Un domani per la Terra

Yesterday's Kin Trilogy #3

by Nancy Kress

La missione della Fratellanza è stata un fallimento. Non essendo riusciti a vaccinare tutti contro le spore, gli scienziati e i diplomatici sopravvissuti tornano sulla Terra. Ma dopo ventotto anni di viaggio spaziale trovano che la culla dell'uomo è cambiata, al punto da essere quasi irriconoscibile. All'indomani della piaga delle spore, la razza umana si è ridotta a pochi milioni di individui. Persino le conoscenze che Marian Jenner e il suo staff portano potrebbero non essere sufficienti a ribaltare le sorti della guerra in corso.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic

350 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 13, 2018

About the author

Nancy Kress is an American science fiction writer. She began writing in 1976 but has achieved her greatest notice since the publication of her Hugo and Nebula-winning 1991 novella Beggars in Spain which was later expanded into a novel with the same title. In addition to her novels, Kress has written numerous short stories and is a regular columnist for Writer's Digest. She is a regular at Clarion writing workshops and at The Writers Center in Bethesda, Maryland. During the Winter of 2008/09, Nancy Kress is the Picador Guest Professor for Literature at the University of Leipzig's Institute for American Studies in Leipzig, Germany.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just slightly under 4 stars.

Terran Tomorrow is the third book in Nancy Kress’ new trilogy. I have been a fan of her other novels for many years because of her intricate plots, well written characters and the thought experiments that drive the plots.

In book two, If Tomorrow Comes, much of the plot occurs on World- a planet circling a distant where other humans live in peaceful harmony with their environment. Earth humans come to visit and share scientific knowledge but bring along a military escort. It could have been a simplistic utopian state contrasted to a militaristic one, but Kress is too wise in the ways of humanity to make this happen.

In the final book, back on earth, I felt this theme was a bit more of the story than suited me. But this is not the main point and there in lies Kress’ “what if” experiment.

Saying much more really would be saying too much, but the final twist was satisfying, as was the hard biological science described throughout the book. Love it was scientists are the heros!!

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Terran Tomorrow’ by Nancy Kress, number three in the hard science fiction Yesterday’s Kin trilogy, was another pulse-pounding, can’t put down, thriller! Omg! What an ending! I didn’t see that coming!

I have copied the book blurb:

”Nancy Kress returns with Terran Tomorrow the final book in the thrilling hard SF trilogy based on the Nebula Award–winning novella Yesterday's Kin.

The diplomatic mission from Earth to World ended in disaster, as the Earth scientists discovered that the Worlders were not the scientifically advanced culture they believed. Though they brought a limited quantity of the vaccine against the deadly spore cloud, there was no way to make enough to vaccinate more than a few dozen. The Earth scientists, and surviving diplomats, fled back to Earth.

But once home, after the 28 year gap caused by the space ship transit, they find an Earth changed almost beyond recognition. In the aftermath of the spore cloud plague, the human race has been reduced to only a few million isolated survivors. The knowledge brought back by Marianne Jenner and her staff may not be enough to turn the tide of ongoing biological warfare.”

I’ve always hated the idea of little tiny microbes living all over my body, crawling over every molecule of my skin looking for tasty products I am inadvertently providing for their dinners, particularly since I read two science books: The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time, and especially, I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. Yes, I’m aware most microbes are unheralded saviors of us and are otherwise secretive best friends of Mankind. I have read if it wasn’t for certain microbes which love eating the dead cells we shed daily, we humans would be drowning, for example, under mountains of dead skin cells. And dust bunnies. I know some microbes are very likely partly responsible, either abetting or causing, whatever giant leaps of human evolution that have occurred. I am thinking of mitochondria. (see Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life) I am aware that many microbes live inside of me, most of them helpers to my body processes.

But. However. Although we readers know, for instance, farting almost always means everything is working appropriately and healthily within our digestive system, do any of us non-physicians and non-scientists have much respect for those helpful, probably human life-saving, microbes that are busily creating the byproduct of sulfuric flatulence? Well? Right? Right?

