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Killing Baby Hitler: A Novel
In the year 2141, the planet is ruled by billionaires, democracy is a relic, the environment is collapsing, and Illinois is home to thirty-foot alligators. When a ragtag team of scientists discovers the secret to time travel, they set their sights on history’s most infamous villain: baby Adolf Hitler.
The mission doesn’t go quite as planned.
Because rewriting history is never simple. Instead of preventing the rise of fascism, they trigger a bizarre new timeline in which Hitler grows up in America, editing one of the country’s most hateful newspapers, and history warps in strange and unsettling ways. What begins as a darkly funny scheme to fix the past spirals into a mind-bending journey across centuries, as the time travelers confront unintended consequences, shifting timelines, and a future that may be even worse than the one they left behind.
Part sci-fi thriller, part biting satire, Killing Baby Hitler is Michael Tomasky’s first work of fiction—a wildly original novel that skewers power, questions the logic of hindsight, and reminds us that the present may be the hardest time of all to change. Bold, provocative, and disturbingly plausible, it’s a time-travel tale like no other.
The mission doesn’t go quite as planned.
Because rewriting history is never simple. Instead of preventing the rise of fascism, they trigger a bizarre new timeline in which Hitler grows up in America, editing one of the country’s most hateful newspapers, and history warps in strange and unsettling ways. What begins as a darkly funny scheme to fix the past spirals into a mind-bending journey across centuries, as the time travelers confront unintended consequences, shifting timelines, and a future that may be even worse than the one they left behind.
Part sci-fi thriller, part biting satire, Killing Baby Hitler is Michael Tomasky’s first work of fiction—a wildly original novel that skewers power, questions the logic of hindsight, and reminds us that the present may be the hardest time of all to change. Bold, provocative, and disturbingly plausible, it’s a time-travel tale like no other.
- GenresFiction
390 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 9, 2026
About the author
Michael Tomasky
13 books12 followersMichael John Tomasky is an American columnist, commentator, journalist and author.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 28, 2026
An interesting if unsatisfying book with an irresistible title, Killing Baby Hitler takes place in a semi-satirical dystopian future. The semi-satire of future world history as presented is the best part of the book, a step-by-step extrapolation of current trends over the next 100+ years that is not necessarily plausible, but close enough to plausible to work. I mean, nothing plausible to the modern ear could possibly be correct a century from now, so might as well go for broke. The world we get is slightly heightened, slightly ridiculous, almost at the point of a Pynchon setting or Wallace’s Year of the Depend Adult Undergarments, and this is a lot of fun.
It’s hard to write a novel with the same tone, though. There are a bunch of characters, but either because we need to view them in more than one distinct timestream or because they are kept at ironic (i.e. semi-satirical) arm’s length, most of them never quite work as characters, as opposed to plot-devices with token individuating characteristics. That’s been a classic science fiction problem for a century now, but this book feels like it’s pitching itself not as science fiction, but as mainstream fiction (that just happens to involve time travel and a future dystopia).
Perhaps I perceive the book not as science fiction because as science fiction, the time travel is childish, around on the level of an episode of Quantum Leap. That’s not necessarily bad, and who doesn’t like Quantum Leap?, but it’s another strike making the book hard to take seriously. The arch authorial voice coming in to remind us all that the same events happen the same way or at the same time (by apparent miracle) in multiple timestreams doesn’t help.
Maybe I’m just bitter because I wrote a book (Impossible Histories: The Soviet Republic of Alaska, the United States of Hudsonia, President Charlemagne, and Other Pivotal Moments of History That Never Happened) arguing that changing one small part of history, regardless of how small that part is, will in fact inevitably have a large ripple effect of a sort not seen in this book…but I guess it’s silly whining that time travel is not “realistic.” I mean, it works for Back to the Future. But Back to the Future is a silly fun comedy. Is Killing Baby Hitler a silly fun comedy? I mean, semi, right? I said semi.
It’s not fair, honestly, to say the book lacks well-written, well-defined characters: They just show up late, and not in the future. I mean
I should mention one weird thing about the book’s formatting: The paragraphs are separated by a double carriage return, like a blog post. I don’t know if that’s an idiosyncrasy of the (apparently idiosyncratic) publisher or some kind of artistic statement. Anyway, it’s not a great idea, I have to say.
It’s hard to write a novel with the same tone, though. There are a bunch of characters, but either because we need to view them in more than one distinct timestream or because they are kept at ironic (i.e. semi-satirical) arm’s length, most of them never quite work as characters, as opposed to plot-devices with token individuating characteristics. That’s been a classic science fiction problem for a century now, but this book feels like it’s pitching itself not as science fiction, but as mainstream fiction (that just happens to involve time travel and a future dystopia).
Perhaps I perceive the book not as science fiction because as science fiction, the time travel is childish, around on the level of an episode of Quantum Leap. That’s not necessarily bad, and who doesn’t like Quantum Leap?, but it’s another strike making the book hard to take seriously. The arch authorial voice coming in to remind us all that the same events happen the same way or at the same time (by apparent miracle) in multiple timestreams doesn’t help.
