Item: A History of What Comes Next
Rating: 3.00
Author: quirkycat

by Sylvain Neuvel

A speculative fiction as rich as The Man in the High Castle and as packed with thrills as Ready Player One

'An alt-history with a difference' GUARDIAN

This is a secret history of our world like no other . . .

Always run, never fight.
Preserve the knowledge.
Survive at all costs.
Take them to the stars.
_________

Germany, 1945.

Mia, a nineteen-year-old girl, is sent by the OSS to find Wernher von Braun: Germany's - and the world's - foremost rocket scientist. Her mission: stop the Russians getting hold of him.

But von Braun is suspicious. And so he should be.

For Mia is no ordinary girl. She only looks human. And helping the Allies win the Second World War is just one part of her plan . . .

Because there's an even darker conflict on Earth. A secret struggle thousands of years old. One that has taken generations of Mia's people.

But can the firing of rockets finally bring about its end?

Can Mia, as the last of her kind, bring the stars down to earth?

And if she succeeds, what will happen to us?
_________

'There's real cleverness at work here' The Times

'Wry narration, wired action . . . Fans of alternate history and intelligent sci-fi will love this' Publishers Weekly

'Clever and compelling, it will keep you enthralled until the end' Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of The Oppenheimer Alternative

'A dark and ambitious book. Neuvel is forging ahead' SFX Magazine

'Highly crafted and unique' Library Journal

I received a copy of A History of What Comes Next in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A History of What Comes Next, written by Sylvian Neuvel, is almost certainly one of the most unique historical fiction novels I've ever had the opportunity to read. It blurs the lines between fact and fiction, in beautiful yet subtlety horrifying ways.

Mia and her family have spent generations, a hundred of them, in fact, shaping a course for the human race to follow. From scientific advancements to impossible decisions, and everything in between. Her family is connected to all of it.

The end goal? To get humans out into space. Any effort that pushes the space race is a worthy one, in this dark and twisted satirical novel.

“We'll never know if we played a part in any of these things. Perhaps some of our research from the past...It did not matter.”

I'll admit it, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with A History of What Comes Next. On the one hand, it is so creative and so wonderfully written. On the other hand, there's something decidedly uncomfortable about reading fiction surrounding real people – about seeing their real lives changed for the sake of a story.

The end result is something fairly unsettling, which actually feels like the intent behind A History of What Comes Next. The satire is impossible to miss, and it absolutely succeeds in hitting home on more than one occasion.

If you are fascinated by alternative histories, by the events of the World Wars, by the space race, then this might just be the perfect novel for you. It isn't ashamed or afraid to dive into the technical aspects of those worlds, and thus anybody enjoying those facts will flourish alongside the writing.

All things considered, I don't regret reading A History of What Comes Next. It had an impact on me, even while I didn't fall in love with the narrative. I'm undecided on if I'll read the next two novels or not. It may just depend on how curious I'm feeling at the time.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

A History of What Comes Next (Take Them to the Stars, #1)

by Sylvain Neuvel

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on Feb 1, 2021

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