Terrestrial History by Joe Mungo Reed – A Multigenerational Odyssey of Climate and Consequence
Published by W.W. Norton & Company, 2025

In Terrestrial History, Joe Mungo Reed offers a sweeping and elegiac exploration of climate collapse, legacy, and the intergenerational ripples of human choice. Spanning 85 years and two planets, Reed’s novel is a dazzling addition to the canon of climate fiction—often dubbed “cli-fi”—and one of the year’s most urgent, resonant literary achievements.

Structured through four distinct narrators—scientist, politician, idealist, and Martian-born child—Terrestrial History traces the slow disintegration of Earth and the moral reckoning that follows. Hannah, a pioneering fusion scientist shunned by her peers, quietly initiates the chain reaction. Her son Andrew, compelled by principle, enters politics to salvage a planet already tipping toward ecological despair. His daughter Kenzie, caught between realism and idealism, navigates the legacy of both. Roban, born on Mars, is haunted by Earth—"Home"—and the mysteries buried in its past.

Reed’s gift lies not just in speculative world-building, but in the rich interior lives of his characters. Each voice is distinct, their motivations deeply human, their flaws disarmingly familiar. From a windswept Scottish beach to the dusty corridors of a Martian colony, the novel pulses with urgency, beauty, and profound empathy.

Echoing the best of Lydia Millet and Joy Williams, Terrestrial History refuses didacticism in favour of layered, lyrical storytelling. It asks not just what we’ve done to the world—but how we choose to live with that knowledge, and what futures, however fractured, we might still dare to imagine.

I actually really enjoyed this book. To me, it was reminiscent of How to Lose the Time War in the sense that the story takes place across multiple generations, except the love is familial rather than romantic. It was a little short with a lot going on, so I would've liked some more detail in places, but overall it was enjoyable read!

I really enjoyed this one! I loved the span of four generations, and seeing how their lives played out interconnected to each other. There is an element of time travel, but it's very secondary to the characters' stories, most of which we see through various slices of life at different (but vital) points in their lives. I loved how they all connected, but how each character was still their own person outside of the greater scope of the family. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming, and certainly emotive beyond the concept of trying to save the world. My minor gripe is that I personally prefer a neater ending, and we did not get that, but it does fit the tone of the book well. I also found it impressive that such a well-developed world and cast of characters was accomplished in such a short amount of pages! Also, as you can imagine, there is certainly an underlying commentary about climate change, and how maybe waiting until Earth is unlivable isn't the best plan. It doesn't feel preachy or pushy, it just feels... honest.

Bottom Line: Absolutely recommend this lovely and insightful take on family and the perils of climate change.

First and foremost, thank you to the publishers for providing an e-ARC of the book. This story was truly wonderful in its inventiveness.I also thought the sci-fi elements in this book were next level. The author created a world that felt imaginative, thoughtful, and completely immersive. The blend of science fiction with emotional depth and strong relationships made this such a standout read.

Four stars!

This is a really neat idea - you've got several generations of descendants eventually colonizing space and a time loop that ultimately forms between the last and the first to ensure that things turn out the way they need to. Skews literary (in that it focuses on each of the characters during their time period), but was an overall lovely read. Worth your time!

This novel traces 100 years of a family, starting with Hannah, who is trying to perfect a design for a fusion reactor. She is visited by a man from space (from the future) who helps accelerate her research, aiming to save human civilization from an impending collapse. The story then follows her son Andrew, who wants to make a difference in the world and hold on to life on Earth even as the planet faces a gradual collapse. Next, the narrative shifts to Andrew’s daughter, Kinzie, one of the select few chosen to inhabit a colony on Mars due to Earth no longer being safe or sustainable. Her contributions to the design of the reactor make life on Mars possible. Finally, the story shifts to her son Roban, a “First-Gen”, who has never known life on Earth and has grown up entirely on the colony.

As is evident, the novel shifts back and forth in time, changing perspectives seamlessly without being jarring. In a story of such vast ambition, it’s the small, humane moments that stand out - particularly the relationships between characters and the moral dilemmas surrounding Andrew. His daughter’s decision to leave Earth, against everything he stands for, causes him great anguish as he continues to live out his last years on Earth. Kinzie’s ambivalence about leaving Earth and her grief at abandoning her home is another poignant aspect of the novel. The grief and longing of the characters are explored beautifully, especially in the way they nearly lose their homes and their loved ones. The book also interestingly explores how technology, while playing a crucial role in preventing the collapse of Earth, can simultaneously contribute to its downfall.

