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Terrestrial History
A family saga following four generations on a time-bending journey from coastal Scotland to a colony on Mars.
Hannah is a fusion scientist working in a cottage off the coast of Scotland when she’s approached by a visitor from the future, a young man from a human settlement on Mars, traveling backward through time to intervene in the fate of a warming planet.
Roban lives in the Colony, a sterile outpost of civilization, where he longs for the wonders of a home planet he never knew. Between Hannah and Roban, two generations, a father and a daughter, face down an uncertain future. Andrew believes there is still time for the human spirit to triumph. For his rationalist daughter Kenzie, such idealism is not enough to keep the rising floods at bay, so she signs on to work for a company that would abandon Earth for the promise of a world beyond.
In exploring the question “What if you could come back to the past and somehow change it with technology?” Joe Mungo Reed has written an immersive story of hope, hubris, and sacrifice in the face of a frighteningly precarious present.
Hannah is a fusion scientist working in a cottage off the coast of Scotland when she’s approached by a visitor from the future, a young man from a human settlement on Mars, traveling backward through time to intervene in the fate of a warming planet.
Roban lives in the Colony, a sterile outpost of civilization, where he longs for the wonders of a home planet he never knew. Between Hannah and Roban, two generations, a father and a daughter, face down an uncertain future. Andrew believes there is still time for the human spirit to triumph. For his rationalist daughter Kenzie, such idealism is not enough to keep the rising floods at bay, so she signs on to work for a company that would abandon Earth for the promise of a world beyond.
In exploring the question “What if you could come back to the past and somehow change it with technology?” Joe Mungo Reed has written an immersive story of hope, hubris, and sacrifice in the face of a frighteningly precarious present.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published April 8, 2025
101 people are currently reading
10685 people want to read
About the author
Joe Mungo Reed
5 books126 followersJoe Mungo Reed was born in London and raised in Gloucestershire, England. He has a master’s in philosophy and politics at the University of Edinburgh and an MFA in creative writing at Syracuse University, where he won the Joyce Carol Oates Award in Fiction. He is the author of the novel, We Begin Our Ascent, and his short stories have appeared in VQR and Gigantic and anthologized in Best of Gigantic. He is currently living in Edinburgh, UK.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 193 reviews
January 17, 2025
[4.75+]
Joe Mungo Reed, where have your books been in my life? This is my first. Just as I need it, when I have loved ones on the verge of no-man’s land, you come out with a bombshell literary sci-fi dystopian novel that puts so many others like this to shame. Terrestrial History probes Time and space during the transitions that mark planetary destruction and exploration—specifically to Mars. It’s not what you think. It’s more than you know.
Pay attention, because this is no Star Trek, this is not network TV in a book. A family of four Scottish generations are either trying to escape Earth or save it. Hannah, a scientist (from our future, but most of the book’s past) is visited by a man from space, urging and helping her to progress in her research in order to essentially save human life. Her diligence also sparks conflict with her son, Andrew, who she semi-neglected while he was growing up in order to do her work. The planet is being destroyed by climactic crises, it's comparable to bliblical storms and weather. Andrew wants to save the world, not run away to Mars and leave the Earth’s collapse.
Andrew’s daughter, Kenzie, is a tech wiz working on a reactor that is necessary for colonizing Mars. Andrew is running for First Minister, and a popular one who can win the election if he cuts his daughter from his life. She stands for everything he rejects. How far will he go to secure his election? How far will Kenzie go to flee the planet?
Roban, from the next century, is an astronaut (of sorts) and a First Gen living on Mars. He goes on mysterious missions in space, including to Hannah’s cottage in the past, to her home by the Scottish sea.
About 95% of the book is near future or even further future, and it doesn’t all come together neatly while you are reading; it assembles and connects gradually. I admit to many unknowns and a cryptic quality regarding some of the characters and events. The narrative is just outstanding. Reed’s method of telling a story and powers of description are exceptional, rare. There’s also an affecting allegory to Plato’s Cave.
Yes, it is dense at times, and there are places where he gets a bit dilatory due to the way he carries out scenes and events, but it’s excusable. The author bridges philosophy, science, and a dramatic family story in page after page of a winning narrative. It’s not flawless, but the way he merges the cerebral, scientific, psychological and emotional facets of story is arresting.
The novel is also filled with vivid and robust prose. There’s an interior moment where Hannah says that she sometimes thinks of herself as a sports star famous for one great move long ago, or a singer who recorded one good song. My whole life, it sometimes seems, happened in less than three days. What had occurred before that was buildup, and what came after, consequence.”
Not to be missed, imho. Thank you so much to Norton publishers for sending me a copy for review.
Joe Mungo Reed, where have your books been in my life? This is my first. Just as I need it, when I have loved ones on the verge of no-man’s land, you come out with a bombshell literary sci-fi dystopian novel that puts so many others like this to shame. Terrestrial History probes Time and space during the transitions that mark planetary destruction and exploration—specifically to Mars. It’s not what you think. It’s more than you know.
Pay attention, because this is no Star Trek, this is not network TV in a book. A family of four Scottish generations are either trying to escape Earth or save it. Hannah, a scientist (from our future, but most of the book’s past) is visited by a man from space, urging and helping her to progress in her research in order to essentially save human life. Her diligence also sparks conflict with her son, Andrew, who she semi-neglected while he was growing up in order to do her work. The planet is being destroyed by climactic crises, it's comparable to bliblical storms and weather. Andrew wants to save the world, not run away to Mars and leave the Earth’s collapse.
Andrew’s daughter, Kenzie, is a tech wiz working on a reactor that is necessary for colonizing Mars. Andrew is running for First Minister, and a popular one who can win the election if he cuts his daughter from his life. She stands for everything he rejects. How far will he go to secure his election? How far will Kenzie go to flee the planet?
Roban, from the next century, is an astronaut (of sorts) and a First Gen living on Mars. He goes on mysterious missions in space, including to Hannah’s cottage in the past, to her home by the Scottish sea.
About 95% of the book is near future or even further future, and it doesn’t all come together neatly while you are reading; it assembles and connects gradually. I admit to many unknowns and a cryptic quality regarding some of the characters and events. The narrative is just outstanding. Reed’s method of telling a story and powers of description are exceptional, rare. There’s also an affecting allegory to Plato’s Cave.
