautiful, cryptic, haunting way. there is a hopefulness and sorrow that co-exist in these pages that i haven't found in any other book. i will be thinking about this story for a long, long time.

Thank you Joe Mungo Reed and W.W. Norton & Company for the ARC!

There’s a certain experience I think all readers chase - that feeling of wonder, that gravitational pull of an incredible book. There’s no recipe to achieve that rare feeling, one I remember from my childhood and only experience sparingly in adulthood. Terrestrial History reminded me of this feeling, and I will be telling everyone I love about this book for a long time.

Terrestrial History grapples with the complexity of the role of technology in climate change. It tells the story of four generations of one family, split far across time, as they adjust and react to the changing landscape of their reality. The novel opens with Hannah in the summer of 2025, living in a small cottage on the coast of Scotland, and working hard, if not obsessively, with fusion technology. Hannah’s grown son, Andrew, takes a different tact, becoming involved at the political level to effect change. Andrew’s daughter, Kenzie, is much more practical and less emotionally driven than her father. She and her son, Roban, are pioneers in a new and unknown landscape.

Family dynamics, the effects of climate change and the work trying to mitigate the damage of it, and the power of technology are faced head-on from multiple perspectives at different times. The chapters alternated between different characters and different times, giving the novel a sense of tension as the storyline changed. There was something about this book that I couldn’t put my finger on, that will make it stick with me long after I have finished. It evoked all sorts of feelings. I have this sense of impending doom deep in me and this novel basically confirmed that sense. As I read further, the feeling in the out of my stomach grew more intense. However, this wasn’t a depressing read at all. It was powerful, and made me think. I will be taking my time thinking about this one in the days to come.

Spanning across four generations and two planets, Terrestrial History explores the complexities of familial relationships, climate politics, and the cost of survival. By using multiple POVs and jumping back and forth between the near present and distance future, the interconnectedness between the characters and their moments in time create an almost circular narrative where you can't help but hope that something changes even when you know how the story will end -- one version of it at least.

I would like to thank W.W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of this remarkable book.

In what felt like one of those moments where the universe likes to laugh and show you that it’s paying attention, I started reading Joe Mungo Reed’s Terrestrial History on the same day that a friend of mine sent me a video showing that the current administration in the United States was going to be implementing an executive order that would promote the usage of plastic straws.

No matter where you fall on whatever limp debate exists about plastic straw usage and their overall impact on the environment, it has been impossible to ignore the effect that humanity and industry have had on our planet as we’ve all experienced a seismic shift in how the place that we call home is reacting to our ever-expanding presence.

Because of this shift, a significant chunk of fiction writing has emerged that imagines possible futures, possible solutions and, of course, possible endings to our current predicament. Lydia Millet released A Children’s Bible in 2020 right at the cusp of a worldwide pandemic and Joy Williams released Harrow as we moved into what we were hoping was a post-pandemic world. To me, both of these novels represent a high mark in what has often been made reference to as climate fiction or “cli-fi”. With Terrestrial History, Joe Mungo Reed has created a document that deserves to stand not just among the absolute best of this hyper-specific genre tag, but also as one of the best works of this young year.

Terrestrial History follows four narrators, each from a different generation over a period of 85 years beginning in our present day of 2025. Hannah is a meticulous and unparalleled expert in the study of fusion science whose unique ideas have branded her a near-pariah among her peers. Andrew follows a strict moral code and believes in the inherent goodness of people to the point that he runs for office in an attempt to help shape and fix a world that is mired in climate panic for his daughter. Kenzie has spent her life wrestling with balancing her own ambitions and pragmatic beliefs with that of her more dreamy father and working to find a common ground that allows both of their goals to be realized without compromise. Roban is inquisitive and determined and part of the first group of children that were born on Earth’s first colony on Mars whose fascination with what those in the colony refer to as “Home” leads him to make shocking discoveries about the universe and about his family history.

The story begins at a home on the edge of the coast in Scotland as Hannah glances out to the ocean and notices a strange man walking towards the beach unbothered by the tides that surround him. Hannah’s reaction to this man explaining that he has arrived here from a colony on a distant planet and from the future is to accept this reality with wonder and with open arms. From here, Terrestrial History charts a path that spans four generations and two planets, dipping in and out of disparate time periods to weave a story not just of what ultimately happened to Earth, but how the events that led to part of humanity exiting the planet was shaped by the family at the heart of the story and how it affected them.

Joe Mungo Reed’s characters feel real and lived-in to a point of feeling like you have met all of them or have been aware of them at some point in your life. As you take in each chapter and each separate voice, the distinct differences in their tones and mannerisms are evident as it is always clear who is speaking to you. Through these scattered stories that jump around these eighty-five years, there is a realization that the actions of each individual generation - the little hesitations, the bold statements and actions taken, the unspoken thoughts - all have ramifications on the future…and the past. Terrestrial History both exists in a reality that feels all-too-possible and one that feels just enough outside the realm of possibility that it will make you wonder, hope and dream about what we still have left to discover about our universe and about ourselves.

Terrestrial History opens on a scene that is simultaneously its most grounded and its most fantastical, of a woman wading through the water off the Scottish coast to meet a mysterious being that has effectively crash-landed in the sea, a being that eventually claims to be a human from the future. This is where the novel is at its best, as it lends a deeply human, realistic perspective to the utterly speculative. This scene is so tied to geography, to earthly atmosphere, to a modern mind (with that portion of the novel taking place in 2025), and there's something particularly arresting about it. I wanted to stay in that moment for 200 pages or so.

But there was much more to see from there: This demonstrated love of Earth, in all its simple beauty and complex workings, reverberates through the rest of the novel, which jumps between several different perspectives, telling a generational story of humanity escaping to Mars in the face of environmental disaster back home. If there's a flaw to this storytelling method, it's that each perspective ends up taking up, in sum across many interweaved chapters, about the space of a long short story or a short novella, and I'm left wanting more of some and less of others. What it all comes together into, though, is an engaging, affecting piece of science fiction that folds in on itself in ways that may not be groundbreaking or unexpected but are certainly emotionally satisfying, further demonstrating to me what I already know, that the emotional arc of a sci-fi story matters far more than anything happening around it.

A thought-provoking multigenerational sci-fi saga, Terrestrial History explores the intertwining of family dynamics and humanity's impact on Earth and beyond. With its unique perspective on climate change, technology, and a future beyond our planet, Reed's beautiful writing immerses you in both the sorrow and hope of an uncertain future, making this an engaging and contemplative read.

I love future history when it’s done well. Instead of info dumps and encyclopedic exposition, the future unfolds in the details shared via multiple points of view. Ken Macleod’s Fall Revolution books come to mind.

What doesn’t work well for me is when said future history unfolds as a multigenerational family saga. Granted this is an aesthetic bias; hence, utterly subjective. I just don’t find stories about families all that gripping. Except in this novel, I did. It takes artistry to make me invest in each member of a family. Usually, family sagas in speculative fiction come off as mom, dad, sis, or brother from some literary version of central casting. This is where Reed’s artistic virtues shines. He confirmed my suspicion that the best science fiction being written is from authors who usually pen literary fiction. With Reed, each family member is fully realized avoiding the sin of one-dimensionality that’s so common to science fiction. That alone kept me reading.

My general impression of the work had me thinking of the philosopher Martin Heidegger’s last interview. Speaking on the imminent dangers of technology Heidegger famously said, ‘only a god can save us now.’ In Terrestrial History a ‘savior’ does come and the impact of that coming make for one beautiful story.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a wonderful book. In a way, the futuristic narrative, plus skipping between different points in time, gave me vibes of Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. The character development was excellent - the characters are all SO different, and you could really feel that from their first-person perspectives. What I loved was the author's writing style. Really beautiful, haunting prose and metaphors. I'm a sucker for a book with language and this had it. I may buy this in print just to annotate some of my favorite parts.

I didn't love the resolution of one of the four character's stories, but that is just my preference for neat, tidy endings. Pay attention to the dates, or you may get confused! Overall a good book, and I would be interested to read more from this author!

I give this a 4/5.

I really wanted to love this but honestly found it a bit hard to get through—it may be I was just not in the right mood for it. Thank you NetGalley and WW Norton & Co for the advanced reader copy.

Super interesting read, plus i LOVE multigenerational stories. The author writing style keeps you engaged, especially for this storyline. As a climate scientist, I was particularly appreciative off all the creative turns taken. Great read!

In the same vein as titles such as How High We Go In the Dark and Sea of Tranquility, Terrestrial History tells multiple stories across the spans of generations with a central thread tying them together. In Reed's depiction of both our present and future, we follow a generational chain to witness not only the impact of their actions on the next, but a development of the world at large as it reacts to an increasingly hostile Earth at the hands of man.

Each voice is so distinct, Reed asking the questions such as "What impacts of technology have on society at large?" as well as "What would possibly shape future generations that would never know our home planet?" These are common concepts in sci-fi, but by no means is this book missing in the creativity and exploration of them in a possible branch of a future through the eyes of the author. Even as each new generation grew further away from Earth, ultimately the stories revolved around a love of it, a yearning for a home I currently know and yet still was filled with a pang of sadness as if it were immeasurably distant from me. We! love! future! yearning!

Thank youNetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I thought this was a really fantastic book. I tend to like books with multiple POVs whose characters intersect with each other, and this book has it. I really cool science fiction book that also is grounded in the reality of family and love. I really loved all of the characters, and felt moved by their stories and growth. Loved this book!

This was a really fascinating read, and the author, undeniably has talent. Very interesting story. Keen to read more from this author.

great writing and great style of this tale about a scottish family in space on a different planet. 5 stars, tysm for the arc

I really enjoyed this book! I'm a sucker for multi-generational stories, so it was right up my alley. I think that this style of storytelling worked well for this topic. Watching climate change rapidly alter the lives of a family over the course of a few generations helps emphasize the severity of the problem and the rate at which it can change life as we know it. I liked seeing the ways that one character's decisions impacted their children and grandchildren, as well as how interconnected everything was.

I found the characters compelling, especially Roban. I loved his first chapter and the exploration of definitions/the evolution of language. It was a fresh way of considering ways in which living on Mars would impact specific aspects of society that are not commonly mentioned (in this case: language).

In terms of bigger themes, Terrestrial History delved into a lot of pressing questions regarding climate change. For example: how should we leverage technology in the face of this crisis? How do we adapt (or do we take another path altogether?). How do politics and climate change intersect? How do we go on living in the face of an issue like this? What makes a life well-lived; what makes a decision a good one? I appreciate how this book prompted me to consider these questions, while also immersing me in an engaging narrative.

While there is a lot of sorrow in this story, I finished the book feeling hopeful and grateful. In many ways, I found Terrestrial History to be a love letter to Earth. It made me want to lay in the grass with my eyes closed and soak up every moment I have on this planet.`

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Slow and quirky. Interesting time jumps and technology/visions of future societies. Would recommend to sci-fi fans!