Maybe I’m just bitter because I wrote a book (Impossible Histories: The Soviet Republic of Alaska, the United States of Hudsonia, President Charlemagne, and Other Pivotal Moments of History That Never Happened) arguing that changing one small part of history, regardless of how small that part is, will in fact inevitably have a large ripple effect of a sort not seen in this book…but I guess it’s silly whining that time travel is not “realistic.” I mean, it works for Back to the Future. But Back to the Future is a silly fun comedy. Is Killing Baby Hitler a silly fun comedy? I mean, semi, right? I said semi.
It’s not fair, honestly, to say the book lacks well-written, well-defined characters: They just show up late, and not in the future. I mean
I should mention one weird thing about the book’s formatting: The paragraphs are separated by a double carriage return, like a blog post. I don’t know if that’s an idiosyncrasy of the (apparently idiosyncratic) publisher or some kind of artistic statement. Anyway, it’s not a great idea, I have to say.
July 17, 2026
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: In the year 2141, the planet is ruled by billionaires, democracy is a relic, the environment is collapsing, and Illinois is home to thirty-foot alligators.
When a ragtag team of scientists discovers the secret to time travel, they set their sights on history’s most infamous villain: baby Adolf Hitler. The mission doesn’t go quite as planned.
Because rewriting history is never simple. Instead of preventing the rise of fascism, they trigger a bizarre new timeline in which Hitler grows up in America, editing one of the country’s most hateful newspapers, and history warps in strange and unsettling ways. What begins as a darkly funny scheme to fix the past spirals into a mind-bending journey across centuries, as the time travelers confront unintended consequences, shifting timelines, and a future that may be even worse than the one they left behind.
Part sci-fi thriller, part biting satire, Killing Baby Hitler is Michael Tomasky’s first work of fiction—a wildly original novel that skewers power, questions the logic of hindsight, and reminds us that the present may be the hardest time of all to change. Bold, provocative, and disturbingly plausible, it’s a time-travel tale like no other.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: I like my silly sci-fi delivered with humor, so I'm your boy for this story's topic and style. I'm also a fan of time-travel (purest of fantasies) and alternate history (I dunno if we'll ever science our way into certainty that other timelines are real, but I think they can't NOT be), so bring your killing Hitler story unto mine eyes.
O/R is a leftist purveyor of tendentious reads mostly non-fiction; I approve of this, so seeing this novel become available I downloaded it immediately. I'm a fan of the wish-fulfillment inherent in stories of changing history, though the pop-culture "butterfly effect" is pretty inaccurate to the real subset of chaos theory. Doesn't mean I don't love to read about it. I was really hoping to love this read, too.
I enjoyed and liked it. I'd've loved it if it'd kept on with the initial tone. It's honest, abrasive, truthful about human nature; it's holding up our faults as people to us in this low-real life stakes fictional tale. It's always safe to look at existential crisis in the mirror of practical impossibility. To be able say humanity does not come off unscathed is pretty much my minimum standard for this kind of srory. Happy to say scathing is done. Pulling the punch at the end...well...I get it, I really do, and I can't tell you I thought the ending was incongruous, or tacked on to the story it was finishing off. It fit fine.
I wasn't expecting the tonal shift, so it popped me in the mouth for a minute. I don't think others who're less pessimistic, or permaybehaps don't see things through my Darkling eye. Without reservation a recommended read for summer in particular among the "if only" fantasists seeking to refashion the world. A well-paced story that makes its points without sacrificing the exuberant fun of reinvention, no matter how implausible.
Truths are told, honest self-appraisal encouraged, and a vote of confidence I don't entirely agree with is offered to send the entertainment reader away happy.
The Publisher Says: In the year 2141, the planet is ruled by billionaires, democracy is a relic, the environment is collapsing, and Illinois is home to thirty-foot alligators.
When a ragtag team of scientists discovers the secret to time travel, they set their sights on history’s most infamous villain: baby Adolf Hitler. The mission doesn’t go quite as planned.
Because rewriting history is never simple. Instead of preventing the rise of fascism, they trigger a bizarre new timeline in which Hitler grows up in America, editing one of the country’s most hateful newspapers, and history warps in strange and unsettling ways. What begins as a darkly funny scheme to fix the past spirals into a mind-bending journey across centuries, as the time travelers confront unintended consequences, shifting timelines, and a future that may be even worse than the one they left behind.
Part sci-fi thriller, part biting satire, Killing Baby Hitler is Michael Tomasky’s first work of fiction—a wildly original novel that skewers power, questions the logic of hindsight, and reminds us that the present may be the hardest time of all to change. Bold, provocative, and disturbingly plausible, it’s a time-travel tale like no other.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: I like my silly sci-fi delivered with humor, so I'm your boy for this story's topic and style. I'm also a fan of time-travel (purest of fantasies) and alternate history (I dunno if we'll ever science our way into certainty that other timelines are real, but I think they can't NOT be), so bring your killing Hitler story unto mine eyes.