I also appreciated how Reed masterfully reveals the slow deterioration of Earth. The novel highlights that cataclysmic events don't always come suddenly but are often the result of a long, drawn-out series of events that slowly push the planet toward its destruction. Moreover, I loved how Reed depicts a generation that knows nothing of life on Earth except through pictures, videos, and the stories of their parents. The characters on Mars often find that words and phrases from Earth no longer make sense to them, as they lack the context surrounding them. They must develop their own versions of these phrases, adapting them to their new life on Mars.

Another aspect I enjoyed was the longing for things from Earth - rain, grass, crops, watches, candles, and church music. These seemingly mundane things, which one might overlook while surrounded by them in abundance, take on a deeper significance for the characters.

My only minor gripe with the novel was its frequent use of both real and made-up scientific terms and names. These terms often come without explanation, and understanding them requires inferring their meaning from the context. However, despite this, there is so much to love about the book. As someone who doesn’t typically read a lot of sci-fi, I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author (Joe Mungo Reed), and the publisher (W. W. Norton & Company) for an advanced copy. Thoughts and review are completely my own.

I’m always down for a science fiction read told from multiple perspectives. One thing I loved about this book was the timelines didn’t get confusing so note taking wasn’t needed. The science fiction was also pretty smooth to follow, Reed doesn’t over complicate the sci fi rules for this setting (for example the time travel).

I also felt a connection for each of the 4 characters in the book. The family connection was present too, especially between Andrew (Hannah’s son) and Kenzie (Andrew’s daughter). Bring your tissues.

Terrestrial History is short and sweet and I was hooked. I needed to see what happened to some characters even though their fates were foretold in the later timelines.

Terrestrial History gets the perfect 5 stars for me.

Thank you netgalley for the early copy!

Solid dystopian time travel sci fi! The cover is what drew me into this book and I’m really glad I gave it a shot. It’s sci fi but definitely more of a slow burn. Not a ton of action, but plenty of excellent characterization and world building. Terrestrial History is a story told through four connected narrators. We have Hannah in 2025 who is visited by a mysterious young man who claims to be from the future. We also have Hannah’s son, Andrew, who goes into politics when he is of age, running principally on trying to save the dying Earth. Andrew’s daughter, Kenzie, is given an opportunity to relocate to Mars. And finally we have Roban, a Mars colonist who is a “first gen” and one of the first to have been born and grown up entirely on Mars.

Chronologically, this one’s all over the place. Reed will bounce from 2025, to 2071, to the 22nd century and back again. He does this in a way where we’re gradually given components that solidify into a coherent tale. I found the book fascinating and very enjoyable. The characters are expertly flawed but complex enough to relate with them. They make questionable decisions but none are evil simply for the sake of strife.

If you appreciate slower burn sci fi that incorporates space and time travel during the collapse of our planet then I would recommend this one. There’s very little action so if you’re hoping for space battles then this isn’t it. But if you like more conceptual books that explore themes of connection throughout time and how our different actions shape our worldview, then I’d highly recommend.

Territorial History is about a family of four generations are trying to survive. Some are trying ti leave earth, some are trying to figure out how to get off of it, and others are trying to go back a fix where things might have gone wrong.

It’s about saving the world from destroying humanity and taking care of what we have, but also about scientific advances and understandings, with a dash of time travel. It’s about loss and trying to save the ones you love.

The multiple POV was pivotal for this book and you could see each and every character clearly through their tone and intentions of where they were going and who they were as a person.

This book seriously took me by surprise - it took a bit to get into, the physics jargon janky at times and the plot ambiguous, but once I got into the flow of it I was utterly hooked. It is such a fascinating, multi-generational dystopian sci-fi time travelling piece (a mouthful - I know). While it does have the ‘epic-ness’ of a science fiction novel, it is balanced with moments of despair, of hope, and of candid relationships between parents and children. Underlined by realities of a desecrated Earth and the desire to have a new perfect world beyond (or alternatively, go back in time to save the one we have) make this journey precariously present, and overwhelmingly relevant to today.