I’d love to evolve into something better, faster, stronger. But. However. There is that factor of how icky those little buggers appear under magnification. Except for those cute tardigrades. Except for almost dying, or actually dying, from bad little buggers. Where is that bottle of bleach? And my masks? I need a shower. Now.

Start reading the series with Yesterday's Kin. The books are not standalone.

[The Captain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahoy me mateys!  Grab your grog!  On Wednesday, I reviewed book one.  Yesterday, I reviewed book two.  Here be book 3, the conclusion, of the sixth installment of the 3 Bells trilogy showcase!  Also, I received this sci-fi eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

While book two remains me favourite, I had to admit that this was a satisfying ending to the trilogy.  Marianne and gang are back on Earth.  However, the Earth they come back to doesn't resemble the one that they left behind all those years ago.  I have to admit that it was quite a jolt for me as much as it was for the characters.  A believable change even if drastic.  I mean look at what happened to the ecology of Earth in book one.  If that could reasonably happen then so could the beginning of this book.  But it did take some getting used to.

In this story, the story focuses mostly on Marianne's grandson Jason, an alien named Jane who is serving as a translator, and on a researcher named Zack.  Other perspectives are sprinkled in.  While I love Jane, I wasn't as drawn into Jason or Zack's stories.  That could be because so much of the inner dialogue of those two seemed to be directed by indecision, fear, or angst.  It was interesting that the women seemed to be driving force behind the scenes even if they weren't the center of the plot.  I would have liked more of their perspectives.  Personal preference.

It took me a while to get into this book because there wasn't a ton of action.  And a lot of the science was repetitive.  I bought the circumstances for books one and two but would have preferred a different tack in this one.  It seemed like some of the same elements of the previous books were recycled into this one.  But eventually I was drawn into the narrative.

The ideas about the conflicts between the civilians and military are what eventually took center stage for me.  I also enjoyed the conflict between those who didn't want technology and those who needed it.  With everyone confined in a tight space, I felt that these struggles for balance between the groups are where the true action lay.  Add in a sickness in tight quarters and the whole situation was a mess.  I needed to know how it was resolved.

And like I said, the ending satisfied.  I particularly enjoyed the ramifications of the illness.  So thanks to the publisher for giving me the third book in the trilogy so I would have to read the first two first!  Arrr!

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...

[Britta Böhler · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the somewhat weaker 2nd book, the third part is a strong and satisfying ending of the series.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really grabbed me. Once I was a third of the way in, I couldn't put it down--stayed up way late finishing it. It helped that I read it immediately after the second book in the trilogy, so the people and events were fresh in my mind.

Due to time dilation, the ship from World arrives on Earth 28 years after the Earth people left, even though they spent only a few months on World. Scientist Marianne Jenner is returning on the ship, with four others who made the original trip and five people from World, most notably the World translator who adopts the Earth name Jane. They find a post-apocalyptic scene, and settle into an alien-technology dome habitat of several hundred people. It is a military and scientific base, and the military part of it is led by Jenner's grandson, Jason. His brother Colin leads a back-to-the-land settlement nearby. (Marianne's son is there too, but he's about her age now, which is old. IMO, one's sixties is not all that old, but that's how it is in the book.) They are under frequent attack from a rival military, though it wasn't clear to me what their differences are.

The sorry shape of Earth, whose inhabitants now number well under a billion, began when radical environmentalists decided that Earth would be better off without people, and released a killer disease that spread through sparrows. In the aftermath of that, a series of nuclear strikes further decimated the population. A small percentage of people are immune and can breathe the air outdoors, but many of the people living in the dome are not immune, so the air is kept pure and there are airlocks to get in and out.

While the scientists work on combating the disease (one solution would be to wipe out sparrows by making all the males sterile), it turns out that Marianne and the others have brought a new disease, which is turning into a big problem. At the same time, the military/political situation is worsening. And there is anti-Worlder sentiment in the dome; people who should be the good guys devolve into racists (as also happened in the other books). So the tension builds, and it looks like everyone is heading into even worse disaster.

The characters are excellent, though it took me a while to get some of the new ones straight. There's a biologist, Zack, who has a wife and daughter and is working desperately on the sparrow problem, with poor results. Jason, with responsibility for everyone, is uber-stressed; and has a tense relationship with estranged wife Lindy. Jane and Colin, both very empathic, have an instant connection with a lot of attraction.

And that's about as much as I can say without spoilers. Things move faster and faster, with time constraints and impending disasters, and then--oh, the resolution is spectacularly good. Tech, biology, relationships, all combine and move everything into almost another frame of reference. Some if it is reminiscent of Kress's Beggars in Spain books, which I loved. All in all, a delightful read.

[Natasha Hurley-Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marginally more interesting than Tomorrow's Kin, but still somewhat dull. Almost the entire book takes place inside a pair of military-occupied domes, and the plot is the same as before: unknown virus is taking people out of action, and this provokes a frantic quest to defeat it before $external_event happens. 90% of this is occurs via Jason sitting at his desk and various people knocking on his door and then expositing the plot to him, while he gets tired, headache-y, horny, etc. Yawn.

The characters are ok, but would probably be more interesting if they showed a shred of creativity and, I don't know, DID SOMETHING? The set-up is that ~50% of people can't leave, because they're not immune to RSA. But surely there are more than enough immune people to crew the Return and show the reader something of this very changed Earth? They have access to the most incredible technology and do almost nothing with it. I still like Marianne, but I think it's probably just because I enjoyed her story so much in the first book. New America and Fort Hood are brought up early on as being potentially more interesting than they turn out to be, which is 1D villainous caricatures. How disappointing!

A classic sci-fi hoary chestnut "super-intelligent children must leave Earth to avoid sad conflict with their dumb homo sapiens parents" is trotted out in the most ludicrous and convenient way two-thirds through the book, just in time to save all before it is lost. And the denouement was completely unsatisfying, using the old "time-travelling future humans must have set everything up in this incredibly convenient way, then inexplicably done nothing further" explanation, which to me is nothing more than a deus ex machina.

Overall, I'm quite disappointed in this series. There were some interesting ideas, but I felt like we didn't get to explore them in any real depth, because the focus was so much on the characters and their fairly boring day-to-day lives in very limited settings. The plot was pretty much identical book-to-book, so I wonder if this could all have been much more interesting if rewritten as a single punchy volume?

[Gendou · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really, I'm just glad to be done with this trilogy. It promised a lot and delivered very little.

This book is all about military this, military that. All that world building from the first book goes largely wasted in this story that's all about interpersonal and group conflict.

Worst of all was the ending. Humanity of the future traveled back in time to save a pocket of humans that weren't all mean and stuff i.e. the people from World. "It was us all along". Such a played out trope. The causality violation makes me want to go back in time and prevent Mr. and Mrs. Kress from ever meeting one another.

[Aiyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The conclusion to this fascinating trilogy is a little heavy on deus ex machinae, and I would have loved more focus on Kindred/World culture, as there was in the second book. Still hard to put down, though.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a snippet of a review somewhere where Nancy Kress says she thinks her second and third books of the Yesterday’s Kin trilogy are stronger than the first. I disagree! Methinks the first is my favorite.

This one is the last of the series, so it’ll be easiest to get deep into spoiler territory. The spaceship Return…er, returns to Earth some 28 years after it’s sister ship, the Friendship, left for World in book two. The Terrans and Worlders aboard find a vastly changed planet. As climate change realities became more stark, an environmental terrorist group named the Gaiists altered a preexisting virus into a bioweapon that kills 96% of the world population, that old thing. The survivors, it seems, are largely fighting each other. It’s been about ten years, and Kress goes vaguely into STATION ELEVEN territory about loss of fuel (though there’s more around than one might think) and other resources—basically international communication is impossible, making it easy for this story to only worldbuild the reality for the United States, or what’s left of it.

Because what do you know, as the Return approaches, the first and only group to pick up their signal is the (former?) U.S. military in California, headed by our protagonist Marianne Jenner’s grandson, Jason. The only reason they’ve survived as long as they have is because shortly before “the Collapse,” the Terrans finally figured out how to build the impenetrable alien domes from book one. This is especially useful because they’re fighting a new terrorist group that calls itself New America. But also, the Gaiists, in their zeal to wipe out as much of the human population as possible, made sure their bioweapon lived on in sparrows. So either you survived the first attack that killed the 96%, you live in an evac suit or under the dome, or you take your chances with a shitty lottery out in the wild.

I’m doing a lot of backstory talk, cos man Kress took this 28-year jump to change a lot of reality on Earth. :P It’s not exactly out of left field, the climate change, the terror groups and military response, but it’s not the place anyone from the Return was expecting to see, either. And, of course, the environment they bring back from World alters the situation further. There’s the whole virophage they discovered at the end of book two, which, with contact in California, has different effects on all of the humans based on their genes. A small percentage of them (actually a significant percentage of named characters, and then some,) fall into a comatose sleep. And, like in the other two books, scientists have to drop everything to figure out what the hell is going on inside our bodies.

In the age of COVID, it’s not exactly surprising to speculate that a deadly virus can mutate and have a long shelf life, though that’s not really what’s happened here. It’s a mix of intentional bioweapons from the R. Sporri from book one, and something more strikingly evolutionary from book two. As far as I understand, COVID hasn’t affected patients’ mental capacities like the v-coma does when people finally wake up, spoilers spoilers.

Are there characters in this thing? :P Yeah, sure. The Jenners take center stage again, though in this era of mass extinction, I have to raise my eyebrow a bit at their prominence. At the end of my last review, I speculated whether this would be the Book of Elizabeth, since the last two more or less revolved around Marianne and her sons. Instead, Liz disappeared somewhere in the backstory. For the first half of the book, I assumed she’d conveniently show up on base sometime in the narrative, but that never happened. Part of me is disappointed that we didn’t get to flesh out this prickly character from book one, but honestly her rando disappearance was one of the more believable outcroppings of this mass pandemic premise.

Again, most of the POVs are slightly more developed than the plot, maybe. Could be I’m getting snippy—like with the love triangle between the Jenner brothers and the Worlder translator who goes by Jane. At least Jason finally realized he had more chemistry with his ex-wife, but the literary snob in me would’ve liked more character development for all of these folks. Even though they were largely entertaining betwixt the breakneck plot. Similarly there’s the new character, geneticist Zack McKay, who is motivated in his work with excising the infected-sparrows because he lost his first family to the bioweapon and doesn’t want to lose his second. Stuff like that, or the Jenner brothers fighting over their military vs peacenik outlooks, are a little better than one-dimensional characterization, but not quite so deep as three-dimensional (so two-dimensional. :P)

Maybe my real turn off with this novel is that I’m feeling self-conscious about my own cynicism. :P Methinks my aunt was about to dropkick me through the screen at a recent book club meeting for mocking the unfettered, caricature-ripe idealism in LINCOLN HIGHWAY last week. :P Then this book comes along with the human race trying to eradicate itself, albeit an unseen part of the human race as the main antagonists. And then the survivors—scant survivors—are still locked in perpetual conflict. I’m still knees-deep into my STATION ELEVEN feels, and I guess I’m more inclined to a post-pandemic story that makes art, not war. :P I’ve never really felt called to reading military science fiction in general. And then the story (and series) ends with Jason forcing a particular reality on everyone---a very military reality that views the idea of “intelligence” in a highly cynical light. He, in effect, becomes a military dictator, forcing his will on others, though at least there’s some pushback on that. I respect that Kress built up a complicated reality to lead to this place, and Jason as a character isn’t a mustache-twirler. But meh. I’d like to go back to the Traveling Symphony now, please. :P

As implicated above, I remain impressed with Kress’s worldbuilding, her ability to juggle a lot of moving pieces, to explain genetics and other science to an ignoramus like me so that I could kinda/sorta understand it, her grand ideas about how human evolution works. Maybe the v. comas were a way to tesseract to a point where humans like the intrepid Marianne could understand things that should take eons of human development to arrive at, like a timey-whimey hypothesis as to the nature of the real “aliens” in this series. (Admittedly, as a reader, I didn’t really care, since the “aliens” were never an active part of the story.) Maybe the human race, ultimately, would come to a better place after all, especially if we adapt some of the matriarchal/cooperative ways of the Worlders. :P

But when I think back to the first novel, it felt more fully fleshed out. The second two introduced far more staggering change in far less time—only a few months each, disregarding the time-jump space travel. Book one took ten years, and the social and ecological changes felt more measured than…yanno, mass extinction. :P And it ended on a note of promise that the next two books didn’t really see through. Maybe that’s because, as Russel Leston wrote in Locus, “she [Kress] never seems quite satisfied with the resolutions demanded by the beginning-middle-end structure of conventional storytelling. Instead, each apparent resolution or escape or victory is actually a new situation with its own set of problems, dangers, contradictions, and unintended consequences. The worlds of her stories just won’t sit still.” https://locusmag.com/2019/01/russell-...

To an extent, I respect this nod to the complex nature of maximist worldbuilding. But I think a sense of humanity—beyond the exhaustiveness of a never-ending science-and-military warzone—was lost along the way.

[Cookie M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure Kress knew where she was going with this series. It is very hard to find a unifying theme. It zigs and zags and far as the characters do between earth and the other planet. Also, you really never know what conditions you will find on the planet when you get there. Maybe a bit of consistency in world building would help the reader feel more connected?

[E. Ardell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will honestly say that after Book I set up the plot, the series was a bit of a page turner. I always wanted to know where we were being taken in all this. Where will it end? Bravo to the author for that. I purchased all three books.

In Book I, I couldn't care less about the Jenners but I did like the grandchildren because helping them and their father finally gave Marianne a layer I needed to invest a bit in her character, since she is the driver of this large story.

Book II, I really liked. The characters were in peril, and there were more of them to finally latch onto. I cared about the fates of so many. Forget any plot holes, this is fun!

Book III, we leave the majority of the characters I invested in behind on the alien world never to hear from them again. The few still left are shuffled into obscurity and I'm back with Marianne Jenner as the main driver. I did enjoy Jason Jenner's perspective, and the destruction of Earth and the new health scares and war made for an interesting plot ... but it still felt a bit thin and I felt that we could have divided the narrative to see what was happening on World or Kindred. The story ends with that question unresolved. I don't feel satisfied but hey, it was an interesting read. Quick and entertaining after you get through 75% of Book I.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ecology was sort of wonky (like, the wrong sort of trees unless the climate changed a LOT, etc) which of course no one else will notice. The ending seemed kind of odd to me in that another solution less dramatic could have worked too instead of this 'ping pong' one. But i'll leave it at that. 3.5 stars

[Ay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good solid stuff. You need to start at book 1.

[Cass · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5

[Carol Kean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Kress is a masterful writer, nailing Point of View and character with the depth and succinctness we expect in literary, not speculative, fiction. Not that I'm one of those who think science fiction cannot be literary.

This novel tends more toward "literary" than space opera, which means for me that it doesn't have the taut pacing and suspense of "Yesterday's Kin," a masterpiece. I love that novella. The mother and her three offspring hits close to home for me, a mother of three, no two of them alike, and you wonder how apples can fall so far from the proverbial tree.

My Kindle is packed with highlights, but because this is an ARC, I can't hit "share" and copy and paste my favorites. Typing word for word is time-consuming.

"Yesterday's Kin" is tightly written and well crafted. This novel is good, but not quite in the same league. And the political messages are more overt, with a bigger emphasis on humanity being so undeserving of a place in the universe, because we wreck everything.

Still, I recommend this series, and I always recommend Nancy Kress. If only authors of any genre wrote with her insights and wit!

[Jesse C · Rating 2 out of 5]

When the series heads back to Earth it loses all the momentum it had. Didn't think the future Earth felt like a particularly compelling or coherent vision. And then there were some specific things that bothered me.
Fairly important plot points are introduced but never explained. There hasn't been jet fuel for at least half a decade, but suddenly New America has enough to fly F-35 sorties for shits and giggles (and lets not talk about the insane amount of maintenance those planes require to fly and how a massively degraded society wouldn't begin to be able to do the upkeep on those). Where did it come from? Where did all the other weaponry they got come from? These are fairly major plot turning changes that are considered impossible in the world and are never explained. I really don't get it. If you want these things to be possible in world, then don't so emphatically state they're impossible or provide an explanation. Random shit just happening is not coherent story-telling or world-building.

Second, the virus upgrading humanity plot that takes over the second half of the book is Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio but done much more poorly. I get that it isn't his idea alone, but if you're going to write something that has been done before, bring something new to the table with it. But basically all the interesting sociological impacts of this are shunted aside so the new super-brains can service the needs of the plot.
Finally, the twist ending is hot trash. Was this supposed to feel like some big, meaningful reveal? Look, our super brains think time travel might have been possible, so humanity reached back from the future and saved itself . . .. kinda . . .by moving a group of people 140,000 years ago to a different planet. Leaving aside both the ridiculous paradox implications of this and the ludicrous nature of this particular step being taken as a means to "save humanity", this is such a trite and disappointing ending to a novel. I guess from the characters' awed reaction, we are supposed to feel a similar emotion. Yeah, that didn't happen because it felt completely unearned and unrealistic.

[Jim Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very satisfying conclusion to this SF trilogy.

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good to read in this time of Covid-19!

[FM · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book of the trilogy.
If you've read the first two books with interest, I won't give anything away here other than to say: you need to have read the first two books to really understand much of what is going on here.
Things I liked about this series: the focus on science, particularly biology; the frightening "near future" elements of the story; the leanness of the story (I seem to have read so many bloated books lately). On the other hand, the books were way more militaristic than I would have predicted; I hope that really isn't predictive of the future.
It is interesting that the author chose to focus on such a small group of people and one location for this book that really has as its theme the end of human life on Earth as we know it. We're told surprisingly little about what is happening in other places, and we know very little about the "enemy" this small group is fighting. So in that way, the book feels claustrophobic which I assume is intentional based on the details of the story (which I won't give away here).
Overall, the series provides an interesting view of a "what if" scenario, one that I found surprising, a bit irritating at times, but ultimately satisfying.

[David Lies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again Nancy Kress has stolen our imaginations away by diving even farther into the science fiction of genetics, human evolution and theoretical divergence of the Human species. This final narrative in the yesterday’s kin trilogy left me wondering, why stop here. With so many questions left to be explored and so many characters with stories just unfolding and the now famous Marian Jenner still alive long beyond her rightful Terran years. This book hosted a multitude of new angles that made me feel like I was in the struggle and even in the romance of the moment. In the end I was disappointed more with this novel than the previous for very small reasons. Most of the reason could easily be explained or defended with Doctor Jenners old age and lack of youth energy, many other situations can be stitched up with similar excuses. At the end of the novel I was thoroughly satisfied with the story and believe that the 28 years lapse from Kindred to Terra was shown in a drastic reality that speaks deeply to the human condition. We are naturally destroyers. Even with all the final decisions made at the end of the book it leaves the reader considering, how much was saved, but how much was destroyed to save. A question that should ring true in real life on Earth today. Her depth of story is faithful to the fathers of science fiction and should be read by anyone who enjoys the classics looking for a modern spin .

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kress is an incredibly talented author, and her skills are on full display in this last book in the "Yesterday's Kin" trilogy of environmental disaster, genetic engineering, and colonization. From the original focus on Dr. Marianne Jenner in the first two books, here we see the story primarily through Jenner's two grandsons, Jason and Colin, although Marianne has returned with a small continent from Kindred. One of her sons, Jason, is a military commander in charge of two alien-created domes with a small population of remnant humans; the other, Colin, an eco-farmer who passionately rejects technology and exposes his people's children to a virulent disease that kills 96% of humans. (I think we're supposed to forget that, but I don't.)

The book is hard science fiction, with an emphasis on biology and genetics, although there's physics thrown in as well. I thought I might get bogged down in the details, but the plot and action, with competing pockets of humans trying to reclaim Earth's course, at war with each other. There are romantic elements as well, which help to keep the story leveled. Overall, very enjoyable, and recommended for fans of SF.

[JJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This trilogy was worth sticking to because of the characters. The concepts and ideas were great and the tension did maintain all the way through but the first book was the best. I enjoyed this book but it felt like set up for what comes after and the what comes after the end is much more interesting to me than this story. Like I do enjoy an ending that leaving thinking about what the character's like is/will be like now that this "episode" has concluded. But there's too much other that here, things I still want answers to, all of which seem more interesting than the actual action of this book. But Again I did very much enjoy the characters, their journeys, and the setting, and the alien/spore concept. Would recommend this series, but the strength of the first book definitely carries the rest.

[Cecily Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I love the idea of this book, its biological science, and its space-science, the first half of this third part of the trilogy was muddy with dozens of names and not improved by sudden jumps from the point of view of one character to another to another. About halfway through, the narrative smoothed out, and I read the last section more or less in one night.
I do love genetics and have read quite extensively on modern currents, but the biologists in the novel tend to speak jargon rather than explain concepts for a layperson, which suggests that a lot of readers might not know what's going on at all.
Overall, I enjoyed the plot, characterization, and world-building but was somewhat disappointed in the presentation.

[Melinda Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting conclusion to this series. The second was my favorite, as I felt the first was a bit convoluted in the plot. I was disappointed in this book that Marianne, the main character, was less involved in this one though I was delighted that the series connected with her children and grandchildren --except the daughter that was written off.

There are some interesting concepts, and reading this series in a time of Covid is a bit eye opening about viruses and infections. Still, I think I hoped for more evidence rather than a hunch at the end by Marianne as to who was responsible for the technology that was "discovered" by the Danebs to begin with (and we never learn why that name was abandoned after the first book!).

[Earl Truss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read three trilogies by Nancy Kress now - Sleepless, Probability, and Yesterday's Kin. All three seem to be quite similar especially Probability and Yesterday's Kin. Not so much that I'm sorry I've read them but they did at times remind me of the others. The structure of the trilogies was also similar. The first of each was interesting enough that I was convinced to read the other books. The middle one was weaker but not with enough flaws to make me not want to read the last book. The last books of each were somewhat weak in the beginning but came with a twist and surprise at the end that made me glad to have read them. Good job. I will continue to read more by this author.

[Nicole Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in a series. I skipped the first book and really enjoyed the second, which took place off-world on a planet a bit reminiscent of Pandora from the film Avatar.

Book three is focused on the consequences of the first two books' storylines back on Earth. The foibles and struggles of humanity with all the changes wrought. Honestly, it was interesting, but a bit depressing. There was less hope here, and it made for tough reading. We're talking war, cultural and physical, pandemics, and a twist that was the culmination of both books' mysteries. Unfortunately it wasn't very satisfying for me. I like mystery.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had mixed feeling about this series from the start. I loved the novella Yesterday Kin. Was less than thrilled with the first book and felt more of the same about book two. Terran Tomorrow was not at all what I expected. Nancy Kress is good at throwing curve balls in her plots and she threw more than one in this final book of the trilogy. That is all I an going to say as anything else would have to include spoilers.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

[Kristy Conn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite installment of the Yesterday's Kin trilogy. It has more of an emphasis on disease, genetics and evolutionary biology which might be a disappointment to some SF fans but I absolutely loved the science presented in this novel. This novel wraps up the series in a satisfying way that makes perfect sense when you think about it. I especially enjoyed the reveal at the end regarding the mysterious super-aliens that brought up so many questions throughout the first two books in the series. Kudos Nancy Kress!

[Sieglinde · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was probably the weakest of the series but it does wrap up the mystery of what happened 450,000 years ago. A small number of the main characters make it back to earth but earth has been rendered to a apocalyptic state of continual war and with most of the cities destroyed. The action centers around one small outpost in Monterey California where the US Army still has a small base. I don't want to spoil it but you meet some new characters and some of the old ones are still in the story. It was just an OK ending to the trilogy but worth reading because it does tie up the loose threads.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terran Tomorrow is the final book in Kress's Yesterday's Kin trilogy and it finishes off the trilogy very well. It could stand alone, but I think if you don't read the previous books you will be missing out.

One of the things I liked about it was it was unpredictable. It wasn't obvious what was going to happen next. This applies to the trilogy as well because although this is the last book, there is room to go on. Or may be not, because it is also a great place to stop.

A trilogy where every book was very good, which is rare.