I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel Series: Take Them to the Stars #1
Published by Tor.com on February 2 2021
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 304
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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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.
The fractured narrative you mentioned and the strange formatting might prove something of an obstacle in the enjoyment of this story, although I have to admit that the premise is fascinating…
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
It is a cool premise, and he did a LOT of research:-)
Hmm… this sounds like a good story but not the best, making it so-so? But I also like that it has mother/daughter pairs. That sounds interesting!
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The mother/daughter part was very cool!
If nothing else, this sounds fascinating both in concept and execution. I think this one could be right up my alley if it hit me in the right mood! I’ll keep it in mind for sure. Great review, Tammy!
Yes, I think if you’re in the mood, you will love it:-)
This sounds so interesting to me, but I agree that the format and method of storytelling does sound odd, and it’s always a bummer when that distracts from the characters as well. I’ll definitely keep this one on my radar to check out, but hopefully this way I’ll know what I’m getting into!
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I think some readers are going to really love this, it’s definitely going to appeal to a certain type of reader.
Thanks for the detailed review! I’ve been so curious about this book, especially since I loved the Sleeping giants books and also love reading about the space program. I think I’m going to need to track down a copy. (But the lack of quotation marks will likely drive me bananas…)
Ha ha yeah that dialog without quotation marks is weird. I guess I got used to it, but it’s not my favorite.
The premise is interesting but I didn’t have the best time reading Sleeping Giant and this book doesn’t sound like something I would enjoy. And I don’t get why writers think quotation marks are overrated, they are not!
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And I loved Sleeping Giants so I doubt this would work for you!
Great review! I’ve been looking forward to it.
I’m not sure if I will pick this up anymore. If I do, I’ll get the library copy and try it later on this year.
It’s very interesting and really well written, but it’s geared towards a specific audience, I think.
This does sound intriguing, and I applaud the author for trying something a bit different. I do really dislike when authors don’t use quotes for dialog… why make it more difficult to read? But I’m sure I could get past that if the story is engaging enough.
To me, the lack of quotation marks makes the characters feel more distant. I’m not sure why, but it does:-)
I was pretty frustrated with the lack of information and context as well. The format had a lot to do with it, I think, I don’t think it was the right style to tell this story.
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Book Review: The Minders by John Marrs
Yeah, not one for me to be honest.
Lynn 😀
A lovely review that I thoroughly enjoyed reading, Tammy. I’ve tried reading this author before, but I’m not a fan of his writing style so I won’t be picking this one up. Though I can appreciate the ambition and reach of this one, however…
Yeah, this one has gotten some pretty mixed reviews. Most of the people I know that have read it either DNFed it or have it a low star review. At least you somewhat liked it.
You’ve sold this to me with the mother and daughter dynamic. And the weird is quite tempting…
So the storyline sounds good, but it probably would be hard for me to make it through with the way you say it is written. Maybe they’ll make a movie or tv series? I’d definitely watch it from what you describe. Great review!
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