A History of What Comes Next

The captivating speculative fiction perfect for fans of The Eternals

By: Sylvain Neuvel

Narrated by: Jilly Bond, Richard Trinder, Andrew Byron, Dugald Bruce Lockhart, Imogen Wilde, Kevin Shen, Sylvain Neuvel, Laila Pyne, Thoms Judd

Brought to you by Penguin.

Imagine everything you thought you knew about human progress was wrong. What would you do?

Mia is not sure what she is, but she isn't human. Smarter, stronger than her peers, all she knows are the rules: there can never be three for too long; always run, never fight.

When she finds herself in Germany, 1945, she must turn the Nazi's most trusted scientist with an offer: abandon the crumbling Nazi party, escape Germany with your life, come to work for the Americans building rockets.

But someone is watching her work. An enemy who's smarter, stronger, decidedly not human and prepared to do anything to retrieve something ancient that was long lost.

If only she had any idea what it was . . .

© Sylvain Neuvel 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critic reviews

It's fascinating to see how Neuvel weaves together fact and fiction . . . a blast. Seriously clever

An alt-history with a difference. Traces the true story of the development of rocket science but adds an alien-conspiracy-theory edge in the shape of a fictional team of mother-daughter clones. Along with the problems faced by women trying to change the world (or at least get men to listen to them), they are threatened by a mysterious 'Tracker' who has spent centuries trying to kill them. Good fun

A dark and ambitious book. Neuvel is forging ahead

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

Clever and compelling, it will keep you enthralled until the end

(Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of The Oppenheimer Alternative)

There's real cleverness at work here. Mia, bent on getting humanity sufficiently technologically developed so that they can leave Earth, makes some dodgy-sounding moral choices as she works towards humanity's salvation

Highly crafted and unique

A blast. Seriously clever fun

Praise for the THEMIS FILES

A stellar debut which masterfully blends sci-fi, political thriller and apocalyptic fiction. So much more than the sum of its parts - a page-turner of the highest order