O/R is a leftist purveyor of tendentious reads mostly non-fiction; I approve of this, so seeing this novel become available I downloaded it immediately. I'm a fan of the wish-fulfillment inherent in stories of changing history, though the pop-culture "butterfly effect" is pretty inaccurate to the real subset of chaos theory. Doesn't mean I don't love to read about it. I was really hoping to love this read, too.
I enjoyed and liked it. I'd've loved it if it'd kept on with the initial tone. It's honest, abrasive, truthful about human nature; it's holding up our faults as people to us in this low-real life stakes fictional tale. It's always safe to look at existential crisis in the mirror of practical impossibility. To be able say humanity does not come off unscathed is pretty much my minimum standard for this kind of srory. Happy to say scathing is done. Pulling the punch at the end...well...I get it, I really do, and I can't tell you I thought the ending was incongruous, or tacked on to the story it was finishing off. It fit fine.
I wasn't expecting the tonal shift, so it popped me in the mouth for a minute. I don't think others who're less pessimistic, or permaybehaps don't see things through my Darkling eye. Without reservation a recommended read for summer in particular among the "if only" fantasists seeking to refashion the world. A well-paced story that makes its points without sacrificing the exuberant fun of reinvention, no matter how implausible.
Truths are told, honest self-appraisal encouraged, and a vote of confidence I don't entirely agree with is offered to send the entertainment reader away happy.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
If you could go back in time what era or event would you visit? Would you try to change the course of history or just witness a momentous occasion?
It's clear from the book's title what the time travelers' objectives are. Kill the man responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent victims before he can enact his evil plans. Do that and watch history change for the better. Great plan but it doesn't quite work out that way.
The book toggles between today (briefly), and the years 2141 and 1889. I suspect the portions relating to 1889 are historically accurate whereas the year 2141 has those vaguely odd and futuristic sounding made up words you might encounter watching Star Trek. I'm not much of a science fiction fan, I think, but I did find some of the (familiar) names for locations to be very funny and probably not far from what the future might bring.
Ultimately I think it's a story about that one thing that remains constant over time: human nature. People like all of us have existed since our earliest existence, what matters most is the nature of whoever is in charge.
I won't spoil the plot but I'll say the book took some interesting turns and ended on a (much needed) comforting note.
It's clear from the book's title what the time travelers' objectives are. Kill the man responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent victims before he can enact his evil plans. Do that and watch history change for the better. Great plan but it doesn't quite work out that way.
The book toggles between today (briefly), and the years 2141 and 1889. I suspect the portions relating to 1889 are historically accurate whereas the year 2141 has those vaguely odd and futuristic sounding made up words you might encounter watching Star Trek. I'm not much of a science fiction fan, I think, but I did find some of the (familiar) names for locations to be very funny and probably not far from what the future might bring.
Ultimately I think it's a story about that one thing that remains constant over time: human nature. People like all of us have existed since our earliest existence, what matters most is the nature of whoever is in charge.
I won't spoil the plot but I'll say the book took some interesting turns and ended on a (much needed) comforting note.
July 15, 2026
The satire is pretty clear-cut, to the point that it's almost not satire, just a reasonable prediction of where we will end up is this continues. But it does use its premise to exaggerate and then comment on current geopolitical realities and even makes some predictions that might come more true over time. The character of Jaylen came off quite a bit like Taylor Swift, which seemed fairly superficial until that whole wedding debacle where he hobnobbed with some of the country's biggest tech oligarchs and then also allowed her music being used by the fascist White House.
Anyway, it's a very well-written, solid sci-fi with some philosophical tones if not hard themes. I'd have liked to see some deeper insights, but as it stands, it's a very entertaining and accessible political sci-fi adventure. Can't complain!
Anyway, it's a very well-written, solid sci-fi with some philosophical tones if not hard themes. I'd have liked to see some deeper insights, but as it stands, it's a very entertaining and accessible political sci-fi adventure. Can't complain!
Did Not Finish
June 27, 2026Extremely intriguing interview with author on some podcast. Sounded great. Read the preview chapters available pre-purchase on Amazon. Not a writing style I could endure. Even DNFd the preview 2/3 of the way through.
July 23, 2026
A bit too much left wingism which was unnecessary
Soft science fiction. Not really enjoyable. Had potential for sure. The guy doesn’t realize that socialism and fascism are pretty much the same thing.
Soft science fiction. Not really enjoyable. Had potential for sure. The guy doesn’t realize that socialism and fascism are pretty much the same thing.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A readable mashup of alternative history/time travel/dystopian sci fi delivered with good humor. But I thought the plot got overly torqued and the ending was more whimper than bang. Read an advance copy; forthcoming April 2026.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews