A History of What Comes Next: A Take Them to the Stars Novel

Sylvain Neuvel

Feb 2021 · Take Them to the Stars Book 1 · Macmillan Audio · Narrated by Sylvain Neuvel, Andrew Byron, Dugald Bruce Lockhart, Imogen Wilde, Jilly Bond, Kevin Shen, Laila Pyne, Richard Trinder, and Thomas Judd

About this audiobook

This program includes additional material read by Sylvain Neuvel, and a bonus conversation with narrators Jilly Bond and Imogen Wilde.

Showing that truth is stranger than fiction, Sylvain Neuvel weaves a sci-fi thriller reminiscent of Blake Crouch and Andy Weir, blending a fast moving, darkly satirical look at 1940s rocketry with an exploration of the amorality of progress and the nature of violence in A History of What Comes Next.

Always run, never fight.
Preserve the knowledge.
Survive at all costs.
Take them to the stars.

Over 99 identical generations, Mia’s family has shaped human history to push them to the stars, making brutal, wrenching choices and sacrificing countless lives. Her turn comes at the dawn of the age of rocketry. Her mission: to lure Wernher Von Braun away from the Nazi party and into the American rocket program, and secure the future of the space race.

But Mia’s family is not the only group pushing the levers of history: an even more ruthless enemy lurks behind the scenes.

A darkly satirical first contact thriller, as seen through the eyes of the women who make progress possible and the men who are determined to stop them...

This program is read by: Jilly Bond, Imogen Wilde, Richard Trinder, Laila Pyne, Andrew Byron, Thomas Judd, Dugald Bruce Lockhart, and Kevin Shen, with additional material read by the author.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com

About the author

Sylvain Neuvel has taught linguistics in India, and worked as a software engineer in Montreal. He is also a certified translator, though he wishes he were an astronaut. His girlfriend would have him believe that he has too many toys, so he writes about aliens and giant robots as a blatant excuse to build action figures (for his son, of course). His debut, Sleeping Giants, was described by NPR as “one of the most promising series kickoffs in recent memory.”