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A History of What Comes Next

Written by: Sylvain Neuvel
Narrated by: Andrew Byron, Dugald Bruce Lockhart, Imogen Wilde, Jilly Bond, Kevin Shen, Laila Pyne, Richard Trinder, Sylvain Neuvel, Thomas Judd
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Publisher's Summary

This program includes additional material read by Sylvain Neuvel, and a bonus conversation with narrators Jilly Bond and Imogen Wilde.

Showing that truth is stranger than fiction, Sylvain Neuvel weaves a sci-fi thriller reminiscent of Blake Crouch and Andy Weir, blending a fast moving, darkly satirical look at 1940s rocketry with an exploration of the amorality of progress and the nature of violence in A History of What Comes Next.

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

Over 99 identical generations, Mia’s family has shaped human history to push them to the stars, making brutal, wrenching choices and sacrificing countless lives. Her turn comes at the dawn of the age of rocketry. Her mission: to lure Wernher Von Braun away from the Nazi party and into the American rocket program, and secure the future of the space race.

But Mia’s family is not the only group pushing the levers of history: an even more ruthless enemy lurks behind the scenes.

A darkly satirical first contact thriller, as seen through the eyes of the women who make progress possible and the men who are determined to stop them.... 

This program is read by: Jilly Bond, Imogen Wilde, Richard Trinder, Laila Pyne, Andrew Byron, Thomas Judd, Dugald Bruce Lockhart, and Kevin Shen, with additional material read by the author.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com

©2021 Sylvain Neuvel (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about A History of What Comes Next

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    4 out of 5 stars

Fabulously narrated reinterpretation of history

The narration was fantastic. The different voices for each character were engaging and the actors did a great job with the dialogue and giving the characters personality. I felt like I was listening to a play rather than a book, which I really loved. To be honest, I don’t think I would have enjoyed this as much if I’d read it.

A treat for history buffs who also love sci-fi, this novel is a fun, exciting, and at times comic/at times tragic “what if” story.

The story itself is a reinterpretation of real history, in that it modifies real places, events, and people so that they were influenced by the fictional characters Sarah and Mia, whom we quickly learn are not entirely human. They themselves aren’t sure what they are, as when they get pregnant they produce a genetic copy of themselves. Mia is the one-hundredth of these women, and also the one-hundredth to be on the lookout for a mysterious man or entity they call The Tracker.

I really enjoyed it. I love historical retellings, so I was very into the concept behind this novel. I understood what the author was trying to do and it worked for me. I’m also a big nerd when it comes to people doing research for their novels, and it was clear Neuvel put a lot of thought into this one. The little flashbacks of the Kibsu in different centuries were a delight. While not laugh-out-loud funny, the novel had a satirical streak that I was on board with.

Unlike other reviews, I didn’t mind the rather meandering plot. It kind of shows how real life stories don’t follow a linear plotline, that most of the big events are due to small decisions or minute changes. That being said, there were parts that dragged a little and I had some questions as to how Mia and Sarah, if they have no connections, are able to get the data/jobs they need. I know there’s a part where Sarah describes their wealth and extortion methods, but it felt like a thrown-in explanation after the fact.

I really loved how Mia and Sarah are almost as in the dark about their purpose as the reader is - this made their choices understandable and relatable. Yet, in certain aspects Mia and Sarah kept us at a distance. While we do see into their heads, it’s more during the action scenes than during downtime. Perhaps this is because they are alien and inscrutable, but I wanted more introspection than the book gave me.

Overall, it was an engaging and fun look at our history and … maybe … what comes next?

I definitely recommend listening to the section at the end where the author talks about the research he did for the novel and the real histories between some of the people in the book. I'm usually not into that kind of extra, but both this and the interview with the mother-daughter voice actors were really engaging.

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  • MJR
  • 2021-03-23

Fantastic! Well worth the listen

Books like this are what makes science fiction so compelling. Weaving together science, history and a fantastic story with compelling characters. I look forward to further work from Sylvain Neuvel.

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A history of what happens next

I read the book and listened to it at the same time for a full enjoyment. There were many foreign names which were a bit difficult for me to remember and I should have taken notes. But that was just me.
At the end of the book Sylvain explains that much of the story was based on real people and we got a humorous history lesson.
That was great! I’ll be searching the internet for more.
Looking forward to finding out what happens next .

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