Yes, it is dense at times, and there are places where he gets a bit dilatory due to the way he carries out scenes and events, but it’s excusable. The author bridges philosophy, science, and a dramatic family story in page after page of a winning narrative. It’s not flawless, but the way he merges the cerebral, scientific, psychological and emotional facets of story is arresting.
The novel is also filled with vivid and robust prose. There’s an interior moment where Hannah says that she sometimes thinks of herself as a sports star famous for one great move long ago, or a singer who recorded one good song. My whole life, it sometimes seems, happened in less than three days. What had occurred before that was buildup, and what came after, consequence.”
Not to be missed, imho. Thank you so much to Norton publishers for sending me a copy for review.
February 9, 2025
I would like to thank W.W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of this remarkable book.
In what felt like one of those moments where the universe likes to laugh and show you that it’s paying attention, I started reading Joe Mungo Reed’s Terrestrial History on the same day that a friend of mine sent me a video showing that the current administration in the United States was going to be implementing an executive order that would promote the usage of plastic straws.
No matter where you fall on whatever limp debate exists about plastic straw usage and their overall impact on the environment, it has been impossible to ignore the effect that humanity and industry have had on our planet as we’ve all experienced a seismic shift in how the place that we call home is reacting to our ever-expanding presence.
Because of this shift, a significant chunk of fiction writing has emerged that imagines possible futures, possible solutions and, of course, possible endings to our current predicament. Lydia Millet released A Children’s Bible in 2020 right at the cusp of a worldwide pandemic and Joy Williams released Harrow as we moved into what we were hoping was a post-pandemic world. To me, both of these novels represent a high mark in what has often been made reference to as climate fiction or “cli-fi”. With Terrestrial History, Joe Mungo Reed has created a document that deserves to stand not just among the absolute best of this hyper-specific genre tag, but also as one of the best works of this young year.
Terrestrial History follows four narrators, each from a different generation over a period of 85 years beginning in our present day of 2025. Hannah is a meticulous and unparalleled expert in the study of fusion science whose unique ideas have branded her a near-pariah among her peers. Andrew follows a strict moral code and believes in the inherent goodness of people to the point that he runs for office in an attempt to help shape and fix a world that is mired in climate panic for his daughter. Kenzie has spent her life wrestling with balancing her own ambitions and pragmatic beliefs with that of her more dreamy father and working to find a common ground that allows both of their goals to be realized without compromise. Roban is inquisitive and determined and part of the first group of children that were born on Earth’s first colony on Mars whose fascination with what those in the colony refer to as “Home” leads him to make shocking discoveries about the universe and about his family history.
The story begins at a home on the edge of the coast in Scotland as Hannah glances out to the ocean and notices a strange man walking towards the beach unbothered by the tides that surround him. Hannah’s reaction to this man explaining that he has arrived here from a colony on a distant planet and from the future is to accept this reality with wonder and with open arms. From here, Terrestrial History charts a path that spans four generations and two planets, dipping in and out of disparate time periods to weave a story not just of what ultimately happened to Earth, but how the events that led to part of humanity exiting the planet was shaped by the family at the heart of the story and how it affected them.
Joe Mungo Reed’s characters feel real and lived-in to a point of feeling like you have met all of them or have been aware of them at some point in your life. As you take in each chapter and each separate voice, the distinct differences in their tones and mannerisms are evident as it is always clear who is speaking to you. Through these scattered stories that jump around these eighty-five years, there is a realization that the actions of each individual generation - the little hesitations, the bold statements and actions taken, the unspoken thoughts - all have ramifications on the future…and the past. Terrestrial History both exists in a reality that feels all-too-possible and one that feels just enough outside the realm of possibility that it will make you wonder, hope and dream about what we still have left to discover about our universe and about ourselves.
In what felt like one of those moments where the universe likes to laugh and show you that it’s paying attention, I started reading Joe Mungo Reed’s Terrestrial History on the same day that a friend of mine sent me a video showing that the current administration in the United States was going to be implementing an executive order that would promote the usage of plastic straws.
No matter where you fall on whatever limp debate exists about plastic straw usage and their overall impact on the environment, it has been impossible to ignore the effect that humanity and industry have had on our planet as we’ve all experienced a seismic shift in how the place that we call home is reacting to our ever-expanding presence.
Because of this shift, a significant chunk of fiction writing has emerged that imagines possible futures, possible solutions and, of course, possible endings to our current predicament. Lydia Millet released A Children’s Bible in 2020 right at the cusp of a worldwide pandemic and Joy Williams released Harrow as we moved into what we were hoping was a post-pandemic world. To me, both of these novels represent a high mark in what has often been made reference to as climate fiction or “cli-fi”. With Terrestrial History, Joe Mungo Reed has created a document that deserves to stand not just among the absolute best of this hyper-specific genre tag, but also as one of the best works of this young year.
Terrestrial History follows four narrators, each from a different generation over a period of 85 years beginning in our present day of 2025. Hannah is a meticulous and unparalleled expert in the study of fusion science whose unique ideas have branded her a near-pariah among her peers. Andrew follows a strict moral code and believes in the inherent goodness of people to the point that he runs for office in an attempt to help shape and fix a world that is mired in climate panic for his daughter. Kenzie has spent her life wrestling with balancing her own ambitions and pragmatic beliefs with that of her more dreamy father and working to find a common ground that allows both of their goals to be realized without compromise. Roban is inquisitive and determined and part of the first group of children that were born on Earth’s first colony on Mars whose fascination with what those in the colony refer to as “Home” leads him to make shocking discoveries about the universe and about his family history.
The story begins at a home on the edge of the coast in Scotland as Hannah glances out to the ocean and notices a strange man walking towards the beach unbothered by the tides that surround him. Hannah’s reaction to this man explaining that he has arrived here from a colony on a distant planet and from the future is to accept this reality with wonder and with open arms. From here, Terrestrial History charts a path that spans four generations and two planets, dipping in and out of disparate time periods to weave a story not just of what ultimately happened to Earth, but how the events that led to part of humanity exiting the planet was shaped by the family at the heart of the story and how it affected them.
Joe Mungo Reed’s characters feel real and lived-in to a point of feeling like you have met all of them or have been aware of them at some point in your life. As you take in each chapter and each separate voice, the distinct differences in their tones and mannerisms are evident as it is always clear who is speaking to you. Through these scattered stories that jump around these eighty-five years, there is a realization that the actions of each individual generation - the little hesitations, the bold statements and actions taken, the unspoken thoughts - all have ramifications on the future…and the past. Terrestrial History both exists in a reality that feels all-too-possible and one that feels just enough outside the realm of possibility that it will make you wonder, hope and dream about what we still have left to discover about our universe and about ourselves.
March 18, 2025
Did Not Finish 40 percent
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
I tried. But with the world and my current job the way it is. I am not doing one blessed thing this year that is not bringing me joy. Heck, sometimes I can read a book that I am not exactly hate reading, but I go into a "I am finishing this because what in the world is happening here and where is the author going?" mode. But sometimes, like this, I hit an, "I just don't care. I don't care about the characters, the journey, the ending. I refuse to keep reading this because it's doing my head in." mode.
I really did love the cover of this book when I saw it. I don't know with the world the way it is right now, it spoke to me. The book synopsis did too. I liked the idea of following four people in really separate timelines that end up being the key from humankind moving on from an Earth that is growing more inhabitable to a settlement on Mars.
"Terrestrial History" follows Hannah, who is working off the coast of Scotland and is a scientist working on fusion. Roban lives in the Colony (big C every time it is discussed which was jarring) where he dreams of Earth. And then you have Andrew and his daughter Kenzie who are taking up different sides about whether Earth can really come back the way it needs to for humankind to survive. Throw some time travel in (which honestly this book did not need that at all) and that's this book.
I have to say this upfront. This book was pretentious as hell. I don't know. It didn't hit me the right way at all. And I got tired of honestly just wading though paragraphs upon paragraphs about ethics, morality, etc. It didn't help the story is out of order. Just to let you readers know, the book plot is not written chronologically which made it hard to follow. I had to hunt to to look for who was speaking and what year it was at all times which was jarring. For example, Hannah is in whatever year. I can't tell you. At one point it just says Hannah no year so I assume that's present day? Roban is in year 2103, Kenzie and Andrew are in year 2071.
Hannah's chapters/perspectives were easier to wade into than Roban/Andrew/Kenzie. Each character perspective is told first person point of view and yet they all sound the same. And honestly that is what really did me in. I would assume these people in different points of time would "sound different" and they did not. At the 40 percent mark I gave up.
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
I tried. But with the world and my current job the way it is. I am not doing one blessed thing this year that is not bringing me joy. Heck, sometimes I can read a book that I am not exactly hate reading, but I go into a "I am finishing this because what in the world is happening here and where is the author going?" mode. But sometimes, like this, I hit an, "I just don't care. I don't care about the characters, the journey, the ending. I refuse to keep reading this because it's doing my head in." mode.
I really did love the cover of this book when I saw it. I don't know with the world the way it is right now, it spoke to me. The book synopsis did too. I liked the idea of following four people in really separate timelines that end up being the key from humankind moving on from an Earth that is growing more inhabitable to a settlement on Mars.
"Terrestrial History" follows Hannah, who is working off the coast of Scotland and is a scientist working on fusion. Roban lives in the Colony (big C every time it is discussed which was jarring) where he dreams of Earth. And then you have Andrew and his daughter Kenzie who are taking up different sides about whether Earth can really come back the way it needs to for humankind to survive. Throw some time travel in (which honestly this book did not need that at all) and that's this book.
I have to say this upfront. This book was pretentious as hell. I don't know. It didn't hit me the right way at all. And I got tired of honestly just wading though paragraphs upon paragraphs about ethics, morality, etc. It didn't help the story is out of order. Just to let you readers know, the book plot is not written chronologically which made it hard to follow. I had to hunt to to look for who was speaking and what year it was at all times which was jarring. For example, Hannah is in whatever year. I can't tell you. At one point it just says Hannah no year so I assume that's present day? Roban is in year 2103, Kenzie and Andrew are in year 2071.
Hannah's chapters/perspectives were easier to wade into than Roban/Andrew/Kenzie. Each character perspective is told first person point of view and yet they all sound the same. And honestly that is what really did me in. I would assume these people in different points of time would "sound different" and they did not. At the 40 percent mark I gave up.
November 22, 2025
4.5 stars. This is a novel with time travel, but it is not a time travel novel, or even a science fiction novel, despite the Mars colony. Instead, it is the story of four generations of a small family (one character from each generation) living their way through the gradually boiling pot of climate catastrophe, starting at a simmer in 2025. The publisher blurb gives a good outline of the story but I wouldn't say it's a spoiler, since the surprises and twists are in the details. Each chapter focuses on one character and is told in the first person. The chapters jump between characters and weave back and forth in time over an 80 year period, letting us get to know each one deeply through their own thoughts and actions and other characters' feelings about them. The weaving is deftly done and the writing is warm, empathetic, elegiac.
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March 14, 2025Reviewing this novel for Locus, I make a big fuss about how every book I read features an analogue of Elon Musk—the narcissistic billionaire cos-playing as Hitler and the world's saviour. My astute editor rightly pointed out that this is not a new phenomenon and that this character is a well-established archetype within the genre. I changed my review to clarify that I wasn’t talking about Lex Luthor or the supervillains of the last century. The analogues for those guys aren’t as apparent. For example, dear Lex isn’t based on a single person but rather robber barons, nameless industrialists and, if we’re being specific (and generous), people like Rockefeller, Carnegie and Morgan (of the J.P. variety).
The analogue is far more evident with the recent crop of fictional arsehole billionaires. It’s either Elon, Zuck or Jeff*. At the moment, I think most of these portrayals have Elon as their model because even five years back, he was the most charismatic and visible of the three (with “charismatic” doing a fuck-tonne of work in that sentence). It’s just a viewpoint; you don’t have to agree with me, and I won’t hate you—not even a little bit.
As for the book, it’s good. The Elon Musk analogue barely appears, but his presence is felt throughout. He wants to colonise Mars, believing Earth is fucked. He’s not half wrong. The novel is structured around four generations of a single family—starting in the present day and moving a century into the future—all of whom play a central role in humanity’s destiny. (Reed toggles between each generation rather than telling the story sequentially). There’s also time travel, and while the application here is a bit obvious, it still works.
You can read my full review in the April issue of Locus.
*And frankly, given how they’ve all removed the mask, it could be all three.
The analogue is far more evident with the recent crop of fictional arsehole billionaires. It’s either Elon, Zuck or Jeff*. At the moment, I think most of these portrayals have Elon as their model because even five years back, he was the most charismatic and visible of the three (with “charismatic” doing a fuck-tonne of work in that sentence). It’s just a viewpoint; you don’t have to agree with me, and I won’t hate you—not even a little bit.
As for the book, it’s good. The Elon Musk analogue barely appears, but his presence is felt throughout. He wants to colonise Mars, believing Earth is fucked. He’s not half wrong. The novel is structured around four generations of a single family—starting in the present day and moving a century into the future—all of whom play a central role in humanity’s destiny. (Reed toggles between each generation rather than telling the story sequentially). There’s also time travel, and while the application here is a bit obvious, it still works.
You can read my full review in the April issue of Locus.
*And frankly, given how they’ve all removed the mask, it could be all three.
July 17, 2025
‘Terrestrial History’ by Joe Mungo Reed is a literary science fiction. The novel explores the emotional costs of four generations of a family who are each confronting climate change and environmental devastation of the Earth. Each character narrates their lives in their own separate timelines. Hannah, who is mother, grandmother, and great grandmother to the other characters, is a scientist involved in attempts to develop a fusion device. Andrew, her future son, is attempting to win office in 2057 as a politician in order to persuade people to face and fight the oncoming climate change destructions. Kenzie, Andrew’s daughter, as an adult disputes with her father about the future of Mankind on Earth. She is determined to win a seat aboard a spaceship heading for Mars to build a colony. She believes trying to live on Earth a lost cause. Roban, born on Mars, is involved in the efforts to transform Mars into an environment more amiable to humans.
I have copied the book blurb:
”A family saga following four generations on a time-bending journey from coastal Scotland to a colony on Mars.
Hannah is a fusion scientist working in a cottage off the coast of Scotland when she��s approached by a visitor from the future, a young man from a human settlement on Mars, traveling backward through time to intervene in the fate of a warming planet.
Roban lives in the Colony, a sterile outpost of civilization, where he longs for the wonders of a home planet he never knew. Between Hannah and Roban, two generations, a father and a daughter, face down an uncertain future. Andrew believes there is still time for the human spirit to triumph. For his rationalist daughter Kenzie, such idealism is not enough to keep the rising floods at bay, so she signs on to work for a company that would abandon Earth for the promise of a world beyond.
In exploring the question “What if you could come back to the past and somehow change it with technology?” Joe Mungo Reed has written an immersive story of hope, hubris, and sacrifice in the face of a frighteningly precarious present.”
This is not a whizbang thriller, or even an in-depth science fiction about what technology might possibly be developed to stop or slow the ruination of the Earth’s environment. Instead, the story is about the emotional costs of losing the glories of the Earth’s environment today to climate change and how different generations of a family handle the changes during their lifetimes.
Is it possible that even if time travel could somehow be invented and be used to go back in time in an attempt to change the future, all it would do is create a branch off of the timeline, a different future that coexists with the first timeline of an uninhabitable Earth. I think this is sad, right?
I thought the Mars colony was definitely a poor substitute for the Earth that was before it becomes uninhabitable for human life. The book is really mostly a eulogy. A eulogy of beautiful poetic writing about Earth, but still a eulogy.
I have copied the book blurb:
”A family saga following four generations on a time-bending journey from coastal Scotland to a colony on Mars.
Hannah is a fusion scientist working in a cottage off the coast of Scotland when she��s approached by a visitor from the future, a young man from a human settlement on Mars, traveling backward through time to intervene in the fate of a warming planet.
Roban lives in the Colony, a sterile outpost of civilization, where he longs for the wonders of a home planet he never knew. Between Hannah and Roban, two generations, a father and a daughter, face down an uncertain future. Andrew believes there is still time for the human spirit to triumph. For his rationalist daughter Kenzie, such idealism is not enough to keep the rising floods at bay, so she signs on to work for a company that would abandon Earth for the promise of a world beyond.
In exploring the question “What if you could come back to the past and somehow change it with technology?” Joe Mungo Reed has written an immersive story of hope, hubris, and sacrifice in the face of a frighteningly precarious present.”
This is not a whizbang thriller, or even an in-depth science fiction about what technology might possibly be developed to stop or slow the ruination of the Earth’s environment. Instead, the story is about the emotional costs of losing the glories of the Earth’s environment today to climate change and how different generations of a family handle the changes during their lifetimes.
Is it possible that even if time travel could somehow be invented and be used to go back in time in an attempt to change the future, all it would do is create a branch off of the timeline, a different future that coexists with the first timeline of an uninhabitable Earth. I think this is sad, right?
I thought the Mars colony was definitely a poor substitute for the Earth that was before it becomes uninhabitable for human life. The book is really mostly a eulogy. A eulogy of beautiful poetic writing about Earth, but still a eulogy.
February 23, 2025
If half stars were available, I'd give this book 4.5. I'll explain why later.
Terrestrial History is a unique, very topical story that I found intriguing throughout. It tells the story of four generations of relatives, all written in first-person narrative. It spans many times, places, situations - and yes, planets. Since I am a sucker for time-travel stories, it teased me with this theme numerous times, starting in chapter one. Unfortunately this became a very secondary aspect of the story and honestly, it didn't pay off as I had hoped.
Reed is an excellent writer and manages to get deeply inside the minds and emotions of his characters. Almost too much. To the point where I felt he was doing a lot of padding to increase the word count of the novel to some predetermined number. His writing lacked an economy and too often the main flow is interrupted too much for my liking. That is my major criticism of the book.
As our planet faces numerous crises, including the potential for environmental disaster, this book focuses on what humanity might do to overcome and survive the death of our world. That makes for powerful reading and is what kept me engaged. Reed imagines several scientific options for future technology, and he obviously did critical research into them. Often he leaves it to us to fill in some of the blanks, but that is honestly how a contemporary writer referencing these devices would communicate. It's frustrating for someone like me wanting to know the mechanism behind how magnets could be used to create infinite power, but he is honest to the book's presentation.
A worthy read and I recommend it.
Terrestrial History is a unique, very topical story that I found intriguing throughout. It tells the story of four generations of relatives, all written in first-person narrative. It spans many times, places, situations - and yes, planets. Since I am a sucker for time-travel stories, it teased me with this theme numerous times, starting in chapter one. Unfortunately this became a very secondary aspect of the story and honestly, it didn't pay off as I had hoped.
Reed is an excellent writer and manages to get deeply inside the minds and emotions of his characters. Almost too much. To the point where I felt he was doing a lot of padding to increase the word count of the novel to some predetermined number. His writing lacked an economy and too often the main flow is interrupted too much for my liking. That is my major criticism of the book.
As our planet faces numerous crises, including the potential for environmental disaster, this book focuses on what humanity might do to overcome and survive the death of our world. That makes for powerful reading and is what kept me engaged. Reed imagines several scientific options for future technology, and he obviously did critical research into them. Often he leaves it to us to fill in some of the blanks, but that is honestly how a contemporary writer referencing these devices would communicate. It's frustrating for someone like me wanting to know the mechanism behind how magnets could be used to create infinite power, but he is honest to the book's presentation.
A worthy read and I recommend it.
May 1, 2025
A little time travel literary fiction treasure! Really enjoyed this for what it is. A climate change apocalypse with complex relationships and a touch of the fantasy of time travel.
May 14, 2025
Cliched,predictable and booooring.
February 10, 2025
More often than not, the books that I win in giveaways end up being only OK but every once in a while a gem of a book will come through as is the case with Terrestrial History. What a fantastic and thought provoking read! Plus, time travel, which is one of my favorite science fiction themes.
This book takes place over 4 different generations of a family from Scotland. It spans a lot of years with each chapter from a different character's perspective in a different period of time. It starts on Earth in 2025 but as time goes on and colonization on another planet becomes a reality, we get to see what life on a colonized Mars is like. Climate change/crisis plays a big role in this book along with the search for an energy source that won't cause further destruction to an already ailing planet. This book was frightening in a very real way which is a high compliment for a book of dystopian nature. I feel like it wouldn't take much for this world to be our reality. That's scary to me.
I really enjoyed the POV of all the different characters. I felt like they each had a very unique voice and it was a pleasure to get to know them. They felt like real people with plenty of flaws and emotions. I loved the relationships between these generations of family, though distant and strained, there's something beautiful about it.
I really liked the way Reed predicted the future of this world and described future technology. He didn't go into too much detail but provided enough to make it easy to visualize life and people of the future.
Clearly, I have a lot of good things to say about this book and it is deserving of all of them. Time travel and the concept of time, the universe, the multiverse are complicated and I think it's easy to overcomplicate them (ahem...marvel) but Reed did an excellent job posing his questions about time and leaving it up to the reader to ponder whether things are inevitable or not.
This is a book that is definitely worth checking out. I really liked it and highly recommend it.
This book takes place over 4 different generations of a family from Scotland. It spans a lot of years with each chapter from a different character's perspective in a different period of time. It starts on Earth in 2025 but as time goes on and colonization on another planet becomes a reality, we get to see what life on a colonized Mars is like. Climate change/crisis plays a big role in this book along with the search for an energy source that won't cause further destruction to an already ailing planet. This book was frightening in a very real way which is a high compliment for a book of dystopian nature. I feel like it wouldn't take much for this world to be our reality. That's scary to me.
I really enjoyed the POV of all the different characters. I felt like they each had a very unique voice and it was a pleasure to get to know them. They felt like real people with plenty of flaws and emotions. I loved the relationships between these generations of family, though distant and strained, there's something beautiful about it.
I really liked the way Reed predicted the future of this world and described future technology. He didn't go into too much detail but provided enough to make it easy to visualize life and people of the future.
Clearly, I have a lot of good things to say about this book and it is deserving of all of them. Time travel and the concept of time, the universe, the multiverse are complicated and I think it's easy to overcomplicate them (ahem...marvel) but Reed did an excellent job posing his questions about time and leaving it up to the reader to ponder whether things are inevitable or not.
This is a book that is definitely worth checking out. I really liked it and highly recommend it.
March 30, 2025
good book!! a little overcomplicated in its premise and maybe a bit self-serious but also quite moving at times. the rare climate novel that is not merely an exercise in despair! i do really like it when books are good 🥲
arc provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review
arc provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review
March 19, 2025
this one’s for those of us who were a wee bit too obsessed with station eleven when it first came out, and for those of us who still cry a little every time we rewatch interstellar. a truly special book, full of warmth and hope and admiration towards this planet that we call our home; and which, in truth, would still be our home if we ever were to leave it. lovely stuff.
many thanks to edelweiss for granting me a drc of this book ahead of its publication on april 8th.
many thanks to edelweiss for granting me a drc of this book ahead of its publication on april 8th.
April 25, 2025
3.5 stars. Amazing story but I felt like it ended before it was finished. I’m not a fan of dangling endings even if they are artistic.
November 6, 2025
A beautifully written book that alternates between joy and sadness about the state of world, this science fiction novel spans 4 generations of a family facing the slow death of the planet due to climate change. We start in the present day with Hannah, a physicist who thinks nuclear fusion could solve the world's energy problems but hasn't found a practical way to create a usable, replicable reactor (yet). Shunned by her fellow scientists for stubbornly insisting she's right in every situation, Hannah has retreated to a family cottage on a remote island off the west coast of Scotland to try and work.
She's not making much progress when Robhan shows up - a time traveler from almost 100 years in the future. He tells her he lives on Mars, on a colony created by humans who fled Earth as the planet was dying and society is starting to break down. He's there to help Hannah in her work, so that maybe humans could save their planet rather than abandoning it.
That's all in the first chapter or 2, and we are slowly introduced to the other players in this continuum: Hannah's son, Andrew, and his daughter, Kenzie - mother to Robhan. Yes, he is Hannah's great-grandson come back to help her help the planet, but she doesn't know that.
Through chapters alternating between different perspectives, we see how the planet deteriorates, and how people like Andrew are trying to save it (through politics and policy). Kenzie becomes a physicist like her grandmother, and is also working on a fusion reactor. She discovers Hannah's notebooks, and is able to make the breakthroughs that Hannah never could. Instead of putting that knowledge to use on Earth, however, she signs on for the Mars mission as one of its key scientists.
Some of the most interesting chapters are told from Robhan's perspective on Mars, as he is one of the first generation of children born there, adapting to live on Mars rather than Earth, resulting in tension between them and the "Homers", those that came from Earth.
This book asks a lot of interesting questions about what would you do to save the planet - if anything. Is it right to just leave and, if so, who gets to leave? (answer - the privileged) What responsibility do the Mars colonists have to the people they left behind? Robhan and Kenzie decide to try and save the Earth, by sending him back in time to try and help his great-grandmother.
The fact that he can't help her, that he can't change the past, is heartbreaking. If you think this book sounds like a real bummer, you're right in some sense. However the writing is exquisite, and I loved all the characters and the author's speculations about life on Mars.
I also appreciated that the book ended with Robhan on Earth, the last chapter written from his perspective as he experiences the natural world for the first time. That beauty is worth saving.
She's not making much progress when Robhan shows up - a time traveler from almost 100 years in the future. He tells her he lives on Mars, on a colony created by humans who fled Earth as the planet was dying and society is starting to break down. He's there to help Hannah in her work, so that maybe humans could save their planet rather than abandoning it.
That's all in the first chapter or 2, and we are slowly introduced to the other players in this continuum: Hannah's son, Andrew, and his daughter, Kenzie - mother to Robhan. Yes, he is Hannah's great-grandson come back to help her help the planet, but she doesn't know that.
Through chapters alternating between different perspectives, we see how the planet deteriorates, and how people like Andrew are trying to save it (through politics and policy). Kenzie becomes a physicist like her grandmother, and is also working on a fusion reactor. She discovers Hannah's notebooks, and is able to make the breakthroughs that Hannah never could. Instead of putting that knowledge to use on Earth, however, she signs on for the Mars mission as one of its key scientists.
Some of the most interesting chapters are told from Robhan's perspective on Mars, as he is one of the first generation of children born there, adapting to live on Mars rather than Earth, resulting in tension between them and the "Homers", those that came from Earth.
This book asks a lot of interesting questions about what would you do to save the planet - if anything. Is it right to just leave and, if so, who gets to leave? (answer - the privileged) What responsibility do the Mars colonists have to the people they left behind? Robhan and Kenzie decide to try and save the Earth, by sending him back in time to try and help his great-grandmother.
The fact that he can't help her, that he can't change the past, is heartbreaking. If you think this book sounds like a real bummer, you're right in some sense. However the writing is exquisite, and I loved all the characters and the author's speculations about life on Mars.
I also appreciated that the book ended with Robhan on Earth, the last chapter written from his perspective as he experiences the natural world for the first time. That beauty is worth saving.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2025
The descriptive writing throughout this book is masterful and highly symbolic. The changes in writing to fit the character/era and theme of story events is also on point. The tone in which Roban speaks in first person, for instance, is itself a descriptor of the setting of the colony on Mars. The reader experiences a realistic interpretation of a Mars colony through Roban, what he knows and doesn't know. The cold void of metal, with Mother Earth completely inaccessible, the delicacies which were taken for granted.
The book as a whole is a compact and unexpectedly emotionally detailed sci-fi novel about four timelines, centered around a point in Earth's future where the planet becomes unlivable, which progressively reveal truths about each other and circle back into one another. Characters prioritize certain beliefs and relationships over others, and face the consequences of their decisions...These events force me as the reader to consider my relationships, not only with others but with nature itself. Some of these consequences, for instance with the Andrew/Kenzie storyline, are tragic, and I deeply empathized with the characters.
The ending of book is handled cleverly to not make a scientific statement about time travel, allowing one of the core questions of the book to shine through. What interpersonal sacrifices should be made if it means saving the planet? Are those even worth making? What is our relationship with the planet? What duties do we have to each other? To the planet? To people who we don't know exist?
The story isn't too complex, but the more perceptively I read, the more details I noticed which connect the different storylines. I may not remember this book forever so I can't give it 5 stars, but anything less than 4 wouldn't do it justice for me.
The book as a whole is a compact and unexpectedly emotionally detailed sci-fi novel about four timelines, centered around a point in Earth's future where the planet becomes unlivable, which progressively reveal truths about each other and circle back into one another. Characters prioritize certain beliefs and relationships over others, and face the consequences of their decisions...These events force me as the reader to consider my relationships, not only with others but with nature itself. Some of these consequences, for instance with the Andrew/Kenzie storyline, are tragic, and I deeply empathized with the characters.
The ending of book is handled cleverly to not make a scientific statement about time travel, allowing one of the core questions of the book to shine through. What interpersonal sacrifices should be made if it means saving the planet? Are those even worth making? What is our relationship with the planet? What duties do we have to each other? To the planet? To people who we don't know exist?
The story isn't too complex, but the more perceptively I read, the more details I noticed which connect the different storylines. I may not remember this book forever so I can't give it 5 stars, but anything less than 4 wouldn't do it justice for me.
April 21, 2025
4.5*
I really enjoyed this one! I loved the span of four generations, and seeing how their lives played out interconnected to each other. There is an element of time travel, but it's very secondary to the characters' stories, most of which we see through various slices of life at different (but vital) points in their lives. I loved how they all connected, but how each character was still their own person outside of the greater scope of the family. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming, and certainly emotive beyond the concept of trying to save the world. My minor gripe is that I personally prefer a neater ending, and we did not get that, but it does fit the tone of the book well. I also found it impressive that such a well-developed world and cast of characters was accomplished in such a short amount of pages! Also, as you can imagine, there is certainly an underlying commentary about climate change, and how maybe waiting until Earth is unlivable isn't the best plan. It doesn't feel preachy or pushy, it just feels... honest.
Bottom Line: Absolutely recommend this lovely and insightful take on family and the perils of climate change.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
I really enjoyed this one! I loved the span of four generations, and seeing how their lives played out interconnected to each other. There is an element of time travel, but it's very secondary to the characters' stories, most of which we see through various slices of life at different (but vital) points in their lives. I loved how they all connected, but how each character was still their own person outside of the greater scope of the family. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming, and certainly emotive beyond the concept of trying to save the world. My minor gripe is that I personally prefer a neater ending, and we did not get that, but it does fit the tone of the book well. I also found it impressive that such a well-developed world and cast of characters was accomplished in such a short amount of pages! Also, as you can imagine, there is certainly an underlying commentary about climate change, and how maybe waiting until Earth is unlivable isn't the best plan. It doesn't feel preachy or pushy, it just feels... honest.
Bottom Line: Absolutely recommend this lovely and insightful take on family and the perils of climate change.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
December 9, 2025
okay, so, ouch.
terrestrial history is everything that i love most about climate fiction. which is to say, it’s climate fiction that reminds the reader of the true human cost of climate change. yes, this is a story of a wasting world and our last-ditch efforts to survive a universe that we have only ever treated as a commodity. but it’s more importantly a story about a scientist, her son and her granddaughter, and the strange young man emerging from the ocean one day, the man who claims to be from mars.
"in all its complexity and strange elegance, is the universe really built to allow us glimpses of our dead?"
this is sci-fi at its best: heavy on the within-reach science and emotional outcomes of the characters’ actions. i love how time is woven into the narrative, and how the plot itself needs to be pieced together almost in reverse. the characters all feel loss so deeply, and yet feel so isolated in their own experiences. i would recommend this to the thought daughter chronic rewatchers of interstellar—the knowing of the heartbreak and the making of choices despite it all.
terrestrial history is everything that i love most about climate fiction. which is to say, it’s climate fiction that reminds the reader of the true human cost of climate change. yes, this is a story of a wasting world and our last-ditch efforts to survive a universe that we have only ever treated as a commodity. but it’s more importantly a story about a scientist, her son and her granddaughter, and the strange young man emerging from the ocean one day, the man who claims to be from mars.
"in all its complexity and strange elegance, is the universe really built to allow us glimpses of our dead?"
this is sci-fi at its best: heavy on the within-reach science and emotional outcomes of the characters’ actions. i love how time is woven into the narrative, and how the plot itself needs to be pieced together almost in reverse. the characters all feel loss so deeply, and yet feel so isolated in their own experiences. i would recommend this to the thought daughter chronic rewatchers of interstellar—the knowing of the heartbreak and the making of choices despite it all.
August 20, 2025
A four person split POV book, starting with someone today and alternating to various dates in the future, sometimes the far future (22nd century). This falls into the “if we ruin Earth can we go to Mars?” category of fiction, of which there are a few books out there.
It's not a spoiler to say that these people are all connected but I won't say how. It's pretty clear from the get go. A main theme is the development of fusion technology which implies limitless power with no emissions that might save the Earth, but even if fusion were made possible today (today's POV character is working on it), without significant carbon removal the Earth is going to proceed through inevitable climate change. It's already baked in.
Some of the characters interact, and part of the author's skill is showing the same character from a different POV than their own.
The timey-wimey bit was a plot device to tie the characters together, and despite the hand-waving about how it worked, I thought it was fine. The episode where it first occurs is particularly engaging, and chilling.
Since we don't know precisely how climate change to going to affect the Earth, fiction writers have to dance around it a bit. In this one, things fall apart rapidly within a few years. Not just human civilization, but much of nature. I suppose it's possible; who's to say it won't happen like this.
Don't tell the big shot billionaire, but I'm still skeptical of a viable, self-sustaining human colony on Mars.
The connecting-characters-through-time-travel theme reminded me of Emily St. John Mandel's 'Sea of Tranquility'. Maybe it's just me, but there seems to be a surge in this lately, including a surge of multiple POV stories (e.g., three or more). Rotating chapters through three characters I can handle, when it gets to four or more I have to go back to their last chapter to refresh my memory of where we are in their story.
Your mileage may vary.
It's not a spoiler to say that these people are all connected but I won't say how. It's pretty clear from the get go. A main theme is the development of fusion technology which implies limitless power with no emissions that might save the Earth, but even if fusion were made possible today (today's POV character is working on it), without significant carbon removal the Earth is going to proceed through inevitable climate change. It's already baked in.
Some of the characters interact, and part of the author's skill is showing the same character from a different POV than their own.
The timey-wimey bit was a plot device to tie the characters together, and despite the hand-waving about how it worked, I thought it was fine. The episode where it first occurs is particularly engaging, and chilling.
Since we don't know precisely how climate change to going to affect the Earth, fiction writers have to dance around it a bit. In this one, things fall apart rapidly within a few years. Not just human civilization, but much of nature. I suppose it's possible; who's to say it won't happen like this.
Don't tell the big shot billionaire, but I'm still skeptical of a viable, self-sustaining human colony on Mars.
The connecting-characters-through-time-travel theme reminded me of Emily St. John Mandel's 'Sea of Tranquility'. Maybe it's just me, but there seems to be a surge in this lately, including a surge of multiple POV stories (e.g., three or more). Rotating chapters through three characters I can handle, when it gets to four or more I have to go back to their last chapter to refresh my memory of where we are in their story.
Your mileage may vary.
April 28, 2025
What an excellent new addition to the growing genre of eco-fiction! Following the climate crisis to its speculative end... devastating but fascinating! This book asks some really excellent questions about the lack of energy, money, and time being used to save the planet and the species from climate crisis vs. the amount of energy, money, and time that would go into enabling humans to survive or thrive on another planet. Where was this "We can do it" energy when the planet was dying, in some cases at these corporations own hands??? I'm sure all that sounds like its too on the nose thematically but in practice this was beautifully executed, deeply human, and has some time travel bits that really had me on the edge of my seat. Fantastic!
Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for providing me with an eARC in exchange for this honest review
Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for providing me with an eARC in exchange for this honest review
December 11, 2025
i liked the very end of this book, and i guess the messaging of it
but i did not like the writing style. it was so hard to bounce between POVs and years and worlds. and the relationships btwn characters/timelines were implicit but obvious? like it felt unnecessarily cryptic. the actual writing was gorgeous at times but also kind of overly complex at other times. i also don’t think the world building was strong enough, like i didn’t feel there yk?
also major bummer re: climate disasters :/ like scary
but i did not like the writing style. it was so hard to bounce between POVs and years and worlds. and the relationships btwn characters/timelines were implicit but obvious? like it felt unnecessarily cryptic. the actual writing was gorgeous at times but also kind of overly complex at other times. i also don’t think the world building was strong enough, like i didn’t feel there yk?
also major bummer re: climate disasters :/ like scary
June 21, 2025
Terrestrial History is a multigenerational science fiction novel about the climate crisis. Reeds prose is vivid and robust and I really enjoyed his writing. A tender read that pulled at my heart strings and reminded me a lot of Emily St. John Mandel.
December 7, 2025
environmental science fiction that also deals with love and family touches my heart in a way that no other genre does. this is so beautiful and so sad, yet hopeful too. a really gorgeous and deeply touching book.
April 4, 2025
This book seriously took me by surprise - it took a bit to get into, the physics jargon janky at times and the plot ambiguous, but once I got into the flow of it I was utterly hooked. It is such a fascinating, multi-generational dystopian sci-fi time travelling piece (a mouthful - I know). While it does have the ‘epic-ness’ of a science fiction novel, it is balanced with moments of despair, of hope, and of candid relationships between parents and children. Underlined by realities of a desecrated Earth and the desire to have a new perfect world beyond (or alternatively, go back in time to save the one we have) make this journey precariously present, and overwhelmingly relevant to today.
April 24, 2025
This book has an interesting premise but falls short of delivering a compelling story. It is supposed to be about the apocalypse, Mars colonization, and time travel but glosses over all the interesting things that could come from those topics and instead focuses on the lives of the characters. The chapters jump around from character to character and forward and backward in time and there’s just very little time for character development that I couldn’t get attached to any of them and wasn’t invested in what was going on. Usually when I finish a book, I’m a little sad that the characters are gone and won’t get to read about their adventures anymore, but I had to force myself to finish this book and it affected me very little.
I received this book through a giveaway by Goodreads but that didn’t impact my review or rating. It was probably closer to 3.5 stars in my opinion, mildly above average but falling vastly short of excellent. It is a quick read and would be worth reading for advanced readers with a love of apocalyptic sci fi and space exploration.
I received this book through a giveaway by Goodreads but that didn’t impact my review or rating. It was probably closer to 3.5 stars in my opinion, mildly above average but falling vastly short of excellent. It is a quick read and would be worth reading for advanced readers with a love of apocalyptic sci fi and space exploration.
June 1, 2025
4.5/5 stars overall ⭐️
I was excited to read this as soon as I heard the premise, and it does not disappoint. As someone who’s not usually into sci-fi, it gripped me right away and maintained a well-planned plot throughout.
I do think the lowest points are the technical explanations, it’s easy to gloss over those at times. The family connections also felt pretty obvious from the get, it’s not much of a surprise as the late-reveal might suggest.
But the world-building and revealing of detail over time was excellent, especially enough to keep the details straight of 4 set places in different settings. Similarly, I’m impressed by the author’s tone across our separate characters: they all felt distinct, but you can pick up on word choices, observations, and other touches that reminded you that they’re related.
I was excited to read this as soon as I heard the premise, and it does not disappoint. As someone who’s not usually into sci-fi, it gripped me right away and maintained a well-planned plot throughout.
I do think the lowest points are the technical explanations, it’s easy to gloss over those at times. The family connections also felt pretty obvious from the get, it’s not much of a surprise as the late-reveal might suggest.
But the world-building and revealing of detail over time was excellent, especially enough to keep the details straight of 4 set places in different settings. Similarly, I’m impressed by the author’s tone across our separate characters: they all felt distinct, but you can pick up on word choices, observations, and other touches that reminded you that they’re related.
May 3, 2025
Terrestrial History tells the story of ecological and societal collapse on earth, the development of fusion energy, and the colonization of Mars through narrators from multiple generations of a family. The book was beautifully written and felt like an appropriately cautionary tale about the risks involved in waiting for miracle technologies to solve all of our problems.
I really enjoyed the characters in this book and the ways that their stories were interwoven. The plot revolves around time travel, although the details of this don’t become a focal point until the last quarter of the book. I like time travel as a story telling device in theory, but usually find myself disappointed by the details.
In most stories that revolve around time travel (and this book is no exception) there comes a point where you need to suspend disbelief. In Terrestrial History, this point is a baguette shaped asteroid with worm-hole-like properties? This asteroid allows for travel backwards in time using some really hand wavy mechanics. Any attempt to further rationalize this time travel would have almost certainly detracted from the overall story, so this is not too much of a demerit, in my opinion.
I really enjoyed the characters in this book and the ways that their stories were interwoven. The plot revolves around time travel, although the details of this don’t become a focal point until the last quarter of the book. I like time travel as a story telling device in theory, but usually find myself disappointed by the details.
In most stories that revolve around time travel (and this book is no exception) there comes a point where you need to suspend disbelief. In Terrestrial History, this point is a baguette shaped asteroid with worm-hole-like properties? This asteroid allows for travel backwards in time using some really hand wavy mechanics. Any attempt to further rationalize this time travel would have almost certainly detracted from the overall story, so this is not too much of a demerit, in my opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2025
This is a deeply solemn, contemplative multigenerational look at the human side of the climate crisis, and what it will do to relationships if we try to abandon the planet as a solution. It doesn't have an agenda, but uses time travel as a means of exploring how familial relationships change over time and generations. It does drag a bit in the middle, and Roban's section in particular can be confusing in its nonlinearity, but it's still a very good book.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
May 24, 2025
This book is short compared to what I usually read but, somehow, required a longer time for me to complete. That may not seem like an endorsement however, the plot and imagery of the book was better digested at a slower pace.
I found myself reading 20-40 pages a day because it made me reflect on the allegory of our current politics vs long-term longevity. Every night I read the themes of this book lingered on my mind.
If I had to put my review as a title it would be, A Modern Introspection of a Possibility of the Future/Past.
I found myself reading 20-40 pages a day because it made me reflect on the allegory of our current politics vs long-term longevity. Every night I read the themes of this book lingered on my mind.
If I had to put my review as a title it would be, A Modern Introspection of a Possibility of the Future/Past.
June 17, 2025
A time-traveling cautionary tale told from multiple POVs by members of one family, Terrestrial History is a work of eco-fiction that examines the personal and wide-ranging effects of climate change. As the planet heads toward an irreversible climate crisis, the characters are faced with decisions that will determine their survival while also causing family rifts and episodes of regret. So far, Terrestrial History is one of my top two favorite books of 2025.
July 19, 2025
This one had me hitting the snooze for the first 100 pgs. but gave me exactly what I wanted in the second half. I'm a sucker for a "remembering the beauty of our mother Earth" narrative and that story line centering someone born on Mars really pulled me in—found myself shedding a tear or two. Kind of unfortunate that this climate-crisis driven book came out right when climate conversations are taking a backseat to everything else happening in the world. Possibly too many story lines for me!
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