Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

The Afterlife Project rotates between two stories, one of a crew on a project to explore the world after it’s most recent global decay and the other on a man trying to survive what the world has become.

I’m a huge sci-fi fan and looked forward to reading through the concept of this book. It’s clearly well researched and hooks you in straight away in the initial chapters.
However, the descriptions of the settings were overly long at times and the switch from 1st to 3rd person perspective in every chapter made it difficult to keep focus.

The ending, without spoiling it too much, left me disappointed. I get that it’s an eco-themed sci-fi book, but I found the conclusions of several of the story paths quite unsatisfying.

A relatively short book that packs a punch

One of the standout themes is the climate crisis, which is woven naturally into the narrative without ever feeling preachy. It’s a reminder that fiction can be a powerful tool for shaping public opinion on global issues. By grounding large-scale concerns in deeply human stories, The Afterlife Project invites reflection in a way that’s accessible and thought-provoking.

Unsurprisingly, the book has been nominated for awards; the writing is elegant, the characters feel lived-in, and the message is urgent yet hopeful. A compelling read for anyone interested in how storytelling can inspire awareness and action.

Thank you to the publishers, netgalley, and the author for giving me an advanced copy of this book!
The afterlife project follows two timelines one where the world is basically inhabitable due to climate change and a virus and one more than 10,000 years in the future where now the earth is an uninhabited wilderness. As someone who doesn't read a lot of sci-fi I was absolutely hooked by the book. It was such a unique concept that left me with a sinking feeling in my stomach knowing that if things don't chance we could see a future like this. While it was not intended to be a horror book, to me it did read as one at times. Not in the traditional sense, but in the sense of being alone in a world that you no longer recognize.
I'm so excited for this book to be published and for more people to get to read The Afterlife Project!

note: this is ARC review - I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to obtain and read this advance copy.

The Afterlife Project was my first sci-fi book of this year for me and let me tell you it give me some food for thought (i would put it as "heavy in my tummy" but it actually gave me shaking hands and eco-anxiety).
mind blowing book is beautiful and neat package of two POVs (one present and one future), interesting characters and emotional resonance, the little bow on top is awareness to the danger of climate change and i guess the little note is filled with kind words full of hope and love.

for me to describe the amazing storytelling and colourful description of the environment - please imagine meme "Poetic cinema," i'm afraid i can't do better than that.

when the book is published, i will definitely read it again and recommend it for purchase at my local library.

bonus: since i find out this genre of books is called "ecofiction" i did some digging and i have whole list of books i want to read now. but i need to wait little bit - my eco-anxiety is extremely high right now, so i need at least 7 working days and a few walks to the garbage cans with sorted waste to get better.

My Review is below, but I had some thoughts on the story. First, this is very well written and one of my favorite books so far this year. I love BioTech and EcoFiction, but I am also highly critical of the science in these novels. (Michael Crichton and Issac Asimov spoiled me in my youth.) I thought the concepts were approached well, and the general vagueness of the pandemics doesn't give much to refute. I think most humanity believes in the "worst case scenario" and it removes any doubt that the events contained within the story could happen.

That said, the infertility issue could have used some finesse. It is depicted as through the viral pandemic caused infertility in both males and females. There wasn't much description regarding the extremophiles and the mechanism in which they affected our biological systems - or why it was apparently limited to humans. Research does support viral causes for male infertility, but I am unaware of any such viral indicators for female fertility outside of the typical STDs. Those are normally bacterial leading to infections. If there is research to support this, it would be nice to refer to its sources.

I loved the descriptions, and I can totally imagine myself in the woods while reading this. I found the hallucinogenic mushrooms humorous, but I thought the author took the astral projections just a little too far. I am guessing this was a device to assure the reader that there was no one left. But it was a bit lazy. Maybe final thoughts should have been a treatise on whether our species deserved to continue? In this context, humanity had it's shot and it blew it. What is that need to restore our population - particularly given any codex would most likely not be followed. Being lost to time because of or failures to correct mistakes is the poetic end.

Speaking of poetic endings - Natalie dying because she slipped and fractured her ankle. That's just lame. She wasn't so old that that would have been fatal. Slipping and hitting her head, resulting in a subdural hematoma I could understand. A bad laceration that became infected, understandable. I felt she needed a more meaningful ending.

Last thought - the cover art. I would NOT have picked up this book in the bookstore based on the title or cover art. I went to the bookstore today and after picking up a few titles I asked myself why I picked them up. Oddly, three of the books I picked to read the descriptions had cats on the cover - not necessarily that the book was about cats. I found this odd, because I don't normally read any novels about cats (although some of my favorite tales the protagonist has a cat). It seems you are missing an opportunity since Nick does find a family with his wild feline friends. I would have definitely picked up the book if I saw a feline perched on a ledge looking out over the wilderness. [Note: the other books had dragons - but don't think this applies here. :-)]

My Review:
=========================================

EcoFiction at it's finest!
If you enjoy the novels by Richard Powers, this book is a must read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
=========================================

What if you woke in a world where all humanity was erased from the planet?

Dr. Nicholas Hindman (Nick), has background in extremophile microbiology. His partner, Natalie Quist is the Chief astrobiologist for the Centauri Project - named for the planned colonization of Alpha Centauri (4.5 LY or 25 trillion miles away). Together they are part of a team exploring ways to save humanity from mass extinction resulting from the climate crisis. Unfortunately light speed travel failed to progress to the point of making an interstellar journey possible before the societal collapse. Focus switched to sustaining a limited number of lives and efforts were directed to the creation of cryogenic spheres (referred to as TDS) for long-term suspended animation.


“A few flickers of hope, followed by pandemic and renewed violence and accelerating climatological disruption. Bills coming due for those heady decades of optimism and affluence and devil-may-care consumption built on fossil fuels. Deadly weather weather, raging wildfires, melting icecaps, acidifying oceans. Drought and famine, dislocation and war, fracturing societies, mushrooming authoritarianism. The microbial plagues returned, lethal and unstoppable. Homo sapiens losing its grip. Falling backward into the abyss.”




In 2056, the collapse of the international financial and telecommunications system ushered in a new calendar, A.U.C.T. marking the demise of the Coordinated Universal time in a world completely devoid of children.

In A.U.C.T. 1, Nick was placed in one of three cryospheres (TDS) on the grounds of the Centauri Lab Compound in New Hampshire. The spheres were powered by a cold fusion reactor for a span of 10,150 years (give or take 18.583 years). When the reactor had ran its course, the tubes had retracted and dumped him in the future - into a vast wilderness in which he is literally "the last man standing".

Nick was selected to be the first test subject, because of his background and also because he was the only fertile member of the team. His last memories were of Natalie giving him a kiss and promising to find him some company. It was soon apparent that other viable subjects had not been found, and Nick found himself very much alone and wondering, “How did Natalie die?”

A.U.C.T. 10151 - Nick

“The simple idea that everything he’s ever known could have been so fully erased by the passage of time. Computers, smart phones, the internet. Social media, Hollywood movies, any movies. The stock exchange, McDonalds and Starbucks, Coca Cola, kombucha. NASA, plug-in hybrids, rock-n-roll, jazz. The Roman calendar. Days of the week. Politics. Blueberry scones. Every invention, every creation of the human society he’d ever known, not to mention his family and friends…. All of them vanished and expunged. Never to be revisited, except in memory.”



I found myself involved in Nick's story from the beginning. His disorientation as he wakes up on the grounds of the lab he once knew well, but 10,000 years in the past, was an accurate depiction of how anyone would feel given his circumstances. The compound has converted to wilderness, and he must rely on his survival skills to find shelter and provide for himself. He finds nothing left of his former society, but he is determined to follow his protocols and search for any signs that humanity has survived. Instead he finds that the other species have not only rebounded, but flourished in the absence of humans. Many of which were thought to be extinct. It gives him hope that somewhere there may be survivors of his own species, so he begins his vigil.

Meanwhile in 2068, we follow the Centauri team, Natalie, James, Tollie and Al on their journey to find survivors of a disease that left the largest percentage of humanity infertile. Their goal is to find viable (fertile) subjects to occupy the remaining two cryospheres.


Humanity makes one last ditch effort….

“One final roll of the dice for all the human children who have yet to wake up to the glory of a morning sunrise. For all the art yet to be created, the scientific advances yet to be made, love yet to be celebrated. For the chance to strike a long-term balance of sustainability, and for our species finally to assume its destiny as the stewards, rather than the destroyers, of the miraculous web of life that has emerged and flourished over countless eons all across this beautiful, stricken planet."



AUCT 12, March 2068
The remaining members of the Centauri Project set sail on the Solar Barque to the Mediterranean, in search of a pocket of humans who may have retained their fertility. Much of society is in collapse, and while there are survivors, it's a "Lord of the Flies" existence. Each stop is a risk, and although not surprised, they were overcome by the ruins left behind. Each city telling a story of death, anarchy and violence. These stories relayed to the reader through the eyes of the Project's Medical Doctor, Dr. Alejandra "Al" Morgan-Ochoa via her diary entries.

“Across the Globe, demoralized human societies entered a rapid process of decline. Governments could no longer cope. Disaster aid was a figment of the golden past. Health care, telecommunications, and most other essential infrastructure fell into disarray and failure, and looting, murder, rapine, famine, and secondary diseases all became rampant. If the planet itself is a living organism, it has an immune system strong enough to rid itself of the species that has been assailing it.”




Normally I would tear through a 300-page book in an evening or more causally over a weekend. But this novel was so engaging and well-written, I wanted to savor every word - often re-reading sections in order to give them the attention and consideration they deserved. This did not read so much as a dystopian novel as a philosophical treatise on current events with a warning of what is just around the corner.


In an amusing outtake, our protagonist, Nick, decides to try some hallucinogenic mushrooms out of boredom. Given his resulting affinity with nature, maybe we all need to give Amanita muscaria a try. That is, as long as it doesn't result in naked running through the forest in pursuit of an apparition. LOL.

This novel give one pause to think, but toward the end, it's more about at what point to we give in? Maybe humanity doesn't deserve a happy ending...

The advice to future generations was this:


Tread lightly. Think ahead. Respect the reality that despite your intelligence you are inseparable from the great web of life, a species to whom much has been given and of whom much is expected in return, namely a firm commitment to stewardship as opposed to thoughtless exploitation.

ARC review! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this book.

3.5 stars – A great read, hauntingly beautiful and an emotional roller coaster. It is regrettably not a Sci-Fi that I am usually drawn to but I would recommend it to readers who prefer more contemplative fiction.

*Plot: 3 / 5*
The Afterlife Project takes place in two time frames; one in the late 2060s where climate change has reached apocalyptic levels, humanity is in its last throes after a virus had killed off a third of humanity and left practically everyone else infertile. A team is desperately seeking a solution to save humanity. In an attempt to protect the species, they plan to send a man and a woman 10 000 years into the future, when Earth would hopefully have reset back to liveable conditions. The other time frame being 10 000 years later where we follow the chosen man in his Man v. Wild arc.

The plot is engaging, the frequent switches between time frames were skillfully done. Despite being 10 000 years apart and the future supposedly “spoiled” by the latter time frame, enough is left up to question to allow the plot to develop.

My one complaint is how short everything was. There is so much potential in the setting that was put forward, which wasn't met in the story. There's not much I can say without spoiling, so all I can say is that I wish for the book to be longer.


*Worldbuilding: 5 / 5*
Easily the best part of the book. It's mentioned in the acknowledgement that professionals were consulted and it definitely shows. The author did an amazing job building a realistic timeline and setting. The idea that scientists would trigger a bunch of volcanoes in a last ditch effort to slow global warming was gold and the various survivors that the main characters come across were interesting, varied and well portrayed. Once again, huge kudos to the author for the thought put into the world.


*Characters: 2 / 5*
The main issue with the characters is Dr Natalie Quist. And because she plays such a huge part in the story, I couldn't ignore her and had to deal with her in BOTH TIME FRAMES.

I didn't start off hating her. She's a badass, a queen, smart as hell, the youngest to ever win a Nobel Prize, invented what was basically a time machine, a physics and math God. I love women in STEM and I love that she was there. But as the novel progresses and we learn more about her,she just starts being ridiculously perfect (in the most derogatory way). Below is a list of things Natalie Quist is:

Has photographic memory
Cracked at chess
Crochets
Devours books at inhuman speeds
An unwavering optimist
Has a rich dad
An amazing older sister
An amazing mother figure
Selfless
Friendly and charismatic
Has Sherlock Holmes level of deduction skills, even at gunpoint

Point being, she has no flaws. And she keeps calling everyone dear to an unnatural degree and it gets annoying. Is there anything she can't do?

*Prose: 4 / 5*
Ending off with a high note. The prose was breathtaking. The descriptions of a post-humanity world never fail to keep me captivated. The journal entries and the third person narration were distinct from each other and fit the role that they play. You can't help but get lost in the story.



All in all a decent read. It does justice to the concept so if any plot point seems interesting, don't hesitate to give it a read!

I've not read anything by this author before and despite this being a genre not at the top of my go to list, this story intrigued me and I'm so glad I decided to read it. Even if it's not what you normally go to, I encourage you to read those incredible book. ❤️📖❤️

It's 2068 and with humanity facing extinction, a group of scientists sends a microbiologist into the future to save humankind.  Nick Hindman is alone, 10,000 years in the future, searching for evidence of other humans in a world unknown to him, where mother nature has taken over.  Meanwhile, in 2068,  the 4 remaining scientific members of the Centuri project who survived a hyperpandemic which killed most of the Earth's population take off on a perilous journey to a small island to search for one of the few remaining fertile women remaining on the planet.  They hope to send her into the future to join Nick and any other remaining humans they hope he has found.

I'm not normally someone who reads science fiction but I couldn't put down this incredible dystopian story set in 2 timelines.  Bleak and emotional,  it manages to perfectly capture the suffocating desperation of the characters who hope despite the futility of what appears to be in front of them.  A frighteningly beautiful read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Podium Entertainment for my opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to Podium Publishing, the SFWA and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

The Afterlife Project tells the story of a group of scientists in two time periods, with missions to save the fate of humanity which is on the brink of extinction. The pacing and rhythm felt more in line with literary fiction than your typical science fiction, which made it more digestible. The writing is very cinematic in its elegant descriptions of a planet in the aftermath of a climate crisis, societal collapse, and a hyper-pandemic. Unfortunately, this book never came to fruition for me. I wanted it to go somewhere it never went. The middle section really dragged for me, and I found it increasingly difficult to get myself to pick it up. I’m glad that I finished, and the writing truly was beautiful, I was just expecting a more dramatic, emotional finish that I was not given.

“If the planet itself is a living organism, it has an immune system strong enough to rid itself of the species that has been assailing it.”

I'm a huge fan of dystopias and post-apocalyptic fiction, which is what drew me to this book.
Fun fact: it was inspired in part by a personal favorite, Alan Weisman's brilliant The World Without Us.
That one was nonfiction that had the dynamics and engagement of a fictional narrative.
The Afterlife Project was the opposite.
The density of Weed's narrative, the near total absence of dialogue, the propensity for overwhelming panoramas made for a rather solid but also stolid at times read. Frustratingly so, because it's a very well written and intricately plotted novel of the depressingly plausible future.
Weed's descriptions are stunning - there are just so many of them. The characters spend so much time being nothing but cursors, it seems, moving through the barren topography of a bygone world.
They do have plotlines to follow and an emotional connection that plays out in the end, but it seems very minor, compared to ... well, all of the afterlife.
If you like a description-heavy, slow, meditative end of the world, this will definitely do the trick.
Personally, I appreciated this novel on an intellectual level much more than I engaged with it on an emotional one. But this is likely the sort of thing where user mileage will vary.
Thanks Netgalley.

Tim Weed is a new writer to me, and as far as I can tell, The Afterlife Project is also his first novel that would qualify as science fiction. It opens with a great hook, as Nick (Dr. Nicholas Hindman) comes to consciousness in a cave in what was once New Hampshire, after a 10,000-year suspension – long enough for the Earth to heal from the climate disaster of the 21st century, an Earth in which he may be the only living human. His survival strategies have been carefully prepared with that contingency in mind, given that essentially no artifacts were contained within his Time Dilation Sphere. I’ve spent time on the AT, and found Weed’s descriptions of the physical environment to be detailed and evocative. As the months go by, Nick struggles to maintain his sanity and sense of purpose in the face of disappointments. It was fascinating to consider that he is in the same location as his prior life, where he recognizes very few features other than a few rock outcroppings.

Meanwhile in alternating chapters we follow Nick’s colleagues in the years after he was suspended, as population declines, and civil society deteriorates. After the events begin, a great deal of the climate disaster background is supplied through flashbacks and memories in both plotlines. That works well. At the same time, the fringe survivalists they encounter seem extreme and contrived for purposes of plot promotion. It is a world where human fertility has gone to near zero, due to a pandemic. They are searching for a fertile companion to send forward with Nick, and a lot of the suspense involves whether that quest will be successful. Nick, in his plot thread has not discovered any other TDS.

In the end, the survival of the human species is at stake, and while the outcome seems actually reasonable, something in the drama was missing for me. Perhaps it involved the sudden switch from two first-person accounts to a third-person omniscient perspective. Sadly, I do not have a preferred ending that I would like to recommend, but I’m afraid that some of the emotional impact I expected was missing. Still, I found this novel overall to be recommended reading.

I read an Advance Review Copy of The Afterlife Project in ebook format, which I received from Podium Publishing through netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review on social media platforms and on my book review blog. This new title is scheduled for release on 3 June 2025.

Oh my gosh I found this book mind blowing. Set in two different future generations, a dystopian future and a story of love. I so enjoyed it, thank you to the author. Still thinking on the reflections relevant to our situation in the world today. Write more please! Thank you to # NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I loved this captivating adventure/survival story set in two intriguing timelines—one in the near future (2068) and another 10,000+ years later. The alternating narratives were well-paced, controlled but emotional, and seamlessly connected. I couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of compassion for these scientists—fragile yet incredibly resilient humans who, despite their vulnerabilities, exhibit brilliance, open-mindedness, and extraordinary bravery.

This was an intriguing novel that kept my attention all the way through. The ideas it explored - how humanity might doom itself or try to save itself, what the world might look like in the future or the far future, and what responsibilities we have to our planet - drew me to this book in the first place and were, in my opinion, explored well. Based on the acknowledgments page, it seems the author and I have read some of the same books!

My favorite aspect was the quality of the writing. A journal that gives us the context of the distant past is written in a strong and recognizable voice, while the more neutral 3rd-person narration of the far future is incredibly descriptive and immersive. The language and level of detail really drove home the beauty of the natural world and allowed me to visualize the main character’s surroundings better than any book I’ve read for a while.

The protagonists’ efforts to save humanity made the book quite engaging and well-paced. However, there were some worldbuilding and plot aspects that I found a bit distracting or disappointing. For example, I thought that the totally chaotic and broken-down nature of society at even the most basic level seemed unrealistic just a decade or so after a major disaster. This is at odds with how ordinary people often behave in disaster areas or even war zones, trying to maintain life as usual. I also found some of developments in the last few chapters a bit too fantastical for my suspension of disbelief, at least in a sci-fi novel. I absolutely loved the ending chapter though!

Finally, I felt like Natalie was characterized as perfect and all-knowing. Throughout the book, I can’t really remember her having a flaw, so she didn’t seem like a fleshed-out person. This was a minor complaint though, as I admittedly enjoyed reading about her.

Overall, I thought this book was a good entry into the climate fiction genre, well-researched and well-written. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an evocative and creative take on time travel and how humans might leave their footprint on our planet.

This book… I’m finding a hard time putting it into words…. It was beautiful. I really felt the writing. I could clearly see the imagery. I was very attached to our characters and their journey, each and every one. The research alone that went into this was 🤯. Reading this in today’s world really triggers my eco anxiety, my feeling of helplessness and the dread. But also the hope, the love, the human connection. It puts a lot of things into perspective. It was truly something special.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ahead of publication. I will absolutely be purchasing a copy upon release and I highly recommend it.