A History of What Comes Next: A Take Them to the Stars Novel | 
pickLoved this! I read it in 2 days and for a slow reader that is fast. I love books that teach history in an entertaining way in fiction and telling you at the end what was true.
Picture: I read the ebook and don‘t have an image of the book to share, so look instead at this cool rock formation from a beach trip.
pickI really enjoyed Neuvel‘s Themis Files trilogy and have been looking forward to binging this series since first hearing about it! Set mainly in the 1940s and ‘50s, with some interludes of earlier time periods, this follows the mission passed down through generations of mothers and daughters. Fast-paced and well-researched, this blend of genres makes for an exciting start to the series. I‘m really excited to see where the next boom will go!
pick🎧 A BookTuber loved the Themis Files & said this was a new series by that author so I jumped in!
A mother/daughter pair who aren‘t your average duo. Their mission is to keep humanity on track towards space. Someone‘s trying to stop them.
This incorporates real history & people from WWII. I stopped & restarted when things started feeling familiar. Research went into this book 👍🏼 but you might not like it if you‘re not expecting it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
so-soSince I loved the Giant series by Neuvel, I was happy to learn that TOR was giving away free copies of the authors new series. Well, maybe my expectations were too high, but I'm not going to continue the Take Them to the Stars books. I just didn't get hooked at any time. The characters didn't interest me, and even though Neuvel uses a lot of historical backgrounds, he never managed to capture my interests. The afterword was the most interesting ⬇
Tor‘s eBook Club next book is A History of What Comes Next by Sylvia Neuvel! Available for download in mobi and ePub formats before 11:59 PM ET, November 5th.
https://ebookclub.tor.com #TorBookClub
Available in the US and Canada.
#JulyJourneys 🇺🇸
Happy Independence Day. I am channeling independent thought for the #USIndependence prompt & so I thought of alternative history. Sylvain Neuvel‘s latest book is on my #TBR list & I found this Publisher‘s Weekly article where he names some of his alternative history favorites:
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/855...
so-soFull review: https://scepticalreading.com/2021/06/bloodlines/
After reading The Calculating Stars this was another interesting take on the space race.
It was clear to me, what the twist to this story is.
Still interested to see where the sequel is going.
pickI listened to the audio book (which is a full cast narration) and I loved it. I love Mia's humor and sometimes snarky attitude.
At the end the author talks about the things that actually happened in history - like a ship manifest with a name that he used for one of the main characters.
pickEnjoyed the trip down memory lane of the space programs, but confused by the insertion of the lady alien clones into the story and their motivation - not to mention that of their male clone antagonists? Smacks a bit of having all technology being funneled from super smart/advanced/strong(???) aliens rather than from humans.
bailedI had been optimistic about this scifi, which is not my genre, because it was heavy on the history. But world building plus no quotation marks meant that I never really felt engaged in the story, just struggled to figure out what was going on. Not for me.
@TheAromaofBooks this is my #doublespin pick! (Does it still count of I didn't finish my #bookspin?)
(Gratuitous picture of Fern #hamsteroflitsy)
#pop21 #genrehybrid
pickThis one is so unique! I‘ve loved every book of Neuvel‘s that I‘ve read. I listened to this one on Audible, and the narrator was wonderful as well!
pickIt was good, heavy on the science, but not overwhelmingly so. The kibsu is odd and intriguing and the Trackers for that matter. And I felt like I learned something about rockets and the space race in the process.
pickA fun mashup of science fiction thriller—aliens on Earth for 100 generations—and factual mid-20th century rocket science development. Told in the alternating voices of mother and daughter scientists, plus entr‘acte scenes from earlier history, this story looks at the ethics of violence & technology. #Audiobook performed by multiple narrators plus two great bonus tracks at the end.
Do we truly care for people, for their empirical selves, or do we care for how we experience them? Is this a universal question, or is this also about me? Whatever it is, I want more!
pickMia comes from a unique lineage of science geniuses and finds herself in a position to influence the space race. This was a fun novel, exploring some of the same themes as the Themis series, and also slowly revealing a bit more about Mia‘s family. It‘s super female-centric in the best way. I think it‘s the start of a new series and I can‘t wait for the next book!
bailedThe Kibsu are an interesting concept, and I am still somewhat interested in how that story unfolds. But there‘s a large section based on Operation Paperclip that includes someone being surprised that the Nazis are fully realized humans capable of loving their families in addition to genocidal monsters. And I just can‘t, right now. #ARC
