“Tim Weed’s The Afterlife Project is smart, achingly beautiful, and (yes) important: a gripping novel of climate cataclysm with a cast of characters I cared about deeply.” — Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Flight Attendant

“The Afterlife Project isn’t just a story about the end of the world as we know it – it’s an exploration of beauty, and love, and hope in the darkness. If you were a fan of Cloud Atlas, you won’t want to miss this one.” — Janelle Brown, New York Times bestselling author of What Kind of Paradise.

“A brave and brilliant imagining of Earth in the years just after a mega pandemic has killed almost everyone; and ten thousand years hence, when a test subject emerges from suspension to explore a wilderness echoing with solitude. The tale is riveting and wrenching and suffused with beauty—the haunting and intimate beauty of the natural world rendered by a master.”

— Peter Heller, bestselling author of The Dog Stars

“Tim Weed’s The Afterlife Project is smart, achingly beautiful, and (yes) important: a gripping novel of climate cataclysm with a cast of characters I cared about deeply.” — Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Flight Attendant

“The Afterlife Project isn’t just a story about the end of the world as we know it – it’s an exploration of beauty, and love, and hope in the darkness. If you were a fan of Cloud Atlas, you won’t want to miss this one.” — Janelle Brown, New York Times bestselling author of What Kind of Paradise.

“A brave and brilliant imagining of Earth in the years just after a mega pandemic has killed almost everyone; and ten thousand years hence, when a test subject emerges from suspension to explore a wilderness echoing with solitude. The tale is riveting and wrenching and suffused with beauty—the haunting and intimate beauty of the natural world rendered by a master.”

— Peter Heller, bestselling author of The Dog Stars

The Afterlife Project will be published in print, audio, and ebook versions on June 3, 2025, as Podium Publishing’s lead spring title. Preorder it now at your own independent bookstore or via Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or (for audiobook) Audible

With humanity facing imminent extinction, a team of scientists uses technology originally designed for interstellar travel to send a test subject ten millennia into Earth’s future. Marooned in an uninhabited wilderness, microbiologist Nicholas Hindman searches in vain for remnants of the human race. Meanwhile, back in 2068 A.D., the team’s head physicist and its doctor lead a small crew of survivors on a sailing voyage to a small volcanic island north of Sicily on a harrowing quest for a second viable test subject. The Afterlife Project, a finalist for the 2023 Prism Prize for Climate Literature, is a darkly immersive work of literary speculative fiction that will appeal to readers of Andy Weir, Cormac McCarthy, Emily St John Mandel, and Peter Heller.

“I can’t think of a single page that didn’t make me pause to admire a sentence, an image, or a particularly fascinating idea. I loved this book.” — Angie Kim, New York Times Bestselling Author of Happiness Falls

“This beautiful and heartbreaking book reminds us of what we have, and what we stand to lose. Unforgettable.” — Danielle Trussoni, NYT and internationally bestselling author of The Puzzle Master

“Weed is a fabulous storyteller working at the top of his game. I predict this novel will become a classic.” —Joseph Monninger, author of The World as We Know It

“This engaging dystopian tale deftly blends enthralling fiction with real-life fears.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Weed delivers a highly intriguing storyline pulled off through creative worldbuilding and plausible technology . . . a tale that feels wholly original and movingly conveys the full weight of the circumstances while providing a riveting read in the process.” — The Booklife Prize (Publisher’s Weekly)

Shortlisted for the 2023 Prism Prize for Climate Literature and Uncharted Magazine’s Novel Excerpt Prize, THE AFTERLIFE PROJECT is Podium Publishing’s lead spring title. The novel will be distributed by Ingram's Two Rivers, with a comprehensive national marketing campaign, including a book tour and a nationwide publicity campaign spearheaded by Page One Media. For my own part, I'll be promoting the book to my extensive contact list developed from years of teaching fiction and leading educational travel programs around the world.