I like this book. Climate novels are tough, and this one exhibits some familiar tropes -- not least the Musk figure colonizing Mars -- but does so fairly gracefully and subtly, with a warmheartedness that I ultimately found really winning. The premise is perhaps a touch overcomplicated and the prose can be self-serious -- I struggled with the first chapter, which had maybe been through one too many edits -- but I was often moved by the characters' attempts to grapple with their circumstances and found the nature writing especially precise and lovely. There's nothing especially groundbreaking here, but this is a well-conceived and well-executed novel that's certainly worth a few hours of anyone's time.

Big thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the E-ARC. *4.5 Stars*

This multi-generational tale of survival, displacement, family, and time-travel has a little bit of everything. The first pages draw you in, establishing a character sensibility (that stays as a trait passed throughout generations): these are people of science; believe in evidence, what they can see, prove. Which is a needed anchor for where the book goes, and continues to go throughout.

I really enjoyed how the book sort of unfurled out of itself the further through it you got. It took a bit of trust in the writer to get through the beginning, I'll admit, because after the hook there is quite a bit of wordy exposition. It was necessary though, as I said above, as it grounded the character(s) as sensible people, making everything believable and even a bit more urgent. That said, by the time I made it to Roban's first chapter, I was bought in and was confident I'd enjoy the book.

There are good stakes coming from large external entities (ecological collapse; billionaires fleeing the planet), and others where the characters, while family, must face down each other to make the most important choices of their lives. They tread a delicate line of friction between family members, and addresses a sad sort of estrangement not driven by one singular traumatic event, but by a small peppering of times where you've found yourself simply, and respectfully, at odds.

I really liked the use of repetition in scenes, and how it served the sort of time-bending thesis that drove the plot. That time is not linear but something that spreads, sprawls out. The author says it better, I don't want to say much more than that on that right now.

I'm not normally one for sci-fi but 2025 has been packed full of great sci-fi, I'm sure the current political climate is ripe for inspiration. Terrestrial History is a great, multi-generational story about a family trying to save humanity, the earth, or both.

When Hannah is visited by a man from the future who wants to help her save the planet from climate change, she couldn't begin to guess how this would change the shape of her life, as well as her son Andrew, her sister Kenzie. Each have their own ideas about the best path forward and they clash against one another as well as Roban, the man from the future who has come to warn them.

Thought-provoking and quite the page-turner, Terrestrial History is a fantastic piece of climate fiction, one of the best I've read in a long while.

This is on my shortlist of 2025 books so far. Terrestrial History hit the bullseye for me, being the right blend of lit fic, speculative fiction and science fiction (time travel and space colonization.)
At its core, this novel is a family saga that spans four generations. I loved the way that they were all woven together and connected. This is one of my favorite multi-generational family sagas of all time.

Space travel is one of my least-read sci-fi/speculative-fi sub genres, but I really enjoyed the Mars colonization thread in Terrestrial History. Like in many stories, humanity looks to evacuate the Earth because we’ve trashed it. The story of this family and their relationship to that activity was fascinating to read about. From those who were all in and ready to blast off to Mars, to those who felt it was better to save the planet and stay. Their points of view were so well described. Reed did a fabulous job giving each side its fair telling.

While there were four time periods and four generations told in a non-linear pattern in this 250 page book, it was very easy to follow. Reading this one was anything but a chore. As I look back at this fact, it makes me enjoy the book even more. Reed did such an awesome job dealing with time and space. The fact that it was not difficult to follow is true testament that he did an excellent job writing it!

After reading it, I tried to pick a favorite character. I couldn’t do it, I have to pick two- the bookends, if you will. The oldest generation and the youngest generation. Who are so well written and so beautifully connected.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Joe Mungo Reed and W. W. Norton & Company for the free advanced e-copy!

I really, really liked the author's last book, "We Begin Our Ascent," about the world of competitive cycling and doping. He has a very distinct writing style, and it was on display again in "Terrestrial History." Even though the scope of the story is much larger than one rider's story on the Tour de France with time travel, climate change, and social politics, Reed's emphasis on character development and small moral moments continued to shine through here. Spanning 85 years and four generations, this is grand in scope and themes, and I've been thinking about it since I finished it. Really cool to see the difference between the two books I've read by him, this author has range!

I really liked the idea of this book--a saga that goes from earth to space complete with time-bending?! Amazing. However, I just wasn't captivated. Actually, I actively disliked the book. I liked the idea and the imaginativeness behind it, but....this book wasn't at all for me. The writing was a little too low energy for me and I really found the characters to be unlikeable. Hannah, in particular, just irked me. I didn't like her snarky dialogue. I think at the heart of it was the multiple POVs--I like having a main character to cheer on. To follow their journey from the beginning to the end. Going back and forth prevents me from emotionally connecting--but, that's a me problem and not the book's problem.

Like I said, the book sounded like it would be a great match with me, but in the end....didn't get there.

Did Not Finish 40 percent
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

I tried. But with the world and my current job the way it is. I am not doing one blessed thing this year that is not bringing me joy. Heck, sometimes I can read a book that I am not exactly hate reading, but I go into a "I am finishing this because what in the world is happening here and where is the author going?" mode. But sometimes, like this, I hit an, "I just don't care. I don't care about the characters, the journey, the ending. I refuse to keep reading this because it's doing my head in." mode. 

I really did love the cover of this book when I saw it. I don't know with the world the way it is right now, it spoke to me. The book synopsis did too. I liked the idea of following four people in really separate timelines that end up being the key from humankind moving on from an Earth that is growing more inhabitable to a settlement on Mars.

"Terrestrial History" follows Hannah, who is working off the coast of Scotland and is a scientist working on fusion. Roban lives in the Colony (big C every time it is discussed which was jarring) where he dreams of Earth. And then you have Andrew and his daughter Kenzie who are taking up different sides about whether Earth can really come back the way it needs to for humankind to survive. Throw some time travel in (which honestly this book did not need that at all) and that's this book.

I have to say this upfront. This book was pretentious as hell. I don't know. It didn't hit me the right way at all. And I got tired of honestly just wading though paragraphs upon paragraphs about ethics, morality, etc. It didn't help the story is out of order. Just to let you readers know, the book plot is not written chronologically which made it hard to follow. I had to hunt to to look for who was speaking and what year it was at all times which was jarring. For example, Hannah is in whatever year. I can't tell you. At one point it just says Hannah no year so I assume that's present day? Roban is in year 2103, Kenzie and Andrew are in year 2071.

Hannah's chapters/perspectives were easier to wade into than Roban/Andrew/Kenzie. Each character perspective is told first person point of view and yet they all sound the same. And honestly that is what really did me in. I would assume these people in different points of time would "sound different" and they did not. At the 40 percent mark I gave up.

This is a really interesting plot and premise centering around the climate crisis, social politics, and time travel. Do those three things go together?! They do! Despite the slow pace of this book, I really enjoyed how thoughtful it was presenting the ideas and characters perspectives. It will really make you think and I love that in a book. I do think sometimes it meandered a little *too* much but overall very enjoyable!

Terrestrial History is a beautiful, reflective, layered story that travels back and forth in time as it examines the end of the world. Or maybe it's an end to a world, as time unravels and the characters frantically work to rectify mistakes of the past, the slow march to extinction seems inevitable, seems deeply human. Joe Mungo Reed's books explores the path of human selfishness, the decisions that have created a world bent on it's own destruction, and while this might feel like a cynical take this tenderness towards his characters doesn't feel angry or cruel but something more realistic- that we are all just doing the best we can and sometimes that isn't good enough.

I enjoyed reading this book, it felt prescient to our current moment in history, a time when the goal posts keep getting moved and our governments are controlled by despots and rank billionaires. The story asks us as readers, what choice would we make in the end? To leave if we had the opportunity (which is frankly unlikely that any of us would even be on the ship) or would we stick it out, try to build a life in a world that has reverted to subsistence living and violent self-sufficiency?

This is a book I would read again, looking forward to seeing it in print.

Terrestrial History was pretty solid and had a interesting concept, along with some good writing, but it didn’t completely blow me away. It had some really thoughtful themes, and I appreciated the blend of science and philosophy, but at times, I just found myself putting it down. Overall, it was a good read, just not something that totally hooked me, which was surprising with how short it was. I can most definitely see the talent and the time that Mungo Reed put into this story. Maybe I just wasn't totally in the mood for another-worldly